Self-reliance Archives - Page 3 of 14 - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

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...

Circle of friends

By Claire Wolfe Issue #111 • May/June, 2008 Hardcore survivalists cherish what I call the "George Romero Scenario." It goes like this: The proverbial poop has hit the propeller. Cities collapse into chaos. But we, the...

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

By Brent Stainer These firefighters fought hard to save this house, but the best way to save your house is to make basic preparations...

Make a quilt out of Levis

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Back in the 80s I worked as a waitress in a busy little café where our mandatory uniform was a pair of Levis and a T-shirt. The only...

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...

Small camp security

By Gary Lewis Issue #148 • July/August, 2014 It might be a sleeping bag in a lean-to with a small warming fire at the entrance. It could be a wall tent with five or six hunters...

Get out of debt, stay out of debt

By Darlene Campbell Issue #67 • January/February, 2001 Decades ago it was advised of young high school graduates to deposit a set amount of money into the bank each month, and when they retired they would...

Make a Quick and Easy Tipi

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...

Digging a shallow well

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #165 • May/June, 2017 When we first looked at the land which is now our off-grid homestead, the realtor mumbled an apology for an old gravel pit on the property from the...

The coffee mug knife sharpener

By Michael Cantrell Issue #105 • May/June, 2007 Not too long ago, I watched a man open his pocket knife by pulling it partway open to a wide L-shape with his hands, and then push it...

Teach speed reading to your children even if you can’t speed read yourself

By George Stancliffe Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 For over two years, I have had the hobby of teaching speed reading to people in the community where I live. So far I have taught over 300...

Easy-to-make reusable coffee filters

By Angeline Hawkes Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 With two professional fiction writers in my household, we drink a lot of coffee. Keeping it hot and ready meant going through a lot of paper filters. In...

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...

Couponing, refunding, and stockpiling will make your money stretch

By Mary Kenyon Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Seven years ago, when my brother John helped us move into our current country home, he commented wryly, "If you ever fill those cupboards upstairs I don't want...

Your kitchen pharmacy — How common culinary herbs and spices can help you feel...

By Rebekah L. Cowell Issue #122 • March/April, 2010 In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients and medication we needed from the food we ate. However, our diets and the foods available to...