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 truly value our feline friends. Not only do they provide...
Step onto the ice and catch tonight’s dinner
By Jim Capossela
During open water season, the dedicated fisherman dreams of a trophy gamefish to hang in the fishing camp, or, increasingly, to photograph and return to the water. During those three seasons,...
Storing dry foods
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
More and more folks are starting to buy bulk foods to ensure if stores run out of foods — as they did at the onset of this epidemic — their families will...
Lenie in the kitchen: Pumpkin sweet bread with walnuts
By Ilene Duffy
It seems to be the simple things I’m missing most during this pandemic when many of us are spending a lot of time at home. With the virus surging in various parts...
Winter baking warms the house
By Lisa Nourse
Photos by Jamie Nourse
Living on the Pacific Coast, there are days during fall and winter when it really doesn’t get very cold. It is rare to have snow or freezing temperatures here...
Seven tactics for planning next year’s garden
By Kristina Seleshanko
There are few things I enjoy more than snuggling up next to the woodstove with a cup of coffee and my garden planning notebook. Although winter might feel like a time to...
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 make farmers and ranchers lives easier and safer. Many of...
Claw Hammers
By R.E. Rawlinson
Scottish writer and philosopher Thomas Carlyle observed that “Man is a tool using animal … without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” In the modern world we are awash...
The accidental homesteader
By Terry Hooker
Everyone who homesteads has hit that point where they decide to be more self sufficient. Sometimes it’s from life circumstances and sometimes it’s a conscious choice. For me the moment came after...
Caring for your chickens in winter
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
As winter approaches, we all are thinking of ways to make our livestock and poultry as comfortable as possible when the cold weather hits. Visions of blowing and drifting snow swirl in...
Canning meat plus how to use your canned meat
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Although we have a big freezer, I can up most of our meat. We raise beef cattle, turkeys, chickens, and we hunt, so we have a lot of meat. (Besides that, I...
Livestock fencing for the small homesteader, part 2
By Don Lewis
In the last issue of Backwoods Home Magazine, we covered Part 1 of livestock fencing for the small homesteader. The article included some of the history, requirements, and methods for siting and...
Livestock fencing for the small homesteader
By Don Lewis
In 1874, a United States patent (#157,124) was issued to Joseph F. Glidden, a long-serving sheriff in DeKalb County, Illinois. His invention — possibly one of the simplest ever recorded by the...
Emergency treatment for fire-related injuries
By Joe Alton, M.D.
If confronted by a fast-moving wildfire, your chances of avoiding death or injury depend on a plan of action that is easy to understand and quick to implement. Some form of...
Changing the odds in home fire protection
By Don Lewis
From Jan. 1 to Nov. 15, 2018, there were 51,898 wildfires across the United States, burning over 8.5 million acres. Despite the commonly held belief that wildfires are predominately a western concern,...
The Five “P”s: A fire evacuation grab ‘n’ go kit
By Patrice Lewis
In October 2017, the neighborhood I grew up in was incinerated by a wildfire. It was one of many during a devastating fire season. My parents had long since retired and moved...
