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...

Fermented dill pickles

Recipe of the Week  Fermented dill pickles  Courtesy of Olivia Miller   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 50-60 smooth small cucumbers 1 oz. whole mixed spices dill 1 lb. pure salt 1 gallon water 1 pint cider...

The world’s least-free country

By John Silveira Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Here's a quiz: Which is the freest country on earth? The answer's easy. It's the United States. Ask anyone. And why are we the freest? Not because we're...

Tackling the real problems that face us

By Dave Duffy Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 Thank goodness most of the apocalyptic scenarios the doom and gloomers talk about are either founded upon faulty premises or, if based on science, are extremely rare occurrences....

Stewed tomatoes

Recipe of the Week  Stewed tomatoes  Courtesy of Alice Brantley Yeager   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 gallon ripe tomatoes 2 cups onions, coarsely chopped 1 cup celery, coarsely chopped 1 cup sweet peppers,...

Can we make a Tyrannosaurus rex from a chicken?

By John Silveira Issue #169 • January/February, 2018   Do you have chickens, ducks, turkeys, or geese in your yard? They’re not “just birds” because scientists now realize birds are dinosaurs. Real dinosaurs! For 150 million years,...

Successful cold storage

By Sylvia Gist Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 Crisp carrot sticks, fresh cabbage, and fried potatoes from my Montana garden in June? Yes, but only if I've kept them in cold storage from last summer's garden. A...

Sew a baby quilt in two days… for a lifetime of memories

By Ilene Duffy Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 During my last year of teaching school, I was pregnant with Jacob. I'll always remember receiving a beautifully crocheted baby blanket that one of my student's mothers made...

Secure and Economical Livestock Feed

By Sherry Willis   Issue #145 • January/February, 2014     The recent droughts in the midwest have meant hard times for many livestock owners. Areas without irrigation saw parched earth without a scrap of green anywhere. Corn withered...

Breastfeeding — Babies love it, and for good reason

By Rebekah L. Cowell Issue #115 • January/February, 2009 Here's a secret mothers have known since the beginning of time: breastfeeding is the most pro-active, sustainable action a mother can take, and it is so easy....

Tomato and coriander salad

Recipe of the Week  Tomato and coriander salad  Courtesy of Habeeb Salloum   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 5 medium-sized tomatoes, quartered, then thinly sliced 3/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves 1 tsp. salt...

Bacon-Avocado Potato Salad

Recipe of the Week  Bacon-Avocado Potato Salad   Courtesy of Mavis Linder  Ingredients 6 medium boiling potatoes 2 avocados, cubed 8 slices bacon 1/2 cup chopped onions, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1/2 cup white wine 1/4 cup...

The perfect holiday meal

By Jackie Clay Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 There are no cultures in the world, nor have there been, that did not have feast days. From prehistoric times to yesterday, food has always played an important...

Crispy onion rings

Recipe of the Week  Crispy onion rings  Courtesy of Jo Mason   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 4 or 5 medium-sized yellow onions 1-1/2 cups flat beer 1-1/4 cups flour 1/4 cup corn meal shortening for...

Easy-to-make farmer’s cheese

By Leah Leach Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 Ingredients Making cheese is one of the easiest and most satisfying tasks that you can accomplish in the homestead kitchen. While there are many wonderful cheeses out there to...

Plantation Coffee Punch

Recipe of the Week  Plantation Coffee Punch  Courtesy of Louise Johnson  Ingredients 1/3 cup instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water 5 cups milk 1 cup whipping cream, whipped 2 cups vanilla ice cream 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla Method Mix the dissolved instant...