Farm and garden Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Growing the Eternal Tomato

By Leonard Trebor Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 It's an old story to longtime gardeners (and a new story to novices): each spring you buy some superb tomato plants, set them out on May 1 (or...

Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden

By Jackie Clay Issue #51 • May/June, 1998 Every person who is striving for self-reliance should, and most do, plant a garden from which to raise a good portion of their own food. But how many...

Save Time and Energy with the Fenced Chicken Coop/Garden

By John Silveira Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 My engineer father was not fond of wasting time or energy. He was always searching for a better, more efficient way to perform chores, especially chores that reoccurred...

Want More Fruit From Less Space? Espalier Your Trees!

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #79 • January/February, 2003 After originating in the semi-arid regions of the middle east, espaliering (is-'pal-yer-ing) became a commonly employed fruit tree growing method of the Greco-Roman world. Later, during the...

Start a Self-Sufficiency Garden Even in a Cramped Apartment

By Nancy Wolcott Issue #61 • January/February, 2000 You are sitting there in your recliner chair in your small city apartment desperately longing for the day when you can escape to the country and become a...

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

By Robert Van Putten Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 Apples are an important food resource for us. Every year we store hundreds of pounds in our root cellar where they will keep for up to six...

Rotten Luck: The Skinny on Composting

By Patrice Lewis Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 For much of human history, people have tried to prevent things from rotting. Literally every food preservation method we've come up with in the past few thousand years...

Blueberry Cash Crop

By Ed Mashburn Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 My almost two-year-old grandson loves blueberries. Put a bowl of those round blue jewels in front of him, and he's a happy little man. He's not alone. Many...

Nut Trees on Your Homestead

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #149 • September/October, 2014 While growing up in Detroit, we had no nut trees in our yard (though we did have seedlings before I left home). That didn't stop my parents, though....

An Introduction to Small-Scale Home Hydroponics

By Ben Richards Issue #154 • July/August, 2015 As most people are already aware, hydroponics is the practice of growing plants without soil. This is done by using a water-based nutrient solution to deliver the necessary...

Woodchuck-Proof the Garden

By Setanta O'Ceillaigh  Issue #160 • July/August, 2016 The cycle never ends: As soon as one garden pest is dealt with, another takes its place. Last...

Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style

By Roy Martin Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 A hotbed is a miniature greenhouse that is heated to protect new seedlings from cold. The hotbed differs from a cold frame in that it has an internal...

Companion Planting

By Beverly Mettot Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 Companion planting is nothing new, and yet in recent years it has made an extraordinary comeback, not only in fooling those pesky pests who thrive on fruits and...

The Homestead Greenhouse

By Charles Sanders Issue #67 • January/February, 2001 For those of us living close to the land, the production of a dependable and healthful food supply is a primary objective. To that end, some consideration will...

Grow Your Own Dishrags

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Some of us are thrifty beyond measure, even growing our own dishrags. None of those flimsy, store bought cotton things for us. Our...

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...