For summertime baking needs, build yourself an outdoor horno

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 My family has always been big on birthdays and holidays—including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, New Years, and so on. Every holiday is a major...

Adventures with a portable sawmill

By Pat Barden Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 I was raised in the suburbs and spent most of my adult life living in apartments and houses in the suburbs. Dad was career civil service and had...

Here’s an Easier (and Cheaper) Way to Make Wooden Beams

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #43 • January/February, 1997 I know that there are a lot of really fine products available for turning logs into lumber, from bandsaw sawmills to chainsaw attachments. I've seen a lot...

Build your own home in two years — Get a PhD in homebuilding

By David Lee Issue #115 • January/February, 2009 There is an old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." Curse or not, times are interesting. We have world crises, national troubles, state level problems, county...

Build A Hybrid Go-Kart For Kids For $150

By Dorothy Ainsworth Website Exclusive • May, 2010 Grandma Clara used to delight in telling us the story of our Dad's first complete sentence at age 2 when he received a toy car for Christmas: "It's...

A salvaged oak floor for $5

By Robert L. Williams Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 Several months ago we decided we did not want to install a traditional bedroom floor of plywood and carpet. We had several reasons, but the major ones...

Five building tricks for super strong framing

By Don Fallick Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 I was standing on the edge of the roof overhang, holding two bundles of asphalt shingles, when my boss's son drove up. He looked at me, then took...

Build a portable woodstove for $30

By David Scott Matthews Issue #78 • November/December, 2002 I had a problem. Other men love football, baseball, basketball, or golf. I love to hunt. And the animal I love to hunt more than any other...

Small engine maintenance for women

By Michelle Richards Issue #24 • November/December, 1993 How many small engines do you have on your homestead? I counted mine the other day and came up with eight. These engines help me live a simple...

Woodbarrow

By Setanta O’Ceillaigh When I first abandoned a slum town and fled back to the countryside I gathered and carried firewood with a laundry basket. Later on I acquired a collection of salvaged tools like...

Build a Simple, Inexpensive Greenhouse

By Jennifer Poindexter Issue #157 • January/February, 2016 Since my family is homesteading on a budget, the task of building a greenhouse had to be done as inexpensively as possible. Luckily, my husband is extremely crafty;...

Making a wooden kitchen countertop

By Patrice Lewis One of the advantages of living a homesteading lifestyle is participants can kick aside the ever-changing concepts of what constitutes “classy” home interior design. Those model-perfect suburban abodes often hold no appeal...

How to build a good fence for your homestead

<!-- How to build a good fence for your homestead By Charles Sanders --> By Charles Sanders Issue #103 • January/February, 2007 One of the basic fixtures on a homestead is fencing. Fences are used to keep animals in, or...

Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars

By Rick Brentlinger Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 If I could show you how to manufacture a product anywhere in the country and if I offered to find you the raw materials free, would you be...

Build Your Own Car Wash

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #133 • January/February, 2012 Completed car wash in operation If someone told me a year ago that I would have a commercial car wash behind my garage, I would have laughed....

A Kid-Friendly Chicken Coop

By Melissa Souza <!-- >!>!>!> Make content-2-col-left = 70% if activating this column --> Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 My family is committed to becoming as self-sufficient as possible, and a huge part of that is growing...