Small camp security
By Gary Lewis
Issue #148 • July/August, 2014
It might be a sleeping bag in a lean-to with a small warming fire at the entrance. It could be a wall tent with five or six hunters...
7 Mistakes of food storage
By Vicki Tate
Issue #55 • January/February, 1999
If you are going to store food, make sure that the food you store is adequate for the need you and your family anticipate. This may not be...
The chicken and the egg
By Habeeb Salloum
Issue #139 • January/February, 2013
One cannot think of our culinary world without chicken or eggs. Chicken is one of the world's most consumed meats and eggs are on the tables of the...
Just for Kids: Killing some time (Create an afternoon time warp)
By Lucy Shober
Issue #26 • March/April, 1994
Click on picture for printable, full-sized version to color.
There is a book that describes a time warp as being a kind of bubble, a place in time that...
Want More Fruit From Less Space? Espalier Your Trees!
By Rev. J.D. Hooker
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
After originating in the semi-arid regions of the middle east, espaliering (is-'pal-yer-ing) became a commonly employed fruit tree growing method of the Greco-Roman world. Later, during the...
The state of freedom in America
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The state of freedom in America
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By Claire Wolfe
Issue #149 • September/October, 2014
The world is becoming less free. In the Middle East and Africa, Islamist fanatics try to bring back the Dark Ages. Europe stagnates...
Finding the best dog for the country life
By Anita Evangelista
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
When you're looking for a dog to fit into your country life, there are few other topics as liable to get you into a fistfight. People get very...
Gleaning — An Old Tradition Made New
By Daniel Furtney
Issue #147 • May/June, 2014
Gleaning. You may remember the term from Sunday School or your Bible studies. In the book of Ruth, "gleaning" refers to poor people being allowed to follow a...
What is reality?
By John Silveira
April 7, 2006
I don't read much. So, I missed James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, though it made best sellers lists from the New York Times to amazon.com. If the truth be...
Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine
By Dave Duffy
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
As publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine for 28 years, I have not had to work as hard in recent years, as younger people like Managing Editor Jessie Denning...
Elderberries — Hospitality, Health, And Beauty
By Gail Butler
Issue #124 • July/August, 2010
When friends stop by for a visit I like to offer them a hospitable and healthful libation of elderberry cordial. When served in a small aperitif glass or...
Which wars work best? The ones we fight or the ones we avoid?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
History is supposed to teach us the lessons of wars past so we won't blunder into stupid wars in the present. Since I have mixed feelings about our...
Building and Using Wattle Fences
By Kathryn Wingrove
Issue #139 • January/February, 2013
Wattle fences are made by weaving material in and out of posts in the ground. They were often used on the small farms of Victorian England. In fact,...
Stairs — The next level
By Skip Thomsen
Website Exclusive • August, 2004
Any good carpenter can build a staircase. What we're talking about here is taking that staircase to the next level: beyond just a means to get from one...
How to build a good fence for your homestead
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How to build a good fence for your homestead
By Charles Sanders
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By Charles Sanders
Issue #103 • January/February, 2007
One of the basic fixtures on a homestead is fencing. Fences are used to keep animals in, or...
Make your own biodiesel for 80¢ per gallon
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #101 • September/October, 2006
My Ford F-250 diesel crew-cab pickup did not cause me to become interested in making my own bio-diesel fuel. No, the final straw was when I...































