Wheat

By Charles Sanders Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 There are few foods and crops that homesteaders consider as essential as wheat. In these days of pasty loaves of over-processed "store-bought" bread, the mere phrase "whole wheat"...

Solar suitcase

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #150 • November/December, 2014 Completed solar suitcase project From time to time, people call to ask what we have for emergency solar power suitable for a bug-out bag. Naturally, my first...

Activists on both the left and the right spotlight a broken federal government

By Claire Wolfe Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 On October 28, 2005, 400 citizens of Vermont met amid the pomp of their capitol building and voted to secede from the Union. The media, to say the...

Home Dairying

By Marcella Shaffer Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 There is a big difference between home dairying to produce food for your family and dairying to sell milk or milk byproducts to others. Since milk and dairy...

Man vs. the machine

By John Silveira Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 About 10 years ago, I was living in southern California and I was summoned for jury duty. I was glad to be called. I've always liked the concept...

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,...

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...

The saga of Benjamin, the backwoods, homeschool boy who wanted to get a job

By Margaret Wright Issue #37 • January/February, 1996 Raised in the woods of Northern Idaho, home schooled by loving, protective parents, he was a happy, carefree child for the first sixteen years of life. The sixteenth...

Apple-glazed Barbecued Chicken with Spring Vegetables

Recipe of the Week  Apple-glazed Barbecued Chicken with Spring Vegetables  Courtesy of Erika Sheets  Ingredients Chicken 1 cup apple juice 4 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons molasses 1/2 cup tomato puree 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1 cut-up whole...

Our journey to modern off-grid living

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 We’ve lived off the grid for decades. Throughout the years, we’ve traveled the path from living a very rustic lifestyle with few amenities to our current off-grid homestead...

Small engine maintenance for women

By Michelle Richards Issue #24 • November/December, 1993 How many small engines do you have on your homestead? I counted mine the other day and came up with eight. These engines help me live a simple...

Brood X

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Website Exclusive • March, 2004 Over the past couple of decades Generation X has seen plenty of mention among the different branches of the regular mass media. This year however the really...

Here’s an Easier (and Cheaper) Way to Make Wooden Beams

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #43 • January/February, 1997 I know that there are a lot of really fine products available for turning logs into lumber, from bandsaw sawmills to chainsaw attachments. I've seen a lot...

Seven secrets of Dutch oven cooking

By Roger L. Beattie Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 Squatting heavily in dank basements, drafty attics, and dusty, cluttered garages, these three-legged hulks from a bygone era wait impatiently to release their treasures. Until then, they...

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...

Preparedness for travelers

By Brad Rohdenburg Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 When the subject of preparedness comes up, do you think of having a stock of supplies in your kitchen pantry in case of a storm? Maybe a backpack...