As I’ve noted in the past, I’m running low on friends to support.  There are still a few bloggers out there that deserve some praise, I’m sure, and I can think of a few that I really enjoy, but who are a bit too spicy to endorse outright (until blogging pays the bills—which is an extremely long way off—even I have to censor myself).

As such, I might be giving Supporting Friends Friday a hiatus starting in July.  I started it last June (with a post about real-life buddy Jeremy Miles‘s book of poetry, Hindsight: Poetry in 2020), so it’s had over a year—a good time in which to run its course.

I’m not saying it’s gone forever.  I’m just going to give my talented friends more time to churn out excellent work.  Supporting Friends Friday has really been beneficial to the blog, especially since honoring Audre Myers with a post on 27 August 2021; that brought over a whole new readership, and has led to more contributions in the comment sections and to the blog itself.

Of course, I could end up changing my mind by next week, so who knows?  That said, I thought I’d dedicate this “season finale” edition of Supporting Friends Friday to a publication I’ve come to enjoy and respect over the last year:  Backwoods Home Magazine.

BHM and its sister publication, Self-Reliance—which bought a piece from me about my front porch concerts—is a quarterly publication that focuses on homesteading, homeschooling, and other independent activities for those wishing to gain increased independence from the modern world.  The publication apparently saw a huge boom in its subscriber base when The Age of The Virus and the lockdowns began, as Americans realized the only hope at having any kind of liberty is to become as self-reliant as possible.  The more we can escape the supply chains and the government’s stranglehold on commerce, the less we depend upon both for our daily bread.

The magazine largely avoids political topics, though it’s pretty clear it’s conservative-leaning.  The articles are full of helpful hints and tips, and largely offer up advice on some aspect of homesteading.  Raising livestock, growing plants, building furniture, cooking with local plants, etc.—all these topics and more are covered in each issue.  There are even some interesting science and history factoids.

It’s also easy to submit to the publication.  BHM provides clear guidelines on their website for submissions, and I know some of my readers would find a hearty welcome there.  They pay around $40-50 per printed page, which is pretty good—my piece, which was around 2200 words, brought in a nice $200 check; not bad for a first-timer!  They like “how-to” articles and lots of pictures.

Or you can just subscribe to the magazine.  It’s $26 a year for four issues, and the knowledge contained in each is amazing.  Both publications are $43 for a year, which comes to eight issues—also worth it.

So, check out BHM and Self-Reliance.  They’re great!

Note:  BHM is not paying me to write this post—although that would be cool; I just really like this quaint publication, and I think it provides excellent information to its readers.