Clover — From Livestock Forage to Medicinal Tea, This Humble Plant is One of...

By Eugene Mitchell Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 Whether young or old, lying in the grass and searching for four-leafed clovers is timeless fun. Sometimes they're so elusive, like the leprechaun, it seems they don't exist....

Guns, suicide prevention, and backwoods lifestyles

By Massad Ayoob Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 Note to readers: I've served for going on twenty years as firearms editor of Backwoods Home Magazine. The following article is going to be somewhat different from what...

Build a Concrete Root Cellar

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #168 • November/December, 2017 I should have been a mole — it feels so safe and cool and quiet to be underground. So when my house burned down 20 years ago and...

Your Manure Pile — For Fuel, Fertilizer, and Maybe Even Improved Water Quality, You...

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 It's been well over a decade now since I first heard my friend Pete voice his amazement at my practice of spreading animal manure as a fertilizer....

Tips and handy hints for 4X4 living

<!-- Tips and handy hints for 4X4 living By Jackie Clay --> By Jackie Clay Where Jackie lives, a 4x4 is essential Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 After spending more than 35 years living in homesteads that were so out of the...

Drawing the line on timber trespass

By Paul Lamble Issue #78 • November/December, 2002 Over the 4th of July weekend, my wife and I learned an important lesson the hard way. We live near Kansas City, but for several years we've owned...

Generators alone are not enough

By Jeff Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #157 • January/February, 2016 When talking to fellow preppers at self-reliance expos across the country, I am always impressed by how many already have long-term food supplies, stored water, medical...

Middle Eastern breads

By Habeeb Salloum Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 Arabs, the majority people in the Middle East, eat bread with every meal. In tradition and in daily life, bread is held to be a divine gift from...

Lenie in the kitchen: Hamburger and potato casserole

By Ilene Duffy Issue #140 • March/April, 2013 One last outing before heading back to college is to take Damon for his first trip to the beach. L-R: Rob, Jacob, Sam Our oldest sons, Jacob and Robby, are...

Fermented dill pickles

Recipe of the Week  Fermented dill pickles  Courtesy of Olivia Miller   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 50-60 smooth small cucumbers 1 oz. whole mixed spices dill 1 lb. pure salt 1 gallon water 1 pint cider...

Country-style Pork Stew

Recipe of the Week  Country-style Pork Stew   Courtesy of Frances Straight  Ingredients 3/4 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of separable fat Nonstick cooking spray 1-1/4 cups water 1-1/4 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules 1 ...

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...

Easy-to-make reusable coffee filters

By Angeline Hawkes Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 With two professional fiction writers in my household, we drink a lot of coffee. Keeping it hot and ready meant going through a lot of paper filters. In...

Build a passive-solar food dehydrator

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 The finished passive-solar dehydrator maintained a fairly constant temperature of 150° F throughout most of the day without any repositioning, which shows that this design can...

The real gun criminals

By Dave Duffy Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 If a person robbed a bank and murdered someone, and you drove the getaway car, would you be guilty of accessory to robbery and murder? If a man...

Build a lean-to greenhouse

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #154 • July/August, 2015 Just thinking about a greenhouse can stimulate the senses. In our minds' eyes, we can see the filtered light shimmering down on rows of greenery, feel the moist...