What is your favorite homesteading book?

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Just wondering, what is your favorite homesteading book? Keep wondering if I have them all or if I am missing a good one. I think among my favorites are "The Manual of Practical Homesteading" by John Vivian and "Practical Skills" by Gene Longsdon. "The Have More Plan" still amazes me for homesteading on small acreage. And of course there are all the pig, goats, chicken, cow, ducks, geese, etc. books. But what are your favorite "multi-purpose" books???

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), May 20, 2001

Answers

All John Seymour's books are good.

-- debra in ks (solid-dkn@msn.com), May 20, 2001.

Here are a few books that I have run across that I have enjoyed. One that I just finished is "The Contrary Farmer" by Gene Logsdon. One I am reading now is "Homesteading, A practical guide to living off the land." by Patricia Crawford.

Other books include, "This Country Life" by Samuel Ogden, "Homesteading, How to find New Independence on the Land" also by Gene Logsdon, "One Acre and Security" by Bradford Angier, "The Complete Homesteading Book" by David Robinson, "The Owner-Built Homestead" this is a very interesting book by Barbara and Ken Kern.

Of course there is the classic "Five Acres and Independence", by M. G. Kains. Also "Grow It" is Full of Information and the author is Richard W. Langer.

Two books which may be hard to find are "Sucess on the Small Farm" first published in 1946 and full of information. The author is Haydn S. Pearson. But one of my favorites is "A Few Acres and Secruity, Your Complete Guide to Independence with Little Capital and Lots of Contentment" by L. W. Steelman. I have only seen one copy of this book and it's the one I have. The copyright on this one is 1951. He has sections on 71 subjects. From care of horses, to raising chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, rabbits and goats. He talks about buying land, and soil improvement. He also covers lawn care, flowers and making money in the country. He spends a lot of time on poultry but he also covers composting, beekeeping, making hay, and the list goes on. This book is full of pictures and "how to" information. If you can get your hands on this one you'll have a wealth of info.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), May 20, 2001.


I was pretty fond of 'Back to Basics', by Reader's Digest, when I was first starting out. That and the old Mother Earth news magazines were my mainstay and I learned a lot from them. I didn't know about Countryside at the time. If you are going to raise goats, just skip over the goat section in 'Grow It!'. I don't think the author ever owned a real goat in his life.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), May 20, 2001.

All of the above...and my all time favorite because its what got us thinking..Carla Emery's Old fashioned recipe book..otherwise known as The Encyclopedia Of Country Living.The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing,and Country Women by ....I forget...happy reading

-- teri (mrs_smurf2000@yahoo.ca), May 20, 2001.

I have to agree with "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery. This book is so important to me that I tore it apart and put each page in a page protector and made a huge notebook out of it. Didn't want any of the pages to get messed up to the point of being unreadable. I also have most of the others listed and they are all good in their own ways but this is the best overall. Deena in GA

-- Deena in GA (dsmj55@aol.com), May 20, 2001.


Hello Karen, My favorites are: Living The Good Life, by Helen and Scott Nearing. Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. The Fox Fire Books 1-4. Backwoods Home Anthologies 1-7. and The Mother Earth News Almanac. Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), May 21, 2001.

This probally sounds like a suck up, but here it is, 3 ring binder bound issues of Countryside magazine dating back to 98 with a few from the 80s and 70s ,the Seymour collection and my printouts from these bboards.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 21, 2001.

By all means, Carla Emery's "Encyclopedia of Country Living". The best! Also, my 15 year collection of CountrySide. "The Have More Plan" is really good, too.

-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), May 21, 2001.

I have had Carla Emery's book since the 70's. It is the best!!

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), May 21, 2001.

One fantastic reference book not mentioned is "Handy Farm & Home Devices and How To Make Them". Compiled & designed by J.V. Bartlett.

This amazing book tells you how to make just about anything you will need for homesteading. First printed in 1945 in Australia.

-- Lynn in SD (ljbixler@dtgnet.com), May 21, 2001.



How about for the money($5.95) "The Have-More Plan" by Ed nad Carolyn Robinson. Some of the meterial is a little out of date by most is still really good reading. I think it is the best book for someone with only one or two acres.

-- David in NH (grayfofarm@mcttelecom.com), May 21, 2001.

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