Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

Buy your country place from the government

Advice from second-time homesteaders

Small engine maintenance for women

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...

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Grow some winter squash this year

No Worrying About Fire Blight with Orient and Kieffer Pears

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 Everyone likes a good success story, and if I were called upon to name the most successful...

Grow Open Pollinated Seeds for Self-Reliant Gardening

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

Building David’s Cabin, Part One

Trusses — Low cost marvels to roof over most large spaces

Building and stocking your pantry

Our Unconventional House

Self-Reliance

Self-reliance for women — Surviving a biochemical attack

Mosquitoes outnumber us and no one likes them

By Tom and Joanne O’Toole Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 Mosquitoes are responsible for irritating bites, cause itching welts, can spread diseases, are a constant aggravation...

Teaching the joy of reading

By Amy E. Peare Issue #96 • November/December, 2005 Most parents want to see their children well equipped to succeed in life, and homesteaders are no...

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

Testing Soil

Gee-Whiz: Sleep

The many benefits of garlic

Gee-Whiz: Dinosaurs

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

Declaration of Independence: The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

The barnyard scramble

Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an unsung colonial heroine?

Firearms

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

How big a gun do you need?

By Massad Ayoob Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 We Americans like to do things in a big way. Big houses. Big cars. Big boats. And, yes,...

Thoughts on ammunition

By Massad Ayoob Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 Ammunition is to firearms as gasoline is to automobiles. However, with guns and ammo, the fit isn't quite...

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

No dentist? Oh, no!

Solar-powered water purifiers

10 day survival pack for your vehicle for just $25

Storm survivors

Circle of friends

Power Up

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...