A New Use for Old Tires: A Garden Using Tires

By Charles Sanders Issue #98 • March/April, 2006 There are mountains of old tires out there. Americans keep on rolling and tires keep on wearing out. Every year there is almost one scrap tire created for...

Build a chicken feeder on the cheep cheep cheep

By Linda Slate Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 While searching for a large quantity (five pounds or more) feeder for my backyard flock, I kept running into the same problem—cost. My last trip to the farm...

Three more ways the world can end … and I’m not kidding

By John Silveira Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 "What are you doing?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw O.E. MacDougal, Dave's poker-playing friend from Southern California, and he's now my friend, too. Accompanying him was...

The greatest American who was never President

By John Silveira Issue #60a • November/December, 1999 "The election's next year, right?" I asked. Dave Duffy, the publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine, was editing a rather lengthy article on water. I don't know if he didn't...

Canning 101 — Pickles, fruits, jams, jellies, etc.

By Jackie Clay Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 For some reason, (definitely unknown to me) canning, as a method of very long term food storage, fell into disuse. Maybe it's the hurry/rush syndrome many folks have...

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...

Cut your grocery bill in half

By C. M. Hudman Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 There was a time when I despised grocery shopping. Every time I walked into a grocery store it seemed the dollars were simply sucked out of my...

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...

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

<!-- Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire By Brent Stainer --> By Brent Stainer These firefighters fought hard to save this house, but the best way to save your house is to make basic preparations...

Where our farm animals come from

<!-- Where our farm animals come from By John Silveira --> Issue #105 • May/June, 2007 We don't know how far back the domestication of animals goes. But we do know it is a process, rather than a single...

Let’s stop apologizing for guns

By Dave Duffy Issue #62 • March/April, 2000 I carry a concealed Ruger P97 .45 caliber eight-shot semi-automatic handgun almost everywhere I go, and I keep a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle with folding stock in my...

Tabbouleh

Recipe of the Week  Tabbouleh  Courtesy of Jeremy Finich  This salad is considered a staple in may middle eastern homes. Eat it spooned onto your favorite crackers, spread on pita bread or as a side dish to...

The ‘Chocolate Tree’ Isn’t Just for Kids

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 My grandson Tommy was probably 50 feet up off the ground when he hollered, "Catch this one, Grandpa!" With those words of warning he dropped another gunny...

Baby bok choy with tofu

Recipe of the Week  Baby bok choy with tofu  Courtesy of Leland Edward Stone   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 3 cups baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise or veggies of...

Gardening Tips and Tricks

By Charles Sanders Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 Gardeners are an ingenious lot. Trial and error, time, study, observation, and experience all help us to come up with ideas that result in better gardens, more produce,...

Garlic – the glorious bulb

By Linda Gabris Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 Whether you know it as ail in French, lashun in Hindi, da suan in Chinese, aglio in Italian, fokhagyma in Hungarian or plain old garlic in English, the...