Free article Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Seed art — It’s fun to collect the seeds and create these unusual pictures

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #42 • November/December, 1996 Seed art is an old craft going back to long, long ago. Where the art of turning seeds into pictures first began is obscured by time, and...

Canning chickens for the pantry

By Samantha Biggers Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 For the past three years my husband and I have raised Cornish Cross broilers in chicken tractors on our farm in western North Carolina. This past year we...

You can safely and easily can your own meat

By Jackie Clay Issue #105 • May/June, 2007 Of all the foods I can every year, the most useful is the wide variety of meats. While we aren't huge meat eaters, these rows and rows of...

Hunting, processing, and serving black bear

By Linda Gabris Issue #162 • November/December, 2016 Bear was a popular meat in our house when I was growing up in the rural woods. Black bear was Grandpa's favorite big game animal to hunt and...

Earth’s greatest cookies

Recipe of the Week Earth’s greatest cookies Courtesy of Darlene Campbell You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 2 sticks margarine (1 cup) 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup...

Space heater safety tips

By Tom Kovach Issue #90 • November/December, 2004 If you are going to try to take the chill out of your home without turning on your main sources of heat, or if you want to add...

Fail-proof white bread

Recipe of the Week Fail-proof white bread Courtesy of Jackie Clay You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 Tbsp. dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water 1/2 tsp. honey 4 cups hot water 3 Tbsp. shortening 1 Tbsp....

Solar Building Design

By Steven Heckeroth Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Solar building design has been used since ancient times. In the more recent past, it has been more or less ignored as impractical, complicated, or too expensive. Incorporating...

Subduction zone tsunami — What the residents of the Pacific Northwest have to fear

By John Silveira Issue #94 • July/August, 2004 I was sitting in my cubicle poring over a map of the Oregon coastactually, just that part of the coast that is Gold Beach where Backwoods...

An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home

By Massad Ayoob Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 Everything's getting more expensive. Food. Gasoline. Guns and ammunition. Not everyone who appreciates the rural lifestyle was "born with a gun in their hand" the way some of...

Solar charge controllers — myths, hype, and facts

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 Most people with a basic understanding of solar power are aware they need a solar module and a storage battery to power an electrical device using...

Chuck meets Bubba

By John Silveira Issue #68 • March/April, 2001 What follows happened a decade and a half ago. I worked in a large corporation where I shared a large cubicle with two other guys. I'll call them...

Preparing for civil unrest

By Claire Wolfe Issue #118 • July/August, 2009 The most remarkable thing about civil unrest is that there hasn't been more of it. Politicians are making a hash of this country and much of the rest of...

Catfish Biscuits

By Danny Fulks Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 Danny Fulks, 71, grew up in southern Ohio where his parents worked the land and milked cows, and his tightly written stories paint a vivid picture of life...

Layered casserole

Recipe of the Week Layered casserole Courtesy of Nathele Graham You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 cup uncooked rice 1 can whole-kernel corn, drained 2 cups tomato sauce 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup finely chopped...

Spicy Beef and Peppers

Recipe of the Week Spicy Beef and Peppers Courtesy of Yvonne Melillo Ingredients 2 lb sirloin steak, cut in 1/2 inch strips 2 bell peppers, cut in strips 2 cups chopped onion 6 green chiles, skinned, seeded, chopped 2 teaspoons fresh...