Make a fully functional cold storage pit/mound and enjoy your garden’s production all winter
By Armand O. Deblois
Issue #47 • September/October, 1997
Cold stored fruits and vegetables are the next best thing to fresh-picked. Flavor and texture change little and nutritional value remains high. They keep for an amazingly...
The saga of Benjamin, the backwoods, homeschool boy who wanted to get a job
By Margaret Wright
Issue #37 • January/February, 1996
Raised in the woods of Northern Idaho, home schooled by loving, protective parents, he was a happy, carefree child for the first sixteen years of life. The sixteenth...
Picking your pressure canner — All American or Presto?
By James Kash
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
The garden is in full swing and you have baskets of vegetables piling up; what do you do? You can them, of course. Your mother's old granite-ware canner...
Saving money on the homestead
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #148 • July/August, 2014
I come from a "penny-pinching-and-proud-of-it" family background and I learned the importance of saving a buck at an early age. Throughout my journey toward a self-reliant lifestyle, I've...
Bugging out in place
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
Some emergency situations require quick evacuation. You barely have time to grab your bug-out bag, gather the family, and run out the door. Most of us are ready...
Moving to the wilderness — Turning the dream to reality
By Jackie Clay
Issue #36 • November/December, 1995
The Dream An increasing number of folks are having the same dream today: get a piece of land isolated from the stress and pollution of civilization, and...
How to begin taking wildlife photographs
By H. Bumper Bauer
Issue #120 • November/December, 2009
If you want to get into wildlife photography, your timing could not be better. Many serious amateur and professional photographers are upgrading their 35mm film cameras to...
For health & comfort, try wild herbal teas
By Cynthia Andal
Issue #76 • July/August, 2002
The mention of herbal teas brings to mind pleasant conversations in a warmly scented kitchen, aided by the fragrant steam of a cup of Fireweed tea.
Completely aside from...
Start a fire in any weather
By Charles Sanders
Issue #161 • September/October, 2016
Most of us living in the backwoods are comfortable with utilizing fire as a tool. We use fire to heat our homes, burn brush, power our forges, help...
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,...
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...
How to make money from storage building auctions
By Bill Wilson
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
Buying and selling is a time honored way of making a living. However, like any profession, success in merchandising requires following some fundamental rules. The most basic of...
Homeschooling through high school
By Janet Leake
Issue #65 • September/October, 2000
Why not? Whether you're experienced or inexperienced, whatever your situation, you already know why you want to homeschool your kids through high school. Now, what about how?
We have...
The fire wick fire starter
By Len McDougall
Issue #114 • November/December, 2008
When my hunting buddy Dar met me for lunch at our rendezvous point, he said he doubted we could make a small cookfire on the wet, snow-covered ground....
Survival storeroom
By David Eddings
Issue #130 • July/August, 2011
This story begins in the mid-nineties when the Y2K threat was in the news. Several members of my family thought it would be prudent if we started stocking...
Essential oils
By Joseph Alton, M.D. and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P.
Issue #135 • May/June, 2012
As a medical doctor/registered nurse practitioner team, we received conventional medical training at university hospitals while getting our degrees. Since that time, however,...
