10 country do’s and don’ts
By Julie Crist
Issue #96 • November/December, 2005
When we moved from the city to the mountains, I kept my eyes open and my mouth shut and and paid very close attention to other people's botchery....
Hypothermia — A real winter danger
By Tom and Joanne O’Toole
Issue #84 • November/December, 2003
Hypothermia is a deadly enemy. It steals body heat and kills more outdoor enthusiasts every year than anything else.
Hypothermia is the rapid and drastic chilling of...
Storing dry foods
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
More and more folks are starting to buy bulk foods to ensure if stores run out of foods — as they did at the onset of this epidemic — their families will...
Swedish log candle
By Nick Weston
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
At my Hunter-Gatherer school, we are constantly experimenting with different methods of outdoor cookery, from underground ovens (umu or hangi) to smoke roast tipis and run-of-the-mill fire pits....
Making apple pectin
By Kristina Seleshanko
Issue #167 • September/October, 2017
One day, as I walked past an apple tree that was naturally thinning its fruit by dropping tiny, baby apples, I thought, “I wish there was something useful...
Clean up your act!
By Nanette Blanchard
Issue #100 • July/August, 2006
I used to get a headache just inhaling the chemical fumes while walking through the cleaning product aisle of the store. I started using less toxic products from...
Seventeen great tips for caring for windows, mirrors, and other household glass
By Sandy Lindsey
Issue #43 • January/February, 1997
1 To make windows and mirrors sparkle, dip a clean cloth in a 50/50 mixture of borax and water or denatured alcohol and wipe down. Polish with a...
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...
Preparedness for travelers
By Brad Rohdenburg
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
When the subject of preparedness comes up, do you think of having a stock of supplies in your kitchen pantry in case of a storm? Maybe a backpack...
In the classroom and at home, this system will help you grow self-reliant kids
By Marjorie (Sultzbaugh) Harrison
Issue #42 • November/December, 1996
My husband Allan started teaching sixth grade at the Moreno Valley, California, Unified School District in September of 1959, without even slightly knowing how. Fortunately for him,...
Bartering for bad times
By John Silveira
Issue #138 • November/December, 2012
Bartering may not be a part of your life, right now, but if there's a deepening of the recession, or it becomes a depression, or we enter a...
Essential oils
By Joseph Alton, M.D. and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P.
Issue #135 • May/June, 2012
As a medical doctor/registered nurse practitioner team, we received conventional medical training at university hospitals while getting our degrees. Since that time, however,...
The fire wick fire starter
By Len McDougall
Issue #114 • November/December, 2008
When my hunting buddy Dar met me for lunch at our rendezvous point, he said he doubted we could make a small cookfire on the wet, snow-covered ground....
Make coiled rugs from scrap material
<!--
-->
By Robert Van Putten
Issue #164 • March/April, 2017
Remember that old rag rug Great-grandma made? Chances are, most country homes have one or two of these things lying around. Back in the days before wall-to-wall...
Start your food storage on $10 a week
By Alan T. Hagan
Issue #59 • September/October, 1999
If Old Mother Hubbard had had a food storage program before she went to her cupboard her poor dog would have gotten his bone. Given the fact...
Defeating debt
By Don Chance
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
"Money does not solve money problems." — Dr. Phil McGraw
For many, if not most, people yearning for the self-reliant life, a heavy personal debt load is the single...






























