Getting logs

By Dorothy Ainsworth Website Exclusive • March, 2004 Online Exclusive April 2003 Attention: Would-be loggers. There have been changes in policy at the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. I have just found...

Survival firebuilding skills

By Corcceigh Green Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Firebuilding skills are essential for those who may find themselves in survival situations. As a testimony to this idea, Americans in the Gulf Coast States experienced a string...

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

By Doug Fluckiger Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 My secret passion is tall, dark, and handsome. I may find her lying luxuriantly among a dark grove of firs. She may be standing proudly on a sunny...

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

By John Silveira (aka O.E. MacDougal) May/June 2017 Backwoods Home The greatest inventions in history are the ones we now take for granted. Fire and the wheel-axle combination are among them. If we weren’t taught in...

With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times

By Jackie Clay Issue #55 • January/February, 1999 Today, many people are afraid that hard times are about to descend upon us because of the Y2K computer date problem, also known as the Millennium Bug. Others...

SARS — Is this a glimpse of the future?

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Website Exclusive • March, 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, is a new respiratory disease that has recently infected people in Asia, Europe, and North America. The emergence of this disease...

Turn your passion into a business

By Patrice Lewis Issue #150 • November/December, 2014 In 1993, my husband and I did something most people merely dream about: we chucked our professional nine-to-five jobs, left urban California, and settled in a rural home...

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part I

<!-- Annie on Everfree Farm, Part I --> By Annie Tuttle Issue #145 • January/February, 2014 So here we are. Truth be told, it was a complete accident that we found our farm. We weren't even looking for it. We...

The 7 core areas of preparedness

By Patrice Lewis Issue #133 • January/February, 2012   As I write this article, it's early September. And September, as you may or may not know, is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

Your kitchen pharmacy — How common culinary herbs and spices can help you feel...

By Rebekah L. Cowell Issue #122 • March/April, 2010 In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients and medication we needed from the food we ate. However, our diets and the foods available to...

Mosquitoes outnumber us and no one likes them

By Tom and Joanne O’Toole Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 Mosquitoes are responsible for irritating bites, cause itching welts, can spread diseases, are a constant aggravation at picnics, and are ear-tormenting little beasts. No wonder they...

Cleaning a well

By Pat Barden Issue #105 • May/June, 2007 We have a good well with sweet water. It was already in place when we bought our property and had been in use for more than 20 years....

The raging torrent — Respect it even when you play

By Scott Stoddard Issue #70 • July/August, 2001 Years ago, while learning to sluice gold from a swollen mountain stream in southern California, I saw something that immediately sickened my stomach. The limp body of a...

A survival key ring — Your everyday tool for emergency preparedness

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #117 • May/June, 2009 If you saw the movie, "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks, you might remember that his character always carried a small pen knife with him. Early in the...

How to maintain your chimney

By Charles Sanders Issue #169 • January/February, 2018 As a good stove can be vital to a country home, a good chimney is just as important in safely operating that stove. A well-constructed chimney can serve...

City boy, country boy

By Margaret Wright Issue #33 • May/June, 1995 Anyone who has read or heard the story of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse knows the difference between a child from the city and a child...