Can she bake an apple pie, Billy Boy?
By Jackie Clay
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Okay, I know in the song it's "cherry" pie, but what the heck, we all love apple pies, don't we? Unfortunately, few people bake good old fashioned apple...
A Child’s Garden — More than Child’s Play
By Jackie Clay
Issue #69 • May/June, 2001
There are many things parents can give their children, other than plastic toys or a few bucks to play video games at the mall. And one of the...
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...
Bread — The staff of life
By Jackie Clay
Issue #78 • November/December, 2002
In today's hurry-up, prosperous world, bread has come to mean that white, pasty stuff you buy in the store and slap together into boring, equally tasteless sandwiches. Or...
How to Grow Great Carrots
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #153 • May/June, 2015
Carrots are an old-time homesteader favorite. They can be frozen, canned, dehydrated, or simply stored in a cool location.
They are nutritious, too, being a great source of beta...
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...
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...
Quince preserves
Recipe of the Week
Quince preserves
Courtesy of
Jackie Clay
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2 qts. water
7 cups pared, cored, quartered quinces
Method
When preparing quinces, discard all gritty parts....
Goat milk recipes
By Jackie Clay
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
One of my greatest joys is having a bounty of fresh milk from my goats come spring. And as I had two does milking on our new homestead...
Goat birthing and raising kids
By Jackie Clay
Issue #112 • July/August, 2008
Dairy goats form one of the cornerstones of our homestead. Not only do they provide milk, cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, and meat, but they also give us...
Build Your Own Hoop House
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #171 • May/June, 2018
I’ve had my own garden for more than half a century, and I have learned a few things after all these years. One of the most valuable things...
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...
Asparagus au gratin
Recipe of the Week
Asparagus au gratin
Courtesy of
Jackie Clay
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
2 lbs. tender wild asparagus spears
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1...
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...
Grow Open-Pollinated Tomatoes
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #166 • July/August, 2017
Nearly all of us homesteaders grow tomatoes in our gardens. Tomatoes are hugely valuable as a homestead crop. After all, they give us a wide variety of products.
Many...
Building and stocking your pantry
By Jackie Clay
Issue #125 • September/October, 2010
At the turn of the 19th century, most country homes had a walk-in pantry, as well as a root cellar for keeping vegetables and fruits. This pantry contained...