Tips for finding your affordable home

By Dave Cournoyer Website Exclusive • February, 2008 If you haven't yet made the move to the country, here is helpful information about the cost and availability of land in the U.S. One factor that is important...

Homestead security for women

By Donna Insco Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 In these tough economic times, many women are finding themselves alone for long hours on the homestead. As local jobs disappear, the major breadwinner may take a job...

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,...

How we found our remote backwoods home

By Jackie Clay Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 Right now I'm sitting in a south-facing huge, sunny window, looking through our own private valley to a larger mountain valley below and the pine covered mountains beyond....

Power Up Light, Water, Communications in Emergencies

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., C.E.M. April/May/June, 2019 Preparing for any emergency or future disaster is never easy. What should you prepare against; what is the likelihood it will actually happen; how long will it take...

Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute

By Robert E. Kramer Issue #42 • November/December, 1996 Materials 1 propane or butane torch or campfire to heat up metal rod. 1 steel rod at least 1/2" diameter 1 oven mitt or heavy cloth 1...

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...

Cold process goat milk soap

By Michele Cooper Issue #171 • May/June, 2018 Making soap can seem scary to some people, but the truth is, it only takes a few steps. Tools & equipment The equipment you use to make soap needs to...

Just for Kids: Life in the forest

By Lucy Shober Issue #34 • July/August, 1995 Click on pictures for printable, full-sized versions to color. "It's a jungle out there!" You've probably heard that phrase time and again, but did you ever stop and ponder...

Make your own firestarters

By Claire Wolfe Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 I bought an old house last summer and inherited lots of the former owners' stuff — some of it good and welcome, some strictly landfill-fodder. Among other things 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...

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....

Woodstove cooking

By Cindi Myers Issue #127 • January/February, 2011 If you have a woodstove for heat, take advantage of the fire to cook your dinner for no extra cost and very little effort. The heat of a...

Preparing for a Temporary Catastrophe

By Dave Duffy Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 November's Superstorm Sandy on the Northeastern coast of the United States was our most recent grand reminder that society is fragile, most people are not ready to take...

Bath herbs

By Cynthia Andal Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 The visceral pleasure to be gained from drinking wild herbal teas that you have harvested yourself pales in comparison to lying in a steaming tub, scented with rose...

Take care of your knife

By John Lo Cicero Issue #98 • March/April, 2006 There was a time when I did not understand the value of quality, or respect for a fine tool. I received my tool education first-hand when I...