Table Of ContentA Backwoods Home Anthology:
The Twenty-eighth Year
Published by
Backwoods Home Magazine
P.O. Box 712
Gold Beach, OR 97444
Copyright 2017, 2018 by Backwoods Home Magazine
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-62440-104-6
Publisher: Dave Duffy
Senior Editor: John Silveira
Managing Editor: Jessie Denning
Editorial Coordinator: Lisa Nourse
Associate Editor: Rhoda Denning
Artist: Don Childers
Contributors: Dorothy Ainsworth, Massad Ayoob, Gail Butler, Jackie Clay-Atkinson,
Jessie Denning, Dave Duffy, Ilene Duffy, Allen Easterly, Linda Gabris, Sylvia Gist, Bob Grundman,
Destiny Hagest, Truck Johnson, Patrice Lewis, O.E. MacDougal, Johanna Melchiore, Kai Moessle,
Joe Mooney, Lisa Nourse, Setanta O’Ceillaigh, Renee Peek, R.E. Rawlinson, Habeeb Salloum,
Charles Sanders, Tim Scullen, Kristina Seleshanko, John Silveira, Melissa Souza, Robert Van Putten,
Jeffrey R. Yago, Ellen Zachos, Jereme Zimmerman, Linda Zimnick
Contents —
Issue Number 163
l Bugging out in place — 8
l Prioritizing preparedness when money is tight — 15
l Make a custom-sized board — 21
l 10 foods to forage in winter — 24
l Grid-down battery devices — 30
l How to make a straw mattress — 34
l Processing chickens for farmers' markets — 38
l Understanding the gun debate, part 3 — 42
l Comparing heating fuel costs — 47
l Prune your apple tree — 50
l Will's Workshop: Build a wood-fired water heater — 53
l Ask Jackie — 56
l The adventures of a first-time homesteader — 61
l The Last Word: A universal "concealed carry" permit — 62
Issue Number 164
l Building a sunken greenhouse — 64
l Growing and using peppers — 70
l Make seed starter pots from toilet paper tubes — 74
l Make coiled rugs from scrap material — 75
l Off-grid lighting sold by the foot — 79
l You can't prepare for everything — 83
l Prospecting for morels — 86
l Insects in the garden — 91
l Glass gem corn — 96
l Ayoob on Firearms: The "daily gun" — 98
l Ask Jackie — 103
l Don't throw out that old wagon! — 108
l Attract useful birds to your homestead — 110
l Will's Workshop: Build birdhouses — 114
l Homemade pest traps — 117
3
Issue Number 165
l Publisher's Note: BHM will morph into a digital magazine
and publishing company — 120
l My view: Fake News and the growing irrelevancy
of the mass media — 121
l The economics of homesteading — 122
l Growing produce in Zone 0 — 127
l Make vegetable noodles — 131
l Homegrown eggs — 135
l Digging a shallow well — 140
l Communications during a grid-down event — 145
l A good rooster — 150
l There's no such thing as free land!
(But if you're smart, you can get it cheap) — 152
l Lenie in the kitchen: Lemon scones, pound cake, and pie — 158
l Ask Jackie — 160
l Ayoob on Firearms: Economy guns from blue chip makers — 165
l The gee-whiz! page: Inventions for the ages — 171
Issue Number 166
l Build an off-grid root cellar, garage, and bunkhouse — 174
l A simple, easy rocket stove — 182
l Small-scale skidding — 186
l Canning game meat — 188
l Off-grid retreat — putting it all together — 194
l Grow open-pollinated tomatoes — 199
l Ayoob on Firearms: Gun cleaning — what some folks miss — 204
l Three easy quilts to make — 208
l Make cheese like a Viking — 212
l Construct some fly-through bird feeders — 215
l Sharpen a chainsaw like a pro — 218
l Will's Workshop: Replace broken tool handles — 220
4
l Syrian cuisine travels across the world — 222
l Ask Jackie — 226
Issue Number 167
l My view: The obviousness of it all! — 232
l My zero-waste experiment — 233
l Your survival depends on water — 238
l How to grow garlic — 243
l Solutions for common apple tree problems — 246
l Making apple pectin — 248
l How to slaughter and butcher a goat — 252
l The truth about DIY laundry soap — 259
l Ayoob on Firearms: Marksmanship mistakes: The Asoh defense — 262
l Growing, harvesting, and storing potatoes — 266
l Off-grid retreat — putting it all together, part 2 — 270
l Everyday carry: A "frontline" survival kit
when you're away from home — 274
l The gee-whiz! page: The canal that saved the United States — 278
l Why the world needs capitalism — 280
l Ask Jackie — 285
Issue Number 168
l My view: A personal word for BHM's print issue subscribers — 290
l Build a concrete root cellar — 291
l The importance of a prepper community — 297
l Preparedness: Walk the walk — 302
l Ayoob on Firearms: Guns and years: Going back thirty — 309
l Baking bread — 314
l Off-grid retreat — putting it all together, part 3 — 321
l Ask Jackie — 325
l Issues for 2018-20: Antifa, student debt, slavery reparation — 327
l Make deer antler buttons — 333
l The gee-whiz! page: Sleep — 335
l Fermenting salsa and hot sauce — 337
5
l Sweet potato greens — 342
l What can you do with a quince — 344
l Lenie in the kitchen: Creamy chicken and wild rice soup — 349
6
The Twenty-eighth Year
7
A Backwoods Home Anthology
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
S
ome emergency situations
require quick evacuation.
