Moving on: A small town can be a haven during a depression

By Claire Wolfe Website Exclusive • September, 2010 One day last summer, I departed Last-Chance Gulch and the high desert, a U-Haul trailer bobbing behind. I aimed for my beloved Pacific Northwest where a friend had...

The community treasure chest

By Sandy Coates Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 Do you have odds and ends sitting around that you no longer need? Are you a "green" thinker, hating to throw items away that are still useful? Do...

Apple and Potato Soup

Recipe of the Week  Apple and Potato Soup  Courtesy of Don Peterson  Ingredients Soup: 4 Tablespoons butter 2 Leeks (white part only) , cleaned and sliced 5 cups tart Apples, peeled, cored, and chopped 6 cups Chicken Stock 2 cups...

No fuss, no muss, one-pan grouse supper

By Linda Gabris Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 Next best thing to spending a thrilling day on an upland trail is sitting down to a grouse supper, and here's a versatile dish that's fast, easy, and...

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice age. Is an ice age likely? Even possible? Consider this:...

Rural Building

By Martin Harris Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 From the architect's chair Before beginning any building project, it is usually beneficial, from a time and cost perspective, to think through all the possible alternatives, weighing the pros...

The threat of electromagnetic pulse!

By John Silveira Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 I like "doomsday" scenarios — even ridiculous ones, such as the supposed Mayan calendar prophecy for 2012 or what had been Y2K doom-and-gloom leading up to the year...

Just for Kids: Visit the great prairies

By Lucy Shober Issue #35 • September/October, 1995 Did you ever get an urge to just take off and go someplace exotic? Maybe the North Pole or the Amazon river basin? If you would care to...

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...

Looking back on 20 years of BHM

It all began when I built that cabin By Dave Duffy Originally published in the November/December 2009 issue of BHM I was freezing when I slipped into my old down-filled Army sleeping bag. But I was used...

Which wars work best? The ones we fight or the ones we avoid?

By Dave Duffy Issue #102 • November/December, 2006 History is supposed to teach us the lessons of wars past so we won't blunder into stupid wars in the present. Since I have mixed feelings about our...

Shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and creating with Margaret Boos

By Annie Duffy Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 "If you're going to make something that you want to last, why not start with good quality material," says Margaret Boos who raises and spins her own wool....

The Home Citrus Orchard

By Anita Evangelista Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 It may seem like an impossible dream if you live outside of southern Florida, California, or Texas, but you can grow a home "backyard" orchard of oranges, lemons,...

A simple backwoods hay baler

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 During the winter months, Steve and his wife Tandy feed between 120 and 150 bales of hay to a herd of pretty high-quality dairy goats on their...

Perspectives on the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting

By Massad Ayoob Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 The media told us a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain and wannabe cop with gun-derived courage was on patrol when he profiled a young child because he was black...

Design calculations for no-head, low-head waterwheels

By Rudy Behrens Issue #17 • September/October, 1992 (This is the second of our three-part series on waterwheels. The third installation (Issue No. 18) will deal with overshot wheels. -- Editor.) For those of you who are...