From the current issue: Energy class—Part 1 By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., CEM
I receive many calls and website questions regarding energy, and most of these questions relate to a misunderstanding of how energy actually works. This is one subject most people were never taught in school, yet we are inundated every day with energy-related ads, products, and government-mandated energy regulations that affect these decisions. Although most people do not consciously think about it, energy is one of the most expensive items in their monthly budget. Energy is...
This special, expanded issue is intended as a mini-guide to help readers cope with a recession coupled by inflation -- stagflation -- in which jobs are lost while prices for the basics in life go up. While we can't predict the future, we are not optimistic.
Even if you do not subscribe to the Backwoods Home Magazine print issue, we recommend you order a copy of this Special Preparedness Issue. We anticipated a lot of demand for it, so we printed an extra 15,000 copies. If you are not a subscriber to the print issue, you can order this Special Preparedness Issue for $5.95 by clicking here. If you'd like to get the issue and subscribe to the magazine, click here.
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Certified energy manager Jeff Yago answers your questions on our Home Energy Information page. New Questions and Answers, posted May 2 on page 26 includeSolar array, Aeroponics, Surface mounted LED fixture, Transfer switch, Going solar on our RV, Wood fired hydronic furnaces, Windpower, PTO Generators, Inverter for solar powered trailer, & Safe LED Lighting. You'll also find quick links to online articles and more.Click here
For eight years, Tracey and I lived in a solar powered home and for eight cloudy winters, we ran a small Honda generator every week to recharge our batteries. We understood that the original owner of our home had operated a small hydro system from the property's year round creek but we never investigated this option because the creek ran through dense forest. Besides, we could just tell there wasn't sufficient drop over its course.
We finally decided to use Backwoods Solar's Site Level just to confirm hydro didn't make sense. Much to our surprise...
For safety's sake, homestead fuel storage must be handled properly By Emory Warner
Home storage of fuel is a necessity for homesteaders. Even if you are still on the grid, your truck, tractor, standby generator, etc. will still require fuel. Learn how to store it safely.
Waterpower for personal use By Rudy Behrens
Waterwheels run because "gravity" causes a "mass" of water to fall some distance. This energy is absorbed by the wheel to do work. There is more than one way to absorb the energy, so wheels have evolved into two classes...
Is steam power in your future? By Skip Goebel
If you’re thinking steam is old-fashioned, consider this: Almost a century ago, steam cars and ships attained speeds and efficiencies which are still difficult to attain, even with today’s modern internal combustion engines.
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From the Library — Making/Saving Money
Get out of debt — stay out of debt By Darlene Campbell
If you are in debt now, you should be working to clear all indebtedness during the next year. We did it, and you can, too.
Kick the credit card habit and learn to stash cash By Claire Wolfe
I’m not here to tell you The Secret of a Perfect Life Savings Plan....But I have found ways to make saving small, targeted amounts a pleasure. Ways that can make it sort of a game. Ways that yield enough little rewards to keep me enthusiastically stashing cash away for special needs. Because of that, I’ve been able to pay my property taxes without a twice-a-year pinch. When the plumbing broke, I didn’t blink. And when I needed a new DVD player I could buy one right now, today, without approaching the borders of credit purgatory.
Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars By Rick Brentlinger
If I could show you how to manufacture a product anywhere in the country and if I offered to find you the raw materials free, would you be interested? If so, here is a business plan that works.
BHM welcomes your non-political letters that talk about how you live your self-reliant life, as well as comments about the magazine and website.
BHM Web Site Exclusives
Tips for finding your affordable home By Dave Cournoyer
If you haven't yet made the move to the country, here is helpful information about the cost and availability of land in the U.S.
So you want to raise some critters that taste just like chicken? There’s no better critter than the chicken itself. Chicken has become the most sought after meat in the marketplace. Raising your own birds can save you a few bucks at the grocery store. Even more satisfying is the great sense of accomplishment that comes with raising your own food from egg to dinner table and providing this healthy meal to your family.
“Peak oil” is becoming the latest doomsday buzzword. What is it? It’s a well-thought-out theory that predicts that the rate at which we find and recover oil is soon going to fall behind the rate at which we consume it. The point at which that happens is the “peak.” Prior to this peak, prices will have been relatively stable and reasonable, and the economies of the world have grown because the supply of energy outpaced the demand. But there is coming a time, and some say it’s here now, when the world’s oil fields cannot produce as fast as we consume. Demand will exceed supply, oil prices are going to skyrocket, and the world’s economies are going to begin to fail as the oil fields themselves fail...
