Build a Heated Germination Bed

By Charles Sanders Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Many of us who garden have learned the benefits of starting our own vegetable and flower plants. There are several benefits to having a spot to start your...

Build a graceful footbridge

By Harrison Stone Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Tap your heels together three times and repeat after me, "There is no place like home—There is no place like home—There is no place like home, especially when...

Make a Quick and Easy Tipi

By Bob Van Putten Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 The native peoples of North America were a very practical lot. Over the centuries they developed some very efficient tools. Yet, perhaps because of their appreciation of...

Turning a $10,000 House into a Home — Part 1: Salvaging the Wreck

By Claire Wolfe Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 December 2012. Welcome to my house as I first saw it. The door opens onto a dirt-floored room. It's not a garage, not a storeroom, not a laundry room,...

Build a chicken tractor

By Connie Rabun Issue #127 • January/February, 2011 In the beginning we had chickens...and no coop! Any homesteader knows that the number one rule is to always have your animal housing prepared before you invest in...

Easy awnings

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #149 • September/October, 2014 A window without an awning is like a lamp without a shade — bare and glaring. In my opinion there's not a window around that wouldn't look better...

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

By Doug Fluckiger Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 My secret passion is tall, dark, and handsome. I may find her lying luxuriantly among a dark grove of firs. She may be standing proudly on a sunny...

Trusses — Low cost marvels to roof over most large spaces

By Martin Harris Issue #23 • September/October, 1993 When you strip away all the frills, building construction is nothing more than enclosing a volume of space to create a micro-climate for human activity. You can call...

Shake update

By David Lee Website Exclusive • January, 2005 Since my shake article was published in Backwoods Home Magazine, Issue #88, I have learned that some of the more ambitious and better-looking readers have gone out and...

Build a log crib

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 Baby Zane is probably the only newborn in Hollywood sleeping in a log crib made by his grandmother in Oregon, but it was inevitable. The finished log crib. Dorothy uses...

Build an all-purpose ladder

By Robert L. Williams Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 The story never varies. If I am doing outside work and need a ladder, I spend nearly as much...

PVC pipe in the home, garden, farm, and workshop

By Charles Sanders Issue #94 • July/August, 2005 Perhaps one of the most important innovations in modern plumbing has been the development of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), and related plastic pipe. These materials...

Determined woman builds distinctive vertical log studio

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #27 • May/June, 1994 When I graduated from high school in 1960, my father wrote in my autograph book, "When you get married and have twins, don't come to me for safety...

Installing a steel roof

By Norman Bennett Issue #126 • November/December, 2010 One of the reasons steel roofs have become so popular is the simplicity and economy with which they can be placed over an old shingle roof. Still, despite...

The poor man’s ceramic knife sharpener

By Rick Brannan Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 There are few things more frustrating and dangerous than working with a dull knife. In my quest for a sharp knife, I have purchased many different styles of...

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...