Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

Funerals don’t have to be expensive

Make your own effective fishing tackle while you save money and recycle scrap

Step onto the ice and catch tonight’s dinner

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Grow some winter squash this year

By Lisa Nourse I love summertime — I love the green of the trees, the warm weather, and growing my own food. I especially love...

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Saving Seeds

By Jackie Clay Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 I go through dozens of garden seed catalogs in preparation for each year's new (and better!) garden. I...

Converting a Gasoline-Powered Rototiller to Electric

The ‘Chocolate Tree’ Isn’t Just for Kids

Follow Jackie Clay-Atkinson and her husband, Will, as they homestead a 120-acre piece of northern Minnesotan woods entirely off-grid. Sharing their homestead are horses, beef cattle, a milk cow, dairy goats, chickens and turkeys.

Massad Ayoob on Guns

This blog, from a retired police captain and self-defense instructor, covers the use of different firearms, political musings, and self-defense tactics.

Building

Livestock fencing for the small homesteader

Our Unconventional House

Life-long siding with fiber cement board

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

Self-Reliance

Garden injuries Part 2

Make a Quick and Easy Tipi

By Bob Van Putten Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 The native peoples of North America were a very practical lot. Over the centuries they developed some...

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

By Jackie Clay Issue #48 • November/December, 1997 What if that snowstorm turned to a blizzard or an ice storm lasted for days, knocking out the...

Animals

The homestead cat

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Raising your own beef

Fermenting Chicken Feed

Keeping homestead animals healthy

Science and Education

The threat of electromagnetic pulse!

Theories of the universe

Gee-Whiz: Insects

Gee-Whiz: Time

Energy

Solar power for farm and ranch

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E. It may be surprising to learn that there are now all kinds of do-it-yourself solar powered devices specifically designed to...

Power-up bag

Amateur Ham Radio – The Ultimate Tool for Survival Communications

Keep the Ice On

Power Up

Americana and History

The time-travel ad

Fried chicken for breakfast

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

Firearms

Military surplus and military “clone” rifles

Firearms handling refresher Part III: Rifles

By Massad Ayoob Website Exclusive • January, 2004 Our three part series on firearms handling ends with this installment. In Part I, we covered handguns and...

Sight and sound enhancement

By Massad Ayoob Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 Enhancing vision and hearing can make you a safer, more effective shooter, and sometimes can save human lives. Captain...

BHM hosts Appleseed marksmanship event

By Massad Ayoob Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 Long a supporter of the Appleseed concept, Backwoods Home Magazine hosted one in Gold Beach, Oregon, in second...

Preparedness

Avoiding heat illness

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Survival infection control

Bartering for bad times

Preparing for civil unrest

Start a fire in any weather

Articles By Dave Duffy

My View: Call Me Miracle Man!

By Dave Duffy Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Superheroes are the rage these days at movie theaters. Even I am fascinated by them. Old style heroes...