Free article Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Grow Your Own Dishrags

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Some of us are thrifty beyond measure, even growing our own dishrags. None of those flimsy, store bought cotton things for us. Our...

Hamburger soup

Recipe of the Week Hamburger soup Courtesy of Darlene Campbell You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 lb. ground beef 4 carrots, cut in 2-inch chunks 3 potatoes, quartered 1 onion, chopped 1/2 bell pepper, sliced 1...

Just for Kids: Knock knock vinegar

By Lucy Shober Issue #32 • March/April, 1995 Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color. Have you ever read accounts of those pioneer families? They seemed to flourish in a one-room shack filled with eight...

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...

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice age. Is an ice age likely? Even possible? Consider this:...

Where our farm animals come from

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...

Easy awnings

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #149 • September/October, 2014 A window without an awning is like a lamp without a shade bare and glaring. In my opinion there's not a window around that wouldn't look better...

Kinder goats — A small breed for milk and meat

By Kathleen Sanderson Issue #95 • September/October, 2005 I have had dairy goats for most of the last 20 years or so and have raised almost every standard breed. But when my grandmother, my youngest daughter,...

Air power superiority

When a well-placed shot is required, when stealth and quiet are called for, an air rifle may be the best option. By Gary Lewis Issue #151 • January/February, 2015 The peacock. Here in the states, he is a designer...

Emergency solar power for $950

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #73 • January/February, 2002 For less than the price of a desktop computer you can have the piece of mind that your lights and small appliances can operate for months...

Whole grain breads baked at home

By Richard Blunt Issue #112 • July/August, 2008 Bread baking is an ancient craft that some food historians believe reaches back over 15,000 years to the time when the last Ice Age was losing its grip...

Veal Goulash

Recipe of the Week Veal Goulash Courtesy of Steven Burns Ingredients 2 lb. Veal leg 1 lb. fine egg noodles 3 Roma Tomatoes 3 large Onions 1 green Bell Pepper 1 oz. Capers (with liquid) 4 Tbsp. Butter 1 Tbsp. Paprika 1 cup Sour Cream Salt & Pepper...

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,...

Build a pallet fence

By Clay Sawyer Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 If you have access to various sizes of free pallets, consider this idea for your next fence. Now I know for a fact that I would rather dig...

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...

Huckleberries purple gold

By Laura Roady Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 A carpet of purple berries blankets the vibrant green bushes on the hillside in front of me. I've stumbled on a jackpot of purple gold: huckleberries. All I...