Self-reliance Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

By Bob Van Putten Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 The native peoples of North America were a very practical lot. Over the centuries they developed some very efficient tools. Yet, perhaps because of their appreciation of...

Roger Clark: Cane syrup maker

By Massad Ayoob Issue #117 • May/June, 2009 In the syrup house on Roger Clark's farm in Suwannee County, Florida, three generations of his family gather around a vat big enough to make a good size...

Survival/utility vest

By David Eddings Issue #144 • November/December, 2013 Editor's Note: Several readers have contacted us asking about the exact model number of the vest pictured in this article. We contacted the author and he replied: The vest...

Medicinal uses of garlic

By Joseph Alton, M.D. and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P. Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 One of the greatest gifts of natural medicine that can be found on this earth is garlic, or Allium sativum. It has been...

Teach your kids math with the banking game

By Micki Warner Issue #41 • September/October, 1996 One of the tricks of successful education is the "exceptional teacher's" ability to make the process fun. When a parent takes over the teacher's job in the home,...

Funerals don’t have to be expensive

By Kelly McCarthy Issue #95 • September/October, 2005 Being of Celtic extraction, I am naturally disposed to dwelling on the blacker side of life. I started to wonder what would happen to all the dead bodies...

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...

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

By Jackie Clay Issue #48 • November/December, 1997 What if that snowstorm turned to a blizzard or an ice storm lasted for days, knocking out the power and phone lines? Would you be prepared? Or what...

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....

Stashing Junk Silver for Bad Times

By John Silveira Issue #131 • September/October, 2011 This is a pile containing $100 face value of pre-1965 "junk silver" coins, but it could represent 400 gallons of gasoline or 400 loaves of bread. When I was...

Dehydrating eggs at home

By Patrice Lewis Issue #156 • November/December, 2015 Here's a trivia question for you: What do you do when your chickens are laying gangbusters and you have no less than 10 dozen eggs in the fridge,...

Lessons learned from an ice storm

By Anita Evangelista Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 The weather reports indicated ice could be coming in. It was already raining and getting chilly on that early Friday afternoon in Springfield, Missouri. Hubby and I drove...

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...

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...

Just for Kids: Knock knock vinegar

By Lucy Shober Issue #32 • March/April, 1995 Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color. Have you ever read accounts of those pioneer families? They seemed to flourish in a one-room shack filled with eight...