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Exotic Plants for the Homestead

Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style

10 ways to make money on your land

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

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...

Grow some winter squash this year

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Vermicomposting — Raise Worms to Consume Waste, Amend Soil, and Earn...

By Rebekah L. Cowell Photos by Amanda Egdorf-Sand Issue #124 • July/August, 2010 Vermicomposting takes composting to another level using Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler,...

Converting a Gasoline-Powered Rototiller to Electric

Plant Your Irish Potatoes This Fall or Winter

Garden Spaces for Small Places

Swiss Chard — The Leaf Vegetable That Keeps on Giving!

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

Choosing a chain saw

Make a fully functional cold storage pit/mound and enjoy your garden’s production all winter

How to build a good fence for your homestead

Build a graceful footbridge

Self-Reliance

Medicinal uses of garlic

Water: a safe supply when you’re off the grid

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 That remote mountain property seemed like a steal until you found out you could not drill...

Just for Kids: Killing some time (Create an afternoon time warp)

By Lucy Shober Issue #26 • March/April, 1994 Click on picture for printable, full-sized version to color. There is a book that describes a time warp as...

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

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

How big is the solar system?

The MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

A doomsday scenario to sleep on

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

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

The summer of ’35

Farm baseball … with ghost runners!

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 3

Firearms

Reload your own brass

Picking a holster

By Massad Ayoob Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 One good thing about being out in the boonies by yourself is that you can carry a gun...

Cold weather shooting considerations

By Massad Ayoob Issue #126 • November/December, 2010 Winter will soon be upon us. Cold weather makes a lot of things more difficult. Running. Walking. Navigating...

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

Dollar Store to the Rescue

Wildfires: Before, During, After

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Circle of friends

Preparedness for travelers

The return of home emergency shelters takes on a dual-purpose approach

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...