Farm and garden Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Build a Keyhole Garden

By Katelynn Bond Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 One of the hazards of living on the side of a mountain in northern New Mexico is that I live on a rock. And I don't mean the...

Growing Productive Strawberries

By Edna Manning Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 Here on the Canadian prairies, I have found strawberries to be perhaps one of the most delicious, least-demanding and productive fruits I can grow in our Zone 2...

Your Manure Pile — For Fuel, Fertilizer, and Maybe Even Improved Water Quality, You...

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 It's been well over a decade now since I first heard my friend Pete voice his amazement at my practice of spreading animal manure as a fertilizer....

Naughty Peppers

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Issue #62 • March/April, 2000 If you are prudish, narrow-minded or puritanical, read no further as this article may offend you. If, however, you enjoy a good laugh...

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...

Put Your Garden to Bed for the Winter

By Jackie Clay Issue #95 • September/October, 2005 During the crispy fall afternoons, we listen often and intently to the weather forecasts. "It's going to be clear tonight," I'd tell my late husband, Bob, and my...

Gardening for Treasure

By Alice B. Yeager Tomatoes are a boon to mankind in health benefits. It doesn't matter whether they are the large or small varieties. Issue #93 • May/June, 2005 When we dig in...

Build a Composter

By Charles Sanders Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 As with most of the other facets of homesteading, composting can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish to make it. One of the easiest ways...

No Worrying About Fire Blight with Orient and Kieffer Pears

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 Everyone likes a good success story, and if I were called upon to name the most successful tree in our small orchard I'd have to say it's...

Grow Garlic and Reap Health Benefits

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Issue #98 • March/April, 2006 Garlic is one of our oldest herbs on record. Anyone can grow garlic without having to hover over it, hoping that it produces....

Gardening in the Desert Using Only Rainwater

By Joe Mooney Issue #147 • May/June, 2014 I've always found the use of seasonal rains by native peoples very fascinating. From the diversion of floodwaters in earthen berms to irrigation via "aquaduct," it seemed incredible...

The Potato Hole

By Sylvia Gist Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 Carrots go in sand in the green pail and potatoes can be sorted by type into plastic mesh bags. We had talked of putting in a regular root cellar,...

Build a Top-Bar Bee Hive

By Jereme Zimmerman Issue #175 • January/February/March, 2019 My journey to becoming a beekeeper has been a long one, and I’m still not quite there yet. For the past five years or so, I have read...

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...

Vermicomposting — Raise Worms to Consume Waste, Amend Soil, and Earn Income

By Rebekah L. Cowell Photos by Amanda Egdorf-Sand Issue #124 • July/August, 2010 Vermicomposting takes composting to another level using Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler, brandling, or manure worms) to break down organic matter such...

The Best City Garden

By Anita Evangelista Issue #103 • January/February, 2007 City gardens and country gardens are differentnot only in the amount of space each can fill, but in the types and quantities of...