How to Grow Potatoes

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Potato plants need plenty of sunshine, a well drained soil, and no weed or grass interference. Ideal soil is a loose sandy loam with plenty of humus...

Is the Mainstream Media Finally Recognizing How the War on Drugs is Destroying Our...

By John Silveira December 17, 1999 The December 1999 issue of Harper's Magazine has a headline the likes of which I'd given up ever seeing on the cover of a mainstream magazine. The newsstand jacket...

Make adobe bricks

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #110 • March/April, 2008 Last winter I got a phone call from an old friend in Arizona. One of his sons had fallen in love, gotten the girl in trouble, and...

Building a Ferro-Cement Shed

<!-- --> By Robert Van Putten Issue #162 • November/December, 2016 For a year and a half, we lived in an 18-foot travel trailer while building a straw bale cottage. There isn't much space in a travel trailer,...

We don’t need no steenking 2nd Amendment

By John Silveira Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 I usually get up to the magazine from southern California in plenty of time for the bimonthly deadline. Not this issue. I was late and way behind. But...

Honey whole wheat bread

Recipe of the Week  Honey whole wheat bread  Courtesy of Jackie Clay   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1/2 cup warm water 2 Tbsp. dry yeast 1/2 tsp. honey 2 cups warm water 1 Tbsp. salt 2...

The adventures of a first-time homesteader

By Jessie Denning Issue #160 • July/August, 2016   In November of 2015, my husband and I moved onto our 50-acre parcel of land in a 28-foot travel trailer -- with no knowledge of homesteading except what...

Zucchini casserole

Recipe of the Week  Zucchini casserole  Courtesy of Pat Ward   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 2 lbs. zucchini 1 large onion, chopped 1/3 cup raw long grain rice 1 can cream of mushroom soup 2...

Kalbi Chim

Recipe of the Week  Kalbi Chim (Korean steamed beef ribs)  Courtesy of Lois Kwan  Ingredients 2 - 3 pounds beef ribs 1-1/2 cups water 6 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon rice-wine (sake) 6 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons sesame 1 tablespoon sesame oil...

Flowers Brighten the Garden

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Website Exclusive • March, 2006 Along with raising food plants, I like to tuck in a few flowers — both annuals and perennials. There's something about bright orange...

Anne’s Sausage and Cabbage

Recipe of the Week  Anne's Sausage and Cabbage  Courtesy of Elizabeth Flora  Ingredients 8 slices Bacon 4 Italian Sausages, casings removed 1 large Onion, chopped 1 large Cabbage, shredded 1-1/2 cups Chicken Broth Salt & Pepper to taste Cayenne Pepper...

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

<!-- Avian Flu How afraid of this chicken should you be? By John Silveira --> Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 There's been a lot of talk in the mass media recently about Avian flu, also known as Bird flu and...

Why oil and other fossil fuels are good

By John Silveira Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 Last issue I concluded The Last Word saying I'd "... talk about the myth of oil destroying the environment." But between issues I thought about it and realized...

Irish coffee

Recipe of the Week  Irish coffee  Courtesy of Ivan Brown  Thanks to Ivan for this recipe, which we present here as it was submitted, with just a few formatting changes for the web site. St Patrick's Day is just...

The curse of oil

By John Silveira Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 To many, the oil beneath the sands of the Middle East is a kind of godsend for them. My take on it is that it's illusionary wealth in...

Answering some well asked questions about personal defense

By Massad Ayoob Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Jeff Yago, Backwoods Home's energy writer, recently completed a couple of concealed carry handgun courses. The classes apparently left some questions hanging in the air, and Jeff passed...