You barely have time to grab
your bug-out bag, gather the
family, and run out the door. Most of
us are ready for that situation, with a
fully-stocked backpack equipped with
such things as lightweight food, shel-
ter, survival gear, clothes, and possi-
bly a weapon and ammunition for
both self-defense and food procure-
ment.
But some other bad situations (eco-
nomic collapse, EMP, widespread ter-
rorist attack, etc.) will last longer than
a few days or weeks. For these situa-
tions, you might find yourself travel-
ing to a survival retreat in a very rural
area or bugging out in place on your
own homestead. A good garden will refill your pantry and supply most of your food
I believe in being reasonably pre- during the summer. Prepare it well in advance of when you need it.
pared for not only short-term emer-
gencies, but also long-term ones. My Here in Minnesota, our homestead see during the days. We have south-
late husband, Bob, with our son, is a mile and a half up a logging road facing floor-to-ceiling patio door win-
David, and I did just that while living from an infrequently-used highway. I dows to let in warm sunlight in the
in the remote mountains in Montana. use the term “highway” loosely; a winter months.
We were snowed in for six or seven dog could sleep on it undisturbed for
Water
months of the year, so I can give you most of the day. We are two hours
a few hints on real-life survival skills away from a city or freeway. Most folks have a well with an elec-
needed to bug out long-term. For long-term hunkering down, you tric pump or a community water sys-
really need four solid walls and a tem. Neither is going to work without
Location & shelter room. A travel trailer or tent gets way electricity if the power is down.
Hopefully, your survival homestead too cramped for long-term living, and Three of my homesteads have had
is in a relatively isolated location far there’s not a lot of room for food stor- gravity-fed springs piped into the
from any major highways or large cit- age. house. These required no electricity
ies. You’ll need room for a garden, a Be sure your home is well insulated in order to have water and water pres-
natural source of water, and the abili- and has plenty of windows. In warm sure (albeit minimal) to the house.
ty to harvest firewood. climates, you probably won’t have the Since then, I’ve discovered I could
In Montana, our homestead was capability to run air conditioning or have had a driving shower by simply
located seven miles up an extremely even fans (which is when opening a installing a 12-volt pump with battery
rocky, eroded Forest Service trail, window can come in handy). In cold and charger in the bathroom vanity
accessible by only a four-wheel drive climates, insulation added while base to increase the water pressure on
in the summer, an ATV in the spring, times are good will reduce the demand. A 12-volt pump costs under
and snowmobile in the winter. Once amount of fuel you’ll need to keep $100.
up the mountain, you still had to actu- you warm in the winter. On our current homestead, our well
ally find our homestead, located Windows will also let in natural is 375 feet deep and water is supplied
through a dense patch of pines. light, reducing the fuel you’ll need to to our home by a 220-volt submers-
8
The Twenty-eighth Year
ible pump. Unfortunately, to get water Bathing or taking a shower is some- stead-type kitchen and a large, walk-
we have to run our generator. This thing folks don’t think about while in pantry. In this pantry, we built
fills up our 600 gallons of water stor- considering a survival situation. shelves from waist high to the ceiling
age tanks in the basement. Water When we lived in Montana, we alter- for canned and dry food and used the
pressure to our fixtures is provided by nated between using a solar shower lower area for bins of potatoes, ruta-
a 12-volt water pump and batteries, hung on a tree in the summer to that bagas, carrots, and onions.
charged by our solar panels and wind same shower hung above our claw- Unless you’ve ever been in the posi-
charger. But this system still needed foot bathtub in the winter. I’d heat the tion where you can only eat what you
gas to run the generator. water in a canning kettle then we’d have stored or are growing in the gar-
So, my husband, Will, developed a pour the deliciously hot water into the den, your perspective on what you’ll
shallow well with a homemade point, solar shower bag and hang it up. By eat in a long-term bug-out situation is
installing a 110-volt submersible working quickly, both of us could likely unrealistic.
pump which will run off our solar and take a shower and wash our hair. My I’ve had many people tell me
wind capabilities. It provides water to son, David, took his bath in a washtub they’re all set with 100 pounds of
the barn, but it can be switched to in front of the wood cook stove. flour, a bucket full of rice, and a
supply both the barn and house, if When we first moved to Minnesota bucket full of dry beans, along with
need be. and were living in a travel trailer, we some MREs (Meals Ready To Eat).
