Homestead burnout — What it is and how to avoid it
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
We've all been there: the roof is leaking on your temporary housing while you try to build a start on your new homestead. It's rained for a week...
Jim Van Camp: Coffee roaster, painter
By Jim Van Camp
Issue #117 • May/June, 2009
The only thing we knew for certain when my wife and I moved to Gold Beach from the big city was we were passionate about good coffee,...
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...
An Introduction to Small-Scale Home Hydroponics
By Ben Richards
Issue #154 • July/August, 2015
As most people are already aware, hydroponics is the practice of growing plants without soil. This is done by using a water-based nutrient solution to deliver the necessary...
Advice from second-time homesteaders
By Don and Patrice Lewis
In 1993, shortly after we got married, my husband and I took a leap into the unknown. We left urban California, left our jobs, left our families, and settled in...
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...
Nursing: A perfect backwoods career
By John McLane, RN
Issue #88 • July/August, 2004
For many of us, a job in the traditional economy is crucial to being able to maintain our chosen lifestyle. Others who are pondering a move out...
Storm survivors
By Anita Evangelista
Issue #71 • September/October, 2001
First couple days of June, 1998, weather pretty good, a bit wetter than it is now. Clear day, clouds moving in during the afternoon. By suppertime, the sky...
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...
Cash in on your household junk
By Linda Gabris
Issue #120 • November/December, 2009
If you think "Howdy Doody" has been holing up in your attic for too many years, maybe it's time you turned the dummy in for some cold hard...
How to Resurrect Old, Rusted Tools
By R.E. Rawlinson
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
The homesteading lifestyle can require a number of tools to cultivate the garden, maintain the home, repair the tractor, and build various pens and coops. We use them...
Caveman walking stick
By Jim Van Sant
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
The lake near our rural home has a long hiking trail that winds around its shore. We walk on this path in the morning through the oak...
A determined Rose Bley escaped the city
By Gene Sheley
Issue #51 • May/June, 1998
Rosie Bley's self-reliance and confidence has served her well all her life, permitting her to live in one of the most remote areas of California and to meet...
Preserve the harvest naturally through wild fermentation
By Jereme Zimmerman
Issue #154 • July/August, 2015
Little hands are ideal for helping to stuff jars with vegetables. Just be sure to "pay" your help — but don't let them eat it all!
For a homesteader,...
Homestead helpers
By Charles Sanders
My parents were children of the Great Depression. They learned to get by on very little, to make or repair or reuse almost anything, and never throw anything away — it might...
Foraging for wild berries
By Kristina Seleshanko
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
I had just posted a photo online of some wild berries I was going to preserve, when suddenly I was inundated with messages: “Are those really safe to...
