The house that Dorothy built

<!-- The house that Dorothy built By Dorothy Ainsworth --> By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 This isn't the first time we've had an article by and about Dorothy Ainsworth. Throughout the text are editor's notes refering you...

For large quantity food dehydration try this homemade gem from the past

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #41 • September/October, 1996 The thing I like the most about Backwoods Home is that, unlike a lot of other magazines, the articles are written by folks who are actually doing...

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...

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...

Build an attached solar greenhouse

By David Lee Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 We planned it to be permanent, well built, and able to withstand the extremes of temperature, humidity, and weather a greenhouse must tolerate inside and out for many...

Build a pizza oven

By Mike Lorenzen Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 About a year ago, my wife and I traveled around Italy by car. We had lots of wood-fired pizza. Italians make their pizza very thin with some sauce,...

Build a cold smoker so you can make delicious squaw candy

By Jane Duquette Issue #148 • July/August, 2014 For delicious squaw candy, start with the freshest fish. One fresh July evening at our summer cabin in Soldotna, Alaska, my husband, Tom, and I sat with friends around...

Solar Building Design

By Steven Heckeroth Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Solar building design has been used since ancient times. In the more recent past, it has been more or less ignored as impractical, complicated, or too expensive. Incorporating...

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;...

How to Install a Steel Roof

By Morgan Barker <!-- >!>!>!> Make content-2-col-left = 70% if activating this column --> Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 Steel roofing isn't just for factories and barns anymore. The choice to go steel is fast gaining popularity...

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...

Build a compost tumbler

By Joe Mooney Issue #151 • January/February, 2015 A few years back, I caught myself becoming a bit frustrated with my compost pile. It seemed that I just couldn't produce compost as easily as I'd seen...

Build a stone wall

By Charles Sanders Issue #70 • July/August, 2001 The natural beauty of a stone wall has been romanticized in poem and picture for hundreds of years. There is a soothing permanence that can be seen in...

Herb Boxes from Fence Boards

By Maggie Larsen Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 During a binge of spring cleaning, I ventured outside and began to renovate the exterior of my home, a 47-foot trailer in a mobile home park. While waiting...

Building David’s Cabin, Part One

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #172 • July/August, 2018 Like most young folks today, our son David graduated high school, got a job, and went to college (accumulating student loans in the process). After that, he worked...

Build a pallet fence

By Clay Sawyer Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 If you have access to various sizes of free pallets, consider this idea for your next fence. Now I know for a fact that I would rather dig...