Homeschooling through high school

By Janet Leake Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 Why not? Whether you're experienced or inexperienced, whatever your situation, you already know why you want to homeschool your kids through high school. Now, what about how? We have...

An easier way to cut firewood By Larry LaVan

By Larry LaVan <!-- >!>!>!> Make content-2-col-left = 70% if activating this column --> Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 I've heated with firewood for nearly 50 years. In doing so, I knew my aging back would need...

Bottle-raise a calf

By Jackie Clay Issue #120 • November/December, 2009 If you think milk and beef are expensive in the grocery store, then you should think about raising a baby calf or two. Because corn and milk replacer...

Garden injuries Part 2

By Joseph Alton, M.D. Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 In the last issue of Backwoods Home, we discussed some of the hazards encountered by the homesteading gardener. Burns, cuts, abrasions, allergic reactions, and certain insect stings...

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

<!-- Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire By Brent Stainer --> By Brent Stainer These firefighters fought hard to save this house, but the best way to save your house is to make basic preparations...

Llamas guarding sheep? — Not such a far-fetched idea

By Karen McGeorge Sanders Issue #19 • January/February, 1993 It seems that farmers always need an extra pair of hands, but finding the money to pay the extra help is often impossible. You need the help...

Snapping Turtles

By Jason Akers Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 When the first of the snapping turtles roamed the lands during the Oligocene epoch in the Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era some 40 million years ago, they...

Pita bread

Recipe of the Week  Pita bread  Courtesy of Richard Blunt   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar 1 cup warm water (110°-115°) 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive...

Crabapple jelly

Recipe of the Week  Crabapple jelly  Courtesy of Charles A. Sanders   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 3 lbs. crabapples (about 10 cups, cut up) 4 cups water 2 cups sugar 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 1...

Aunt Ona’s Mandarin orange cake

Recipe of the Week  Aunt Ona’s Mandarin orange cake  Courtesy of Edwina Gower   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Cake Ingredients 1 butter cake mix (or yellow) 1 can mandarin oranges 4 eggs 1/2 cup oil Filling...

Making good jerky

By Randy Neumann Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 It is hard to find someone who doesn't like beef jerky. Or teriyaki jerky. Or turkey jerky. And I've had some Hawaiian pork jerky that was out of...

No fuss, no muss, one-pan grouse supper

By Linda Gabris Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 Next best thing to spending a thrilling day on an upland trail is sitting down to a grouse supper, and here's a versatile dish that's fast, easy, and...

Paying for social security with worthless $

By Dave Duffy Issue #117 • May/June, 2009 The year was 1976. I was 32 and writing a book about retirement planning with Tony Lamb, a noted 73-year-old activist who had taken up the cause of...

Solar Food Drying

By Marcella Shaffer Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 The oldest known method of food preservation is drying food using the heat from the sun. Unfortunately it has become the least used as freezers and pressure canners...

“Gun control” for dummies

By Massad Ayoob Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 Barack Obama, outspokenly anti-gun for his entire political career, fooled an amazing number of gun owners by keeping a "hands off" attitude toward Second Amendment issues until his...

Helping crackpots kill kids

By John Silveira February 23, 2000 I've moved to Oregon and one of the first "privileges" in this state I intend to avail myself of is the state's easy-to-obtain concealed weapon permit. Never mind that the...