Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

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the gee-whiz! page: Animals, humans, extraterrestrials, and tools

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Woodbarrow

By Setanta O’Ceillaigh When I first abandoned a slum town and fled back to the countryside I gathered and carried firewood with a laundry basket....

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Grow some winter squash this year

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Save Time and Energy with the Fenced Chicken Coop/Garden

By John Silveira Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 My engineer father was not fond of wasting time or energy. He was always searching for a better,...

Plant Your Irish Potatoes This Fall or Winter

Elderberries — Hospitality, Health, And Beauty

Growing and Using Bamboo on the Homestead

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

Simplify life in your backwoods home by using these easy mountain methods

Build a graceful footbridge

Stairs — The next level

Build a compost tumbler

Self-Reliance

Drawing the line on timber trespass

Kick the credit card habit and learn to stash cash

By Claire Wolfe Issue #107 • September/October, 2007 My friend Jeanie, a professional woman, whips out her credit card at every spending opportunity. Wal-Mart expedition? Credit...

Start your food storage on $10 a week

By Alan T. Hagan Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 If Old Mother Hubbard had had a food storage program before she went to her cupboard her...

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 many benefits of garlic

Testing Soil

Science and truth. Are they related?

Subduction zone tsunami — What the residents of the Pacific Northwest have to fear

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

Feeling nostalgic? Now you’ll rave! Here’s the story of Burma Shave.

The Great Depression — A reminiscence

From Martha and Abigail to Dolley and Louisa, America’s earliest First Ladies were fascinating

Firearms

BHM hosts Appleseed marksmanship event

How to shoot a handgun accurately

By Massad Ayoob Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 "I want you to do an article on how to shoot a handgun accurately," Dave Duffy told me....

Of guns and snakes

By Massad Ayoob Issue #151 • January/February, 2015 Mas safely kills a rattlesnake in a populated area. (Note angle of gun and trajectory.) Pistol is a...

The time for modern; the time for traditional

By Massad Ayoob Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 Traditional "old skool" guns, or the most modern and efficient ballistic hardware that money can buy? I asked...

Preparedness

Why you need to addsolar to your emergencypower backup plans

Building and stocking your pantry

Emergency planning beyond the bug-out bag

Your survival depends on water

Changing the odds in home fire protection

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

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...