How to select the right backup generator
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
Now that the threat of terrorist sabotage to our utility infrastructure has been added to our basic concerns about storm related power outages, this may be...
Portable solar power
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
Fold-up solar modules now available in many sizes
As the cost of solar cells has declined, the industry has started to increase the physical size of individual...
Building Eric’s house
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #112 • July/August, 2009
This is the first in a series of several articles documenting the building of a stud-frame house from start to finish by an amateur owner/builder, using the pay-as-you-go...
Gardening the Year ‘Round
By Alice B. Yeager
Website Exclusive • September, 2006
Normally, we gardeners tend to make plans to begin planting our gardens during early spring. We select vegetables such as garden peas, lettuce, mustard, radishes, onions, and...
Make a quilt out of Levis
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Back in the 80s I worked as a waitress in a busy little café where our mandatory uniform was a pair of Levis and a T-shirt. The only...
How to tell a bad egg
By David Scott Matthews
Issue #53 • September/October, 1998
One of the things that my family loves most about living in the country is that we get to eat fresh eggs from our genuine free-range chickens....
Walden Pond — the solar version: Part 2
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #100 • July/August, 2006
In the last issue I provided the initial steps required to design your remote cabin or retreat for off-grid power. We also reviewed the types of...
Build a portable woodstove for $30
By David Scott Matthews
Issue #78 • November/December, 2002
I had a problem. Other men love football, baseball, basketball, or golf. I love to hunt. And the animal I love to hunt more than any other...
Hunting to Fill the Dinner Pot
By Len McDougall
Issue #110 • March/April, 2008
It was November in northern Michigan, and I was supposed to be deer hunting, but it seemed I'd brought the wrong gun today. The deer I did see...
Gritted bread
Recipe of the Week
Gritted bread
Courtesy of
Thomas C. Tabor
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
2 cups gritted corn (see below*)
1/2 cup sweet milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp....
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...
Homemade pizza
Recipe of the Week
Homemade pizza
Courtesy of
Jackie Clay
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. mixed spices (oregano, basil, onion flakes)
1-1/2 cups warm water
1...
Against a rapist
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #65 • September/October, 2000
Can you use lethal force in self-defense against a rapist? The answer, of course, is yes. Deadly force is permissible only in a situation of "immediate, otherwise unavoidable...
Why we have no “constitutional” rights
By John Silveira
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
The other day I read an article concerning a suit brought against the government by some of the 550 or so detainees at the naval station at Guantanamo...
Military surplus and military “clone” rifles
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #116 • March/April, 2009
One reader writes to ask if military surplus rifles are still a good idea for hunting, recreational shooting, and all around backwoods use.
The answer is more complicated than...
Italian Pot Roast
Recipe of the Week
Italian Pot Roast
Courtesy of
Mama Jo D'Ascanio and Beverly Rossman
Ingredients
4 pounds lean chuck roast
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 medium onions, chopped
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 (6 oz) cans tomato paste...































