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...

How to use those leftovers

By Marjorie Burris Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 Congratulations! You've worked hard and have enough food stored away to feed your family, possibly for a year or more. Now, go to your store room, pick up...

Solar-powered chicken coop

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 Pre-manufactured chicken coop with roof-mounted solar module I am sure many of you have raised large flocks of chickens for years as a normal part of rural...

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...

Kentucky Country Ribs

Recipe of the Week  Kentucky Country Ribs  Courtesy of Beverly Rossman  Ingredients 3 to 3 1/2 pounds pork country ribs, cut into single-rib sections 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup bourbon whisky (or apple juice) 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/4...

Aunt Ona’s Mandarin orange cake

Recipe of the Week  Aunt Ona’s Mandarin orange cake  Courtesy of Edwina Gower   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Cake Ingredients 1 butter cake mix (or yellow) 1 can mandarin oranges 4 eggs 1/2 cup oil Filling...

Small Town America: Thermopolis, WY — Horses and hot springs

By Emily Salinger Photos by Richard Coffinberry Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 When Nate and MaeCile Brown amble down the main street of Thermopolis, Wyoming, everybody recognizes them. They're old friends, honored citizens, and local characters. They...

We built John Silveira’s chicken coop/garden

By Suzy Lowry Geno Website Exclusive • April, 2007 I have what seems like mountains of great "fertilizer" from my barn full of English Angora rabbits. But between my work as a newspaper editor and caring...

Cauliflower-Ham Chowder

Recipe of the Week  Cauliflower-Ham Chowder  Courtesy of Edna LaFleur  Ingredients 2½ cups cubed, fully cooked Ham 2 cups sliced Cauliflowerets 2 cups peeled, cubed Potatoes 1/2 cup chopped Onion 3 cups milk 1 cup water 1 chicken Bouillon cube or 1 tsp. granules 1/8 tsp....

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...

Pot Roast With Spaghetti

Recipe of the Week  Pot Roast With Spaghetti  Courtesy of Beverly Rossman  Ingredients 3 pounds beef arm or blade pot roast 1 8 ounce can (1 cup) seasoned tomato sauce 1 6 ounce can (2/3 cup) tomato paste 1/2...

Build an Off-Grid Root Cellar, Garage, and Bunkhouse

By Robert Van Putten Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 My wife and I built our homestead by hand. I’m not a professional builder, so once in a while I make mistakes -- the garage we built...

The Trigger Line

By Len McDougall Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 With most of our planet underwater, fish have been a part of the human diet since before recorded history. Almost any permanent body of water can be presumed...

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 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...

Standby battery charging techniques can ensure engine startups

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 Those of us living beyond the suburbs own various sizes and types of yard and garden machinery. From the mandatory riding lawnmower for those weekend warriors...