Free article Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

A small creek provides plenty of power for this off-grid home

By Scott Gentleman Website Exclusive • November, 2007 For eight years, Tracey and I lived in a solar powered home and for eight cloudy winters, we ran a small Honda generator every week to recharge our...

Build an attached solar greenhouse

By David Lee Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 We planned it to be permanent, well built, and able to withstand the extremes of temperature, humidity, and weather a greenhouse must tolerate inside and out for many...

Buying a used mobile home

By Daniel Motz Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 One of the quickest, easiest, and cheapest ways to get your country home is to consider a used mobile home. Sometimes you can even find these homes free...

Apple and berry pies

By Ilene Duffy Issue #118 • July/August, 2009 Go to your room!" bellows our friend, John Silveira. He is kidding of course. I mean, how mad can somebody really be when they're eating your homemade pie...

German green beans

Recipe of the Week German green beans Courtesy of Alice Brantley Yeager You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 lb. green beans, washed and snapped 4 slices cured bacon 1/2 cup vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 1...

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

By Robert Van Putten Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 Apples are an important food resource for us. Every year we store hundreds of pounds in our root cellar where they will keep for up to six...

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part III

By Annie Tuttle Issue #147 • May/June, 2014 Previous in Series Me with Brownie, Cupcake, Red Velvet, and Flan (mostly hidden). These were our first four goats, and are all Kiko x Boer...

Affordable firearms

By Massad Ayoob Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 Knowing that frugality is one of the cornerstones of rural living, Editor Annie Tuttle suggested that I tackle the topic of buying an adequate gun (and ammo, and...

Stuffed Eggplant

Recipe of the Week Stuffed Eggplant Courtesy of Skylar Gillam Ingredients 4 large eggplants 1/4 cup oil 12 ounces ground pork 12 ounces ground beef 3 egg yolks 1 teaspoon garlic salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoons breadcrumbs,...

Gardening with a Chicken Tractor

By Brianna Stone  Issue #161 • September/October, 2016 This spring, my parents let me enlarge my garlic business and till up three 600-square-foot beds for planting...

The parasitic nature of bureaucracy

By Dave Duffy Issue #106 • July/August, 2007 As we go to print with this issue, my local newspaper's main page one headline reads: County tax levy soundly defeated. I applauded at my desk to the...

Reload your own brass

By Dale Petry Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 Not long ago a friend called to say he had seen an unusual rifle at the local gun shop. Shortly after that call I found myself in possession...

How we found our remote backwoods home

By Jackie Clay Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 Right now I'm sitting in a south-facing huge, sunny window, looking through our own private valley to a larger mountain valley below and the pine covered mountains beyond....

Blunt family chili

Recipe of the Week Blunt family chili Courtesy of Richard Blunt You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 6 Tbsp. peanut oil 3 lb. lean ground beef chuck, chili grind 1-1/2 lbs. lean pork,...

Ribeye Steak with Chianti Sauce

Recipe of the Week Ribeye Steak with Chianti Sauce Courtesy of Ellen Lancer Ingredients 4 boneless ribeye steaks 2 Tablespoons peanut oil Salt and pepper 1 Cup Chianti 1/2 Cup beef stock 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 Tablespoon shallots,...

Healthy holiday munchies — Guaranteed to take the sneak out of snacking

By Linda Gabris Issue #102 • November/December, 2006 For many folks, holidays are the hardest time of the year to stick with sensible eating habits since seasonal entertaining revolves around so many traditional offerings of sweet...