Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

A view of self-reliance from a more timid perspective — A woman’s opinion

Moving on: A small town can be a haven during a depression

Garden Spaces for Small Places

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...

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

Pruning Blueberries

By Kristina Seleshanko When we purchased our mountaintop homestead, I was excited to discover four blueberry bushes that were already established on our property. Not...

A Child’s Garden — More than Child’s Play

Want More Fruit From Less Space? Espalier Your Trees!

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

Renovating old walls

Build a graceful footbridge

Eye-catching signs with mirrors

Shelves and benches

Self-Reliance

Kick the credit card habit and learn to stash cash

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part II

By Annie Tuttle (Most photos by Dave Duffy) Issue #146 • March/April, 2014 Previous in Series Most of the old fence around the...

The adventures of a first-time homesteader

By Jessie Denning Issue #160 • July/August, 2016 In November of 2015, my husband and I moved onto our 50-acre parcel of land in a 28-foot...

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

Science and truth. Are they related?

Gee-Whiz: Insects

The world is ending! … Again?

The ‘risks’ with Swine Flu

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

Fried chicken for breakfast

Quilts — Masterpieces of the heart and windows into women’s history

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 4 — Cunning, vindictive, and one may have been a murderess

The greatest American who was never President

Firearms

The light at the end of the gun

1911: The classic homeland security pistol

By Massad Ayoob Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 If you've read American firearms history at all, you know the lore of the .45 automatic. How during...

Answering some well asked questions about personal defense

By Massad Ayoob Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Jeff Yago, Backwoods Home's energy writer, recently completed a couple of concealed carry handgun courses. The classes apparently...

An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home

By Massad Ayoob Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 Everything's getting more expensive. Food. Gasoline. Guns and ammunition. Not everyone who appreciates the rural lifestyle was "born...

Preparedness

Food security 101

Preparing for a Temporary Catastrophe

Solar-powered water purifiers

Battery-Powered Tools are Changing

Disaster preparation!

Start a fire in any weather

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...