Free article Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Rural Building

By Martin Harris Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Q. We have just purchased 15 acres, and our question is how to install our septic system, how far away from the on-site stream and can we use...

Build an inexpensive but durable jackleg fence

By Dynah Geissal Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 When we moved to our land in the summer of 1994, we were fortunate that open grazing exists where we live because we had to build shelters for...

Hunting to Fill the Dinner Pot

By Len McDougall Issue #110 • March/April, 2008 It was November in northern Michigan, and I was supposed to be deer hunting, but it seemed I'd brought the wrong gun today. The deer I did see...

Fireplace cooking cures the winter blues

By Robert L. Williams Issue #19a • January/February, 1993 Several years ago we experienced a prolonged winter storm that left power lines down and thousands of people without heat, hot water, and operative cookstoves. And for...

Why I’m nice to telemarketers

By John Silveira July 22, 2000 We complain because they bug us during supper. Of course, it wouldn't make sense for them to call us at 1:00 in the afternoon because we're not usually home then....

Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead

By Jackie Clay Issue #109 • January/February, 2008 When I was a child, I used to read and re-read the chick section in our Sears and Roebuck catalog. Imagine! For only two cents you could buy...

Pizza Casserole

Recipe of the Week Pizza Casserole Courtesy of Michael Pirazi Ingredients 1-1/2 pounds Italian sausage 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped green olives 1 cup sliced mushrooms 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon oregano 1/4 teaspoon pepper 12 ounces thin egg noodles 2-1/2 cups (20 ounces) pizza...

Gardening with a Chicken Tractor

By Brianna Stone  Issue #161 • September/October, 2016 This spring, my parents let me enlarge my garlic business and till up three 600-square-foot beds for planting...

Buckboard bacon

By Tanya Kelley Issue #131 • September/October, 2011 Last year, our family processed a hog for the first time. We made roasts, pork chops, bacon, Italian sausage, breakfast link sausages, and hams. All of the results...

Shopping to beat inflation

By Darlene Campbell Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Most of us who read BHM agree that self sufficient living can be debt free, but we also worry about inflation. The word inflation is used to describe...

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....

Chicken with galanga in coconut milk soup

Recipe of the Week Chicken with galanga in coconut milk soup Courtesy of John Silveira This excellent recipe requires a few unusual ingredients. You should be able to find them at any Asian market though, and it...

The parasitic nature of bureaucracy

By Dave Duffy Issue #106 • July/August, 2007 As we go to print with this issue, my local newspaper's main page one headline reads: County tax levy soundly defeated. I applauded at my desk to the...

Keeping homestead animals healthy

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #169 • January/February, 2018 As a veterinary field technician for more than 20 years, I saw firsthand the frustration and heartbreak when animal owners called the veterinarian (or started treatment) too late...

Pickled Sweet Green Tomatoes

Recipe of the Week Pickled Sweet Green Tomatoes Courtesy of Jessica Sackmann Ingredients 16 cups green Tomatoes, sliced ( 10 to 11 lbs.) 2 cups Onions, sliced ¼ cup canning or pickling Salt 4 cups Vinegar (5%) 3 cups brown Sugar 1...

Keeping your food cold — Solutions to refrigeration when electricity is scarce

By Michael Hackleman Issue #56 • March/April, 1999 Many readers of this magazine live in remote settings and generate their own electricity, often through solar, hydro, wind, or generator machines, storing the electricity generated in batteries....