Food security 101, part 3: Why I love my vacuum sealer (and more)
By Rowena Aldridge
Issue #140 • March/April, 2013
In parts one and two (Issues #138 and #139), we covered basics and homemade convenience foods. Now that you've become so proficient at making delicious, nutritious, and economical...
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...
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...
Start your food storage on $10 a week
By Alan T. Hagan
Issue #59 • September/October, 1999
If Old Mother Hubbard had had a food storage program before she went to her cupboard her poor dog would have gotten his bone. Given the fact...
You could furnish an entire homestead at Lehman’s ‘Non-electric’ Hardware Store
By Don Fallick
Issue #47 • September/October, 1997
Let me state my bias right at the beginning: Lehmans Hardware has been advertising in Backwoods Home Magazine for a long time, but I made my first purchase...
A young couple moves to the country
By Jessie Denning
Issue #175 • January/February/March 2019
As many of you know, I’ve been the managing editor of this magazine for the last four years. But what you may not know is that when I’m...
Homemade Toys! — Easy to make, fun to play with, and great for gifts!
By Cynthia Andal
Issue #72 • November/December, 2001
The garden needs planting, animals need feeding, Baby needs to nurse, and that chicken coop simply has to be finished but, there are three children who want you...
Just for Kids: Killing some time (Create an afternoon time warp)
By Lucy Shober
Issue #26 • March/April, 1994
Click on picture for printable, full-sized version to color.
There is a book that describes a time warp as being a kind of bubble, a place in time that...
Small Town America: Thermopolis, WY — Horses and hot springs
By Emily Salinger
Photos by Richard Coffinberry
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
When Nate and MaeCile Brown amble down the main street of Thermopolis, Wyoming, everybody recognizes them. They're old friends, honored citizens, and local characters. They...
Space heater safety tips
By Tom Kovach
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
If you are going to try to take the chill out of your home without turning on your main sources of heat, or if you want to add...
Sewing and using cloth diapers is easier than you think
By Annie Tuttle
Issue #113 • September/October, 2008
I'll admit that it was the pastoral vision of a laundry line full of sun-bleached diapers above barefooted, rosy-cheeked, milk-fattened babies that first drew my attention toward cloth...
A canoe livery — An honest, clean business
By Harry Spetla
Issue #46 • July/August, 1997
A canoe and kayak livery business is inexpensive to start and it's easy to operate. The business fits in well with country living since it can be as...
Medical kits for self-reliant families
By Jackie Clay
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
There may be a time, as close as tomorrow, when your loved ones need medication or medical treatment and there is no drug store open or doctor available....
Finding wealth you can wear at yard sales
By Thomas M. Buckley
Issue #126 • November/December, 2010
When you go to yard sales this year, be sure to look for jewelry. I used to always look for tools or other items that a self-reliant...
Modify an E-Tool to make your own Combi-Tool
By Dave Strom
Issue #172 • July/August, 2018
Campers, soldiers, and off-roaders are familiar with military-issue Entrenching Tools, commonly called “E-Tools.” They are light, compact, and multipurpose. They can shovel, hoe, chop, pick, and scrape. The...
I heat my house by burning corn
By Judith W. Monroe
Issue #42 • November/December, 1996
As I write this, it is fall in New England. If you burn wood, you are probably well along with the annual chores of chopping, splitting, and...































