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...

Be a Viking: Brew wild-crafted mead

By Jereme Zimmerman Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 I am preparing honey, water, and flavoring ingredients for a batch of mead made with a commercial yeast. Mead (honey wine) is one of the simplest alcoholic beverages to...

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...

Adventures with a portable sawmill

By Pat Barden Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 I was raised in the suburbs and spent most of my adult life living in apartments and houses in the suburbs. Dad was career civil service and had...

The world is ending! … Again?

By John Silveira Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 People love to talk about scary stuff. Especially when it's end-of-the-world scary, such as the big asteroid recently in the news that was supposed to hit Earth and...

SARS — Is this a glimpse of the future?

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Website Exclusive • March, 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, is a new respiratory disease that has recently infected people in Asia, Europe, and North America. The emergence of this disease...

Ribeye Steak with Chianti Sauce

Recipe of the Week  Ribeye Steak with Chianti Sauce  Courtesy of Ellen Lancer  Ingredients 4 boneless ribeye steaks 2 Tablespoons peanut oil Salt and pepper 1 Cup Chianti 1/2 Cup beef stock 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 Tablespoon shallots,...

Fried chicken for breakfast

By Danny Fulks Issue #88 • July/August, 2004 Danny Fulks, 71, is one of those rare writers capable of painting a vivid picture of life back in another time. His stories focus on the 20s, 30s,...

Succulent venison stew

Recipe of the Week  Succulent venison stew  Courtesy of Edith Helmich   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 3-4 lbs. fat-trimmed venison, cut into 2-inch cubes Marinade: 2 thinly sliced onions 1 thinly sliced carrot 2 stalks...

If you can boil water you can make a good stew

By Richard Blunt Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 Since childhood, homemade soups and stews have been high on my list of favorite foods. The aroma of a savory soup or stew slowly simmering on the stove...

Our energy crisis Part 3 — Alternative energy resources for the nation and for...

By John Silveira Issue #118 • July/August, 2009 The first installment of this energy series (Backwoods Home Magazine, September/October 2008) dealt with the fossil fuels which include petroleum, coal, and natural gas. The second installment (Backwoods...

Guns, suicide prevention, and backwoods lifestyles

By Massad Ayoob Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 Note to readers: I've served for going on twenty years as firearms editor of Backwoods Home Magazine. The following article is going to be somewhat different from what...

Helping crackpots kill kids

By John Silveira February 23, 2000 I've moved to Oregon and one of the first "privileges" in this state I intend to avail myself of is the state's easy-to-obtain concealed weapon permit. Never mind that the...

Finding the best dog for the country life

By Anita Evangelista Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 When you're looking for a dog to fit into your country life, there are few other topics as liable to get you into a fistfight. People get very...

Testing Soil

By Tom Kovach Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests are needed because some plants prefer slightly acidic soil, while...

Build a wood-fired stock tank heater

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 Keeping fresh water in front of our livestock in the winter has always been somewhat of a problem. A long time ago, when we lived on a homestead...