Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part III

Winter in the High Desert — Understanding the music

Build a wood-fired stock tank heater

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

By Linda Gabris When I was growing up in the rural woods, Grandpa and I did a lot of fishing from spring through fall so...

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Grow some winter squash this year

Testing Soil

By Tom Kovach Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests...

Growing and Using Bamboo on the Homestead

Here’s a Mighty Creative Way to Protect Your Plants from Animals

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

Adventures with a portable sawmill

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

Build a Vertical Storage Rack for Cans

Build a 6500-gallon concrete water tank for $1500

Self-Reliance

Power Up Light, Water, Communications in Emergencies

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part III

By Annie Tuttle Issue #147 • May/June, 2014 Previous in Series Me with Brownie, Cupcake, Red Velvet, and Flan (mostly hidden). These were...

How to organize an outdoor canning party

By Jennifer Grahovac Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 When my husband and I decided to return to Ohio after living for 15 years in the mountains...

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: Dinosaurs

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

The coming ice age

How big is the solar system?

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

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

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

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

Habeeb Salloum — Poet, Traveler, Recipe Writer

Firearms

Get a piece of history — An M1 Garand rifle

Use the right ammunition!

By Massad Ayoob Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 The purpose of the gun is to fire ammunition. It follows that the ammunition should be the correct...

Firearms and cold weather considerations

By Massad Ayoob Issue #79 • January/February, 2003 Many of our readers have established their abodes in places which, during the winter months, do not exactly...

Air power superiority

When a well-placed shot is required, when stealth and quiet are called for, an air rifle may be the best option. By Gary Lewis Issue #151 • January/February,...

Preparedness

Preparedness for travelers

Handy Keychain Mini-Gadgets

7 Mistakes of food storage

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times

Wildfires: Before, During, After

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...