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A Backwoods Home Anthology — The Sixteenth Year
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DEPARTMENTS
6  Publisher’s Note

7  Editorial:
Sgt. Jim Duffy — an ordinary hero

22  Ask Jackie:
Growing apples, beach plum jelly, preserving yellow crookneck, canning lentil soup, agricultural lime, discolored canned fruit, eliminating mosquitos, diatomaceous earth, getting bugs out of blackberries, Hopi Blue corn seeds, can meat in ½ pints, saving squash seeds, etc.

30  Ayoob on Firearms:
Marlin 336: The other classic backwoods home deer rifle.

69  Irreverent joke page

78  Claire goes to the movies

79  Book Review: Rebelfire 1.0

81  Letters

91  Classified ads (pdf)

91  Classified advertising form

90   Advertiser Index

95   BHM anthologies, CD-ROMs, & books

96-97  Order form/Subscription Info

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Cover 95
ABOUT THE COVER
This issue’s cover was painted by our artist, Don Childers. It reflects the photo on page 8, but Don substituted a young woman for the boy. Don also drew the sluice on page 11 from a rough sketch supplied by the author of our lead article, Gold panning for fun and profit, by Gail Butler. Like the author, Don is also a seeker of gold in America’s wild places, so he knew the details of sluice construction. Gold panning can be a fun adventure for the whole family. You might like to try it sometime.

FEATURES

Building and tools

70  Build a component water system   By David Lee

After air, water is the most important element we need in order to stay alive. This article is intended for people who have their own dug or drilled wells. These folks must take responsibility for their own systems and here is where the Componenet Water System becomes useful.

Alternative energy

37  The care & feeding of solar batteries   By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., CEM

Farm and garden

16  Put your garden to bed for the winter   By Jackie Clay

Now is the perfect time to ready your garden for the winter months. Jackie gives us tips on how this can be done before the frost sets in.

48  The benefits of mulching   By Raymond Nones

There are many benefits to mulching your garden beds correctly. In this article you’ll learn basics to assure a productive and healthy crop next year.

59  Kinder goats: a small breed for milk and meat   By Kathleen Sanderson

Learn about a little known variety of goat and their amazing attributes.

Self-reliance

8  Gold panning for fun and profit   By Gail Butler

With gold at $437 per ounce as of the writing of this article, now is a good time to plan a gold panning expedition. Gail teaches us where, when, and what you’ll need to find gold.

44  Gather rose hips for health   By Gail Butler

Rose hips have many healthful qualities. Find out how to harvest and use these nutritional powerhouses.

52  Starting over: Part 6   By Jackie Clay

Jackie begins building her new home.

76  Funerals don’t have to be expensive   By Kelly McCarthy

Food and recipes

63  Making sausage   By Linda Gabris

Linda takes the mystery out of turning your freezer overflow into
delicious sausages.

66  Time to strike black bear off the food blacklist   By Linda Gabris

Linda teaches us how to prepare bear meat that is pleasing to the palate.