Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Where our farm animals come from

Mountain lions — Attacks are still rare, but just in case…

A house a tornado helped build

By Robert L. Williams Issue #16 • July/August, 1992 On May 5, 1989, tornadoes ripped through parts of three western North Carolina counties, including ours, and...

Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars

Pruning Blueberries

By Kristina Seleshanko When we purchased our mountaintop homestead, I was excited to discover four blueberry bushes that were already established on our property. Not...

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

James Polk — A model for modern presidents

By John Silveira Issue #32 • March/April, 1995 It was snowing and three of us were up at the office. Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes...

the gee-whiz! page: Animals, humans, extraterrestrials, and tools

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

Emancipation Proclamation by Historical Document

Chicken with galanga in coconut milk soup

Learning to love the high desert

How to select the right backup generator

Use solar landscape lights for emergencies

Our journey to modern off-grid living

Build a simple solar-powered outdoor light

The time for modern; the time for traditional

By Massad Ayoob Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 Traditional "old skool" guns, or the most modern and efficient ballistic hardware that money can buy? I asked...

Firearms handling refresher Part III: Rifles

Firearms — Tools of rural living

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

By John Silveira (aka O.E. MacDougal) May/June 2017 Backwoods Home The greatest inventions in history are the ones we now take for granted. Fire and the...

Gee-Whiz: Ice Ages, Past and Future

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

Homemade bread: a metaphor for life

Can America be Saved from Stupid People?

My View: Gaining an appreciation for risk

Fermenting Chicken Feed

By Melissa Souza Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 On our homestead, we eat yogurt, kombucha (fermented tea), sauerkraut, and kimchi to add probiotics to our diet....

Llamas guarding sheep? — Not such a far-fetched idea

By Karen McGeorge Sanders Issue #19 • January/February, 1993 It seems that farmers always need an extra pair of hands, but finding the money to pay...

Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

Tips and handy hints for 4X4 living

The poor man’s ultra-light dual-fuel backpacking stove

How to begin taking wildlife photographs

Exotic Plants for the Homestead

By Corcceigh Green Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Isn't it funny how even the things we step on while walking on the lawn have value? I learned this first hand last summer as I discovered some...

Time to Forget About Snail and Slug Bait

By Lyle Dykes Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 Years ago when traveling on business, I looked out of the window of my motel one morning in Newport, Oregon, and noticed a little Chinese lady flipping over...