Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

Step onto the ice and catch tonight’s dinner

Turning a $10,000 House into a Home — Part 1: Salvaging the Wreck

A house a tornado helped build

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

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Growing and Using Bamboo on the Homestead

By Jereme Zimmerman  Issue #161 • September/October, 2016 Bamboo: The very word evokes an image of...

Secure and Economical Livestock Feed

Clover — From Livestock Forage to Medicinal Tea, This Humble Plant...

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

Yurt Magic — Building an Enchanting Instant House

How to maintain a dirt road

Three Raised Bed Designs

Claw Hammers

Self-Reliance

Jackie’s tips for hardcore homesteading

An easier way to cut firewood By Larry LaVan

By Larry LaVan  Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 I've heated with firewood for nearly 50 years....

A determined Rose Bley escaped the city

By Gene Sheley Issue #51 • May/June, 1998 Rosie Bley's self-reliance and confidence has served her well all her life, permitting her to live in one...

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

Theories of the universe

Gee-Whiz: Trees

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

Gee-Whiz: Time

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

Habeeb Salloum — Poet, Traveler, Recipe Writer

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Fried chicken for breakfast

Firearms

Understanding the gun debate, part 3

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...

Catch your own bait

By Gary Gresh Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 Expensive lures and pricey tackle shop baits can sometimes make fishing an expensive proposition, raising the cost of...

The subtleties of safe firearms handling

By Massad Ayoob Issue #103 • January/February, 2007 There are so many makes and models of firearms in existence that no one has ever counted them...

Preparedness

Building and stocking your pantry

Bartering for bad times

Power-up bag

Wildfires: Before, During, After

Preparing for civil unrest

Build a community assistance recharging station

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...