...It’s all very neat, but that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.
I have what seems like mountains of great “fertilizer” from my barn full of English Angora rabbits. But between my work as a newspaper editor and caring for the bunnies, chickens, and goats, it was hard finding time to spread all that bunny poop in my garden.
But thanks to Backwoods Home’s John Silveira, now my laying hens (and two very happy roosters!) do all the work for me...
Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.
Liberals are not defending our constitutional liberties when they betray the contract on which those liberties are based.
— David Horowitz
From the Library — Self-reliance
You can become a hardcore forager By Larry Cywin
Becoming a hardcore forager is not difficult, but it does take some time to learn the basics. This article will get you started.
The art of living in small spaces By Claire Wolfe
Living in a small amount of space presents special challenges, from what to do with all your "stuff" to coping, to decorating, and more.
Getting logs By Dorothy Ainsworth
Attention: Would-be loggers. There have been changes in policy at the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. You can no longer go into a ranger station and simply get a permit to cut your own logs in a given area. Now you have to go through a "process".
There are two new photos on the Country Moments page. Click Here to see larger versions and read about them.
How to buy your first sheep (without getting shorn) By Anita Evangelista
Sheep are one of the ideal small homestead animals: they can return quality meat and fiber on an annual basis for very little cash input.
Raising quail By Allen Easterly
Raising quail is inexpensive, easy, provides very healthy low-fat white meat, and supplies the fertilizer you need for your home garden.
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Making baby food at home By Michele Lightfoot
Homemade baby food is not only delicious and economical, it is simple to prepare as well.
Traditional trail foods — transportable calories By Brad Rohdenburg
If you have a need for trail food—storable, transportable, convenient, affordable and palatable calories—maybe we can learn something from the old ways.
The enchanting Chanterelle By Devon Winter
They’re prized by the world’s top chefs. They’re served in the most elegant restaurants. You’ll pay a pretty penny for them at farmers’ markets. Yet they’re abundant and often free for the taking in forests all over the world.
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Reflecting on a life in the woods By Marjorie Burris
It is a good life here on the old homestead. We've worked hard, and we are enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Grandpa’s justice By Tom Kovach
Having the best vegetable garden in the village might put food on the table and make some money at the market, but it also can cause some problems.
[T]he opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves, in their, own sphere of action, but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.
— Thomas Jefferson
From the Library — Firearms/Hunting/Self Defense
Armed and Female By Massad Ayoob
I remember one of my first female students. She was in her sixties, an accomplished academician and author with strong roots in what was then called “women’s liberation.” She had considered the gun to be a hideous side effect of testosterone poisoning. Then, she was assaulted by armed criminals and nearly died. “It occurred to me,” she told me later, “that I had neglected one element of my empowerment.”
Get a piece of history: an M1 Garand rifle By Mike Blank
We’ve all heard about getting government Garands, but personally I never knew anyone who had, so I thought I would give it a try and document my experience.
America, land of the free...ha, ha, ha! By Dave Duffy
Here are two stories that should scare you. They are about what happens in America when we have stupid laws, overzealous prosecutors who want their conviction rates up, and too many prisons that need to be filled.
Just Say NO! to the Federal Government By Oliver Del Signore
The real target of Nancy Reagan's “Just Say NO!’ campaign should have been the Federal government itself.
From the Library — Other Articles
Homeschooling through high school By Janet Leake
Whether you’re experienced or inexperienced, whatever your situation, you already know why you want to homeschool your kids through high school. Now, what about how?
Gather rose hips for health By Gail Butler
Vitamin C-rich rose hips can be found in dried form in most health food stores, but why not gather your own? You’ll save money and you’ll know where they came from.
Some farinaceous folly By Lucy Shober
Try this experiment. The next time that you are served rice, potatoes, noodles or corn for supper, take a big bite but don’t swallow it until you have chewed one hundred times.
Backwoods Home Magazine strives for accuracy in its articles and honesty in its advertisements, but the publisher and editors assume no responsibility for injuries or loss incurred by anyone utilizing the information in the articles, responding to the ads or following any of the links posted on this website.
An honorable Peace is and always was my first wish! I can take no delight in the effusion of human Blood; but, if this War should continue, I wish to have the most active part in it.
From the Library — Building & Tools
From the Library — Self-reliance
