Self-reliance Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

Drive your own freshwater well

By Len McDougall Issue #128 • March/April, 2011 The well point's slotted holes permit water to enter, while stainless steel mesh inside keeps out abrasive sand. X marks the spot. How "witching" for water works is a...

Tips and handy hints for 4X4 living

By Jackie Clay Where Jackie lives, a 4x4 is essential Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 After spending more than 35 years living in homesteads that were so out of the...

Disaster preparation!

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 Are you prepared for a disaster that could affect the daily function of your life or the lives of your family members? Or do you even...

Making a great rug from the rag bag

By Lois A. Adams Issue #18 • November/December, 1992 Recycling makes a lot of sense in these days of dwindling landfill space and non-renewable resources. But I can remember practicing recycling in my home when I...

Breastfeeding — A primer

By Kathy Parkes Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 Unfortunately hospital practices that negatively affect breastfeeding are often the cultural norm. Our society pays only lip service to breastfeeding and then makes women feel guilty if their...

Make elderberry syrup for flu season

By Karen M. House Issue #169 • January/February, 2018 Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) has been a traditional influenza remedy for hundreds of years. I first learned about using elderberry syrup as a flu treatment a few years...

Everybody talks about lightning and yes, there are things you can do about it

By Albert H. Carlson Issue #37 • January/February, 1996 What was a beautiful sunny day with large white billowing clouds low on the horizon has turned progressively darker. The clouds are now almost black, and the...

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...

The art of living in small spaces

By Claire Wolfe Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Long ago, I read that to live in the country you must have the soul of a poet, the dedication...

Learning to love the high desert

By Claire Wolfe Issue #120 • November/December, 2009 Earlier this year, the dogs and I got taxed out of Cabin Sweet Cabin. With a little help from our friends, we packed a small trailer with our...

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...

The coffee mug knife sharpener

By Michael Cantrell Issue #105 • May/June, 2007 Not too long ago, I watched a man open his pocket knife by pulling it partway open to a wide L-shape with his hands, and then push it...

Annie on Everfree Farm, Part III

By Annie Tuttle Issue #147 • May/June, 2014 Previous in Series Me with Brownie, Cupcake, Red Velvet, and Flan (mostly hidden). These were our first four goats, and are all Kiko x Boer...

Used bookstores can be sucessful in the hinterlands

By Jennifer Stein Barker Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 If you stand reading at the rack closest to the window, you can look up from your book to see the Strawberry Wilderness looming its wooded heights...

Flea market stories and strategies

By Jim Capossela I’m convinced it’s clean living that’s helped me make it to the age 39 I’ve been for quite some time now. I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs and I normally take...