How to Grow Garlic

By Melissa Souza Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 Garlic is easy and rewarding to grow. I use it throughout the year, as it is extremely easy...

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DEPARTMENTS ABOUT THE COVER In this cover, painted by Don Childers, Mom hangs laundry in the apple orchard while her son and daughter play peacefully near...

Making apple pectin

By Kristina Seleshanko Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 One day, as I walked past an apple tree that was naturally thinning its fruit by dropping tiny,...

Your survival depends on water

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 As you develop your preparedness plans, consider your water supply. You can go without food for weeks but...

Build an Off-Grid Root Cellar, Garage, and Bunkhouse

By Robert Van Putten Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 My wife and I built our homestead by hand. I’m not a professional builder, so once in...

Grow Open-Pollinated Tomatoes

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 Nearly all of us homesteaders grow tomatoes in our gardens. Tomatoes are hugely valuable as a homestead crop....

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DEPARTMENTS ABOUT THE COVER In this cover by Don Childers, an older woman sits on the cabin porch. Her faithful dog stays by her side, keeping...

Canning game meat

By Linda Gabris Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 Attempting to can meat (or any other low acid food, for that matter) without the use of a...

Home-Grown Eggs

By Allen Easterly Issue #165 • May/June, 2017 Maybe you’ve thought about keeping a few chickens for their eggs but didn’t want to be awakened at...

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...

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DEPARTMENTS ABOUT THE COVER This cover by Backwoods Home Magazine’s longtime artist, Don Childers, features a young girl watching a small herd of cows. In the...

Lenie in the kitchen: Lemon scones, pound cake, and pie

Lenie in the kitchen Lemon scones, pound cake, and pie By Ilene Duffy Issue #165 • May/June, 2017 How did 28 years go by so quickly? It was...

There’s no such thing as free land!

(But if you're smart, you can get it cheap) By Setanta O'Ceillaigh Issue #165 • May/June, 2017 I have been a homeowner since I was 18 years...

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...

Growing and Using Peppers

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #164 • March/April, 2017 I’ve been growing peppers for more than 50 years now and can’t imagine a garden without them. There...

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DEPARTMENTS ABOUT THE COVER Backwoods Home Magazine’s Don Childers, who is currently 86, painted this pastoral scene. The young boy knows that helping his mom transfer...