Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead
By Jackie Clay
Issue #109 • January/February, 2008
When I was a child, I used to read and re-read the chick section in our Sears and Roebuck catalog. Imagine! For only two cents you could buy...
From triumph to tragedy to triumph again. Dorothy Ainsworth makes her valiant comeback
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #50 Mar/Apr 1998
BHM readers are familiar with Dorothy Ainsworth, the log home-building Ashland, Oregon, waitress who spent more than six years building a beautiful log home, only to have it burn...
The Government gorilla in our home
By Dave Duffy
Issue #101 • September/October, 2006
The other week, Vince, a contractor who does occasional work for me, was arrested for slapping his 14-year-old daughter on the behind when she talked back to her...
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...
Survival firebuilding skills
By Corcceigh Green
Issue #97 • January/February, 2006
Firebuilding skills are essential for those who may find themselves in survival situations. As a testimony to this idea, Americans in the Gulf Coast States experienced a string...
Glazed spiced mocha brownies
Recipe of the Week
Glazed spiced mocha brownies
Courtesy of
Richard Blunt
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
soft shortening
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate
6-1/2 oz. unsalted butter
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. powdered, instant...
By Hook or Crook: A Billhook is a Handy Homestead Tool
By R.E. Rawlinson
Issue #173 • September/October, 2018
When compared to our ancestors, we are very lucky to have readily-available tools. Stores are full of anything you could need and with online shopping, you don’t even...
Beans for Sarah
Recipe of the Week
Beans for Sarah
Courtesy of
Richard Blunt
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups dried pinto beans
water to soak beans
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
12 oz....
Just for Kids: Take a nite hike!
By Lucy Shober
Issue #22 • July/August, 1993
Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color.
How many times have you lain awake in your bed on late summer nights listening to the symphony of creatures...
Pecan Crusted Trout
Recipe of the Week
Pecan Crusted Trout
Courtesy of
Louis Maher
Ingredients
6 6-oz. trout fillets
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1-1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1/2...
Make your own lumber with a chainsaw mill
By Jacqueline Tresl
Issue #39 • May/June, 1996
Milling a board with a chainsaw lumber-maker.
Figure1: The pieces.
Beams, joists and walls were made with a chainsaw mill.
Figure 2: The frame.
Figure 3: The surface to which the chainsaw...
How to use those leftovers
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
Congratulations! You've worked hard and have enough food stored away to feed your family, possibly for a year or more. Now, go to your store room, pick up...
Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style
By Roy Martin
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
A hotbed is a miniature greenhouse that is heated to protect new seedlings from cold. The hotbed differs from a cold frame in that it has an internal...
Terrific tamale pie
Recipe of the Week
Terrific tamale pie
Courtesy of
Janine Hawley
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1lb. ground beef
2 8 oz. cans seasoned tomato...
The $1 Garden
By Jonathan Nunan
Issue #122 • March/April, 2010
The dollar garden is simple in concept: buy as many seeds as you can for one dollar and harvest as much food as possible from the plants you...
Build a poultry killing cone
By Allen Easterly
Issue #135 • May/June, 2012
You've worked hard and spent many hours raising your pretty flock of meat chickens from eggs or chicks to nice fat fryers, roasters, or stewing birds. They've provided...
