Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

What to do when there’s no doctor

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

By Linda Gabris When I was growing up in the rural woods, Grandpa and I did a lot of fishing from spring through fall so...

Grow some winter squash this year

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

The $1 Garden

By Jonathan Nunan Issue #122 • March/April, 2010 The dollar garden is simple in concept: buy as many seeds as you can for one dollar and...

Gardening in the Desert Using Only Rainwater

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Follow Jackie Clay-Atkinson and her husband, Will, as they homestead a 120-acre piece of northern Minnesotan woods entirely off-grid. Sharing their homestead are horses, beef cattle, a milk cow, dairy goats, chickens and turkeys.

Massad Ayoob on Guns

This blog, from a retired police captain and self-defense instructor, covers the use of different firearms, political musings, and self-defense tactics.

Building

Radiant floor heating — Alternative to forced-air heating is solar-powered, too An interview with Stephen Heckeroth

Build a stone wall

Build a pallet fence

Build a 6500-gallon concrete water tank for $1500

Self-Reliance

A view of self-reliance from a more timid perspective — A woman’s opinion

Jackie’s tips for hardcore homesteading

By Jackie Clay Issue #62 Many of us have a garden and enjoy fresh vegetables during the summer and fall. Maybe we even have a few...

Medicinal uses of garlic

By Joseph Alton, M.D. and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P. Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 One of the greatest gifts of natural medicine that can be found on...

Animals

The homestead cat

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Raising your own beef

Fermenting Chicken Feed

Keeping homestead animals healthy

Science and Education

Gee-Whiz: Sleep

Gee-Whiz: Bad Fish, Big Fish

The world is ending! … Again?

The world is coming to an end… and this time, I’m not kidding

Energy

Solar power for farm and ranch

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E. It may be surprising to learn that there are now all kinds of do-it-yourself solar powered devices specifically designed to...

Power-up bag

Amateur Ham Radio – The Ultimate Tool for Survival Communications

Keep the Ice On

Power Up

Americana and History

President George Washington’s Farewell Address

Feeling nostalgic? Now you’ll rave! Here’s the story of Burma Shave.

From Martha and Abigail to Dolley and Louisa, America’s earliest First Ladies were fascinating

Who were the best…and worst U.S. Presidents?

Firearms

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

By Claire Wolfe Issue #140 • March/April, 2013 My friend Jack pulled the car into a grassy clearing. We donned rubber boots, fetched a metal detector...

The Appleseed Project

By Massad Ayoob Issue #123 • May/June, 2010 There is nothing else in the shooting world quite like the Appleseed Project, which combines American Revolutionary War...

Answering some well asked questions about personal defense

By Massad Ayoob Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Jeff Yago, Backwoods Home's energy writer, recently completed a couple of concealed carry handgun courses. The classes apparently...

Preparedness

The 7 core areas of preparedness

Prepper power! Part 2

Food security 101

No dentist? Oh, no!

Solar-powered water purifiers

Bugging out in place

Articles By Dave Duffy

My View: Call Me Miracle Man!

By Dave Duffy Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Superheroes are the rage these days at movie theaters. Even I am fascinated by them. Old style heroes...