Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency is just that, how to get the best from a small garden, or a large farm, and everything in between. It is all covered, raising crops, and livestock, cure a ham, pickle onions, keep bees, generate power,and sink a well. The book is well written and I find myself refering to it constantly, it also makes a darn good read. The book is available in soft cover from Amazon.co.uk

These techniques can make any person a more or less succesful small farmer. It can help you to change your life to a more agricultural based one, if you would want that. Some aspects are hard, like the "harvesting" of parts of your livestock, others so simple even my kids have fun with them. It's all a matter of state of mind and how far you want to go. Almost every aspect of life is treated in this standard work. From water to energy, from horses to pigs, From building a house to clearing a forrest. It contains the knowledge of a lifespan of pre industrial farming. Live like this and the Mall will be a great, never to visit mystery.

It would be difficult to improve or even to add much to a book which covers so many aspects of not just self-seffiency but the basic tenents of good land husbandry. Every aspect of what you may require to manage a 5 acre or 1 acre property with the minimum of outside influence is here. Managing your own small holding is a life-time affair with the land. All the advice on how to go about it is written in this book. I live on seven acres and it is indeed my bible for the land. It also makes very interesting reading even if you cannot be self suffient.

The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency is just that, how to get the best from a small garden, or a large farm, and everything in between. It is all covered, raising crops, and livestock, cure a ham, pickle onions, keep bees, generate power,and sink a well. The book is well written and I find myself refering to it constantly, it also makes a darn good read. The book is available in soft cover from Amazon.co.uk

First read this book while working on an organic farm in New Zealand,it changed my way of thinking completely.10 out of 10.

I first ran across this book in, of all places, a small bookshop in Florence, Italy during a "backpack tour" of Europe in the late '70's. As I paged through the book in that stuffy little store I began to sense that I was on to something very important. I ended up carrying that book all over Europe for 2 months and reading it over and over again and memorizing everything. Prior to the purchase of this book, I was a confirmed techno-geek, with the conviction that high technology would save the world. John Seymour changed all that. His step-by-step descriptions of everything from growing food to understanding traditional crafts and skills convinced me that there was a better way to live your life than what my professors were telling me. It's safe to say that almost every aspect of my life has been influenced by Seymour's book. It occupies a special place on my bookshelves, and I still take it down regularly and refer to its detailed drawings and lively text for inspiration in my gardening and woodworking. It's been a wonderful guide to "the big picture" of my life, and I believe its timeless message of sane and rational living belongs in every home.

These techniques can make any person a more or less succesful small farmer. It can help you to change your life to a more agricultural based one, if you would want that. Some aspects are hard, like the "harvesting" of parts of your livestock, others so simple even my kids have fun with them. It's all a matter of state of mind and how far you want to go. Almost every aspect of life is treated in this standard work. From water to energy, from horses to pigs, From building a house to clearing a forrest. It contains the knowledge of a lifespan of pre industrial farming. Live like this and the Mall will be a great, never to visit mystery.

Very thorough textual treatment of subject. Helpful illustrations, reader-friendly layout and style. My local library has a copy, and I'm haunting their "For Sale" tables just in case this book ever turns up there.

I've been throught this book a couple times, and it is a great introductory book on Self-Sufficiency, althought Seymour's teachings on the subject do not aply to all countries and situations. If you're interested in starting your own self-sufficient experience, I do recomend it.