Free article Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Breaking Ice on Hard Water Fishing — A Cool Introduction to a Fun Sport

By Linda Gabris Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 Only thing hard about hard water fishing is the ice. Once you've broken through that obstacle, the rest is easy gliding. Ice fishing is great sport for the...

Pear honey

Recipe of the Week Pear honey Courtesy of Alice Brantley Yeager You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 qt. of ground Kieffer pears (peel and core before grinding) 3 cups sugar juice of...

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...

When “good” laws are bad

By John Silveira Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 I recently read an opinion piece on CNN's website titled, Edison would've loved the new light bulb law. It's supposed to be about the new law to force...

How to begin taking wildlife photographs

By H. Bumper Bauer Issue #120 • November/December, 2009 If you want to get into wildlife photography, your timing could not be better. Many serious amateur and professional photographers are upgrading their 35mm film cameras to...

A brief history of health and medicine

By John Silveira Issue #100 • July/August, 2006 As little as a century ago, the average life span in the United States was 49 years. Today it is 77. Fifty years ago, the average life span...

Bob’s basic breads for beginners, bachelors, barbarians, and backwoodsmen

By Bob Van Putten Issue #173 • September/October, 2018 I reckon it takes a lot of gall for me to write about bread because compared to my wife I’ll never be anything but a rank amateur...

Clover — From Livestock Forage to Medicinal Tea, This Humble Plant is One of...

By Eugene Mitchell Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 Whether young or old, lying in the grass and searching for four-leafed clovers is timeless fun. Sometimes they're so elusive, like the leprechaun, it seems they don't exist....

Tortellini Soup

Recipe of the Week Tortellini Soup Courtesy of Martha Desimone Ingredients 6 cups chicken broth 3/4 cup onion, chopped 1 cup carrot, diced fine 4 to 6 green chiles, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 tablespoon olive oil 10 to 12 ouces...

The vanishing outhouse

By Tom Kovach Issue #79 • January/February, 2003 A person recently wrote to a large Midwest newspapers' advice column asking for information about outdoor privies. It seems that this person's family inherited a log cabin from...

Green or Yellow: Grow Your Best Bush Beans Ever

By Lisa LaFreniere Issue #62 • March/April, 2000 Bush Beans, or snap beans as they're sometimes referred to, are a growing favorite among many gardeners, and with good reason. Beans are high in vitamins A, C...

Is that a good pig?

By Kim Dieter Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 Lean ham, roasts, chops, savory sausage, and thick slices of bacon are the reason pigs are raised at home. A typical meat pig weighs 200 to 270 pounds...

My garden — A springboard of food, pleasure, and history

By Habeeb Salloum Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 "You mean that from this postage-size garden you grow enough vegetables and herbs to last you all year?" my friend asked in disbelief as he watched me plant...

Fruit Trees

By Alice B. Yeager Fall winds down with the ripening of a Japanese persimmon known as the Fuyugaki variety. Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 There's not one of us who...

Banana, blueberry, and peach scones

By Ilene Duffy Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 My friend Alison and I have known each other a long time. We were roommates in college for several years, and then we both had three boys at...

Persimmon cookies

Recipe of the Week Persimmon cookies Courtesy of Charles A. Sanders You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 cup persimmon pulp 3/4 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. baking soda 2 cups flour 1 tsp....