Having any source of water nearby upgraded to a battery-operated show- I found that in six months, three of
is a bonus. Even a river, creek, lake, er. I heated the water in a canning ket- us went through 300 pounds of flour,
or pond is a huge asset. From these tle, but it only took one kettle to give 20 pounds of cornmeal, 200 pounds
sources, you can get water to bathe, a long, hot shower. of potatoes, 50 pounds of rice, 50
wash clothes, and water your live- Now we have water pressure and a pounds of sugar, 40 pounds of dry
stock. And with treatment via a good propane water heater. But, if need be, beans, 20 pounds of dried milk, 10
water filter (such as a Berkey), you we could go back to “the old days.” pounds of popcorn, 20 pounds of
can use it for emergency drinking Or, Will could install a homemade, rolled oats, not to mention hundreds
water. Even straining this water wood-fired water heater (see page of jars of home-canned foods, and an
through a clean cloth, then boiling it 61). elk. This is not including spices, salt,
will render it fit to drink if you must. dehydrated foods, nuts, eggs, cheese,
Storing up food
One year, our water line froze, so we baking powder, and yeast.
had to get through three months of In Montana, we added a lean-to Remember, you’ll be baking a
winter using just melted snow and addition on the cabin, just for a home- whole lot more than you usually do. I
about 400 gallons of stored water in
our basement tanks. This was not
ideal, but it worked.
Washing clothes & bathing
A conventional washer and dryer
will no longer be an option for most
folks in a long-term survival situation.
These appliances use way too much
electricity and water.
I’ve used a wringer washer for the
last 40 years. (Before that, I used a
washboard.) A wringer washer will
not only get your clothes cleaner than
a conventional washer but will use
about 40 gallons less water, too.
With a start-up from the generator,
it will continue running on our invert-
er, powered by a battery bank charged
by our wind charger and solar panels.
Although I currently have a propane
dryer, I still have clotheslines.
To save on power, I use a wringer washer and dry my clothes on a clothesline.
9
A Backwoods Home Anthology
quickly discovered that when you’re margarine as the first ingredient is insect-proof container, whole wheat
shut in by weather or circumstances, water. This margarine will get moldy flour will only last for a few months
you crave goodies. Meals of plain when you try to store it. Solid, stick at best before going rancid. So in
beans and rice quickly wear out. margarine will store much longer in addition to bags of unbleached flour, I
I have several cans of dehydrated good condition. always store up a couple hundred
eggs, but I found that by gathering Be sure to store up on cooking oil pounds of wheat. Not only can I grind
our chickens’ last fall eggs into car- and fat. I can up plenty of lard from this, using my hand-powered grain
tons and storing them on the cold the pigs we butcher and also keep mill, but I can also plant it to increase
floor of our pantry, I could keep rela- plenty of peanut, olive, and sunflower our stored wheat in the future. And
tively fresh eggs for six months. In oil on hand in the pantry. When we the beauty is, wheat will store for
Montana, our hens did not lay in the lived out of our pantry for six or decades and still remain good.
winter, as we were off grid and could seven months, it was amazing how The same goes for dry corn. Store-
not keep a light on in their coop. fast our cooking oils and shortening bought cornmeal has the germ
We’re planning on building a new went down. removed, just like plain unbleached
coop on our current Minnesota home- Nearly all of our meat and poultry flour does. Thus, it will store for a
stead, complete with a battery bank was canned: chicken, turkey, venison, long time. But whole, dry corn will
charged by additional solar panels beef, and elk. We did have a frozen store longer and you can grind your
which used to power our house. Then quarter of elk out in the woodshed, own cornmeal as you need it or you
we’ll have fresh eggs all winter. covered to keep chickadees and wea- can plant the corn to increase your
The first winter in Montana, I didn’t sels from munching on it. When I bounty and replace what you’ve
store enough butter and we ran out wanted some for dinner, Bob would already used. I keep 25 pounds of
before the deep snow melted. Luckily, go out and saw off a roast or steak popcorn and 25 pounds of a heirloom
I did have dehydrated butter. I learned with a meat saw the morning before I corn, Seneca Round Nose, in the pan-
to add peanut oil to rehydrate it planned on cooking it for dinner. try for this reason. I also keep 10
instead of water, as the taste was Now, we have an electric freezer pounds of masa harina (corn flour) on
much better. Then I learned I could powered by our wind charger and hand at all times.
can butter, which works much better. solar panels. I always have about 20 pounds of
Margarine will keep longer without Remember that although plain different cheeses in the freezer along
going rancid than will butter, when unbleached flour will last for several with about 10 pounds in the refrigera-
just kept cool. However, don’t use tub years when stored in a dry, rodent/ tor. I rotate the cheese to keep it fresh.
I also can up many pounds of
cheese (see my book Growing and
Canning Your Own Food for direc-
tions) and I keep a few #10 cans of
dehydrated cheese blend powder on
hand in both my kitchen and pantry.
I buy my baking powder in large,
restaurant-sized cans. I remove about
a cup to store in the kitchen, then
freeze the rest. Frozen, it retains its
leavening powers much longer than if
left out at room temperature.
Likewise, I buy yeast in one-pound
bags, taking about a cup out to keep
in the fridge, then freezing the rest.
Should things start looking dicey, I’d
recommend buying another pound as
I go through a pound in six months.
You can always make sourdough
starter and bake sourdough breads,
but yeast is nice to have around, too.
I keep a pound of baking soda and
When you’re hunkered down, you’ll be baking a whole lot more. several pounds of iodized salt in the
10
