The perfect holiday meal
By Jackie Clay
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
There are no cultures in the world, nor have there been, that did not have feast days. From prehistoric times to yesterday, food has always played an important...
You can safely and easily can your own meat
By Jackie Clay
Issue #105 • May/June, 2007
Of all the foods I can every year, the most useful is the wide variety of meats. While we aren't huge meat eaters, these rows and rows of...
A recycled dresser makes a useful bathroom vanity
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #152 • March/April, 2015
Here's the finished vanity with our unfinished dresser
that will store our extra towels and linens.
We've had our log home built for more than eight years now, but until...
Avoiding common canning mistakes
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
Canning has been an important part of my life since I was a young girl helping my mother and grandmother can in our Detroit basement. I loved the...
Building your chicken coop
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #139 • January/February, 2013
Here's a coop we built from pallets and scrap lumber. The goats lived in one end and the chickens lived in the other. It was free and worked...
Build a wood-fired stock tank heater
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
Keeping fresh water in front of our livestock in the winter has always been somewhat of a problem. A long time ago, when we lived on a homestead...
Homestead burnout — What it is and how to avoid it
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
We've all been there: the roof is leaking on your temporary housing while you try to build a start on your new homestead. It's rained for a week...
A Native American feast
By Jackie Clay
Issue #66 • November/December, 2000
When the holidays roll around, a lot of folks get bored with the "same-old meal." You know, turkey, mashed potatoesthe whole traditional meal. But some adventurous families might...
How we found our remote backwoods home
By Jackie Clay
Issue #65 • September/October, 2000
Right now I'm sitting in a south-facing huge, sunny window, looking through our own private valley to a larger mountain valley below and the pine covered mountains beyond....
Medical kits for self-reliant families
By Jackie Clay
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
There may be a time, as close as tomorrow, when your loved ones need medication or medical treatment and there is no drug store open or doctor available....
Jackie’s tips for hardcore homesteading
By Jackie Clay
Issue #62
Many of us have a garden and enjoy fresh vegetables during the summer and fall. Maybe we even have a few chickens for eggs and meat. But many of us may...
Cooking from long-term food storage
By Jackie Clay
Issue #55 • January/February, 1999
All self-reliant families know they should have at least a year's worth of food and essential supplies stored up in a large pantry. Unfortunately, actually eating from long-term...
With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times
By Jackie Clay
Issue #55 • January/February, 1999
Today, many people are afraid that hard times are about to descend upon us because of the Y2K computer date problem, also known as the Millennium Bug. Others...
Canning 101 — Pickles, fruits, jams, jellies, etc.
By Jackie Clay
Issue #53 • September/October, 1998
For some reason, (definitely unknown to me) canning, as a method of very long term food storage, fell into disuse. Maybe it's the hurry/rush syndrome many folks have...
Commonsense preparedness just makes sense
By Jackie Clay
Issue #48 • November/December, 1997
What if that snowstorm turned to a blizzard or an ice storm lasted for days, knocking out the power and phone lines? Would you be prepared? Or what...
Moving to the wilderness — Turning the dream to reality
By Jackie Clay
Issue #36 • November/December, 1995
The Dream An increasing number of folks are having the same dream today: get a piece of land isolated from the stress and pollution of civilization, and...
