Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

The 7 core areas of preparedness

George Washington Carver — He wrote the book on self-reliance

Grow some winter squash this year

By Lisa Nourse I love summertime — I love the green of the trees, the warm weather, and growing my own food. I especially love...

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Growing and Using Peppers

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #164 • March/April, 2017 I’ve been growing peppers for more than 50 years now and can’t imagine a garden without them. There...

Build a Heated Germination Bed

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

Rotten Luck: The Skinny on Composting

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

A river rock shower

Our Unconventional House

For summertime baking needs, build yourself an outdoor horno

Build a Simple, Inexpensive Greenhouse

Self-Reliance

Buying a used mobile home

Shopping to beat inflation

By Darlene Campbell Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Most of us who read BHM agree that self sufficient living can be debt free, but we also...

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...

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: Insects

Can we make a Tyrannosaurus rex from a chicken?

A brief history of health and medicine

Theories of the universe

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

Biological and chemical weapons through history

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

The summer of ’35

Firearms

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

Bury a gun and ammo for 15 years

(and be assured everything still works when you dig it up) By Charles Wood Issue #115 • January/February, 2009 Back in the early 1990s the outlook for the...

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

By Massad Ayoob Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 The person new to guns is like the person new to timepieces. "How many of these things are...

Affordable firearms

By Massad Ayoob Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 Knowing that frugality is one of the cornerstones of rural living, Editor Annie Tuttle suggested that I tackle...

Preparedness

A survival key ring — Your everyday tool for emergency preparedness

The fire wick fire starter

Frostbite — Don’t flirt with this sneaky danger

Preparedness for travelers

Preparing for a Temporary Catastrophe

Battery-Powered Tools are Changing

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...