Customer Reviews

Homesteading Adventures: A Guide for Doers and Dreamers

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

 

 

This book is a collection of ideas for homesteaders or others who want to live simply off the land. Robishaw describes a wide variety of projects and activities that she and her husband have done to survive and thrive that come with a minimum cost to the pocketbook and the environment. These include a windmill powered well, a solar powered electrical system, a solar cooker, a solar food dryer, outhouses, homemade wine and vinegar, gardening, saving seeds, and making maple syrup. Robishaw presents the information in the form of a series of dialogues between CindyLou and JJ, a pair of newcomers to the woods, and Sue, an old-hand at homesteading. The dialogues are meant to be cute and humorous, and perhaps lighten the tone of the text. However, I found them a bit tiresome and contrived in places. The book is not filled with detailed plans for constructing equipment, although there are a few useful diagrams. Instead, its value is in stirring up ideas in the minds of the readers, and giving encouragement to go ahead and try something new because it just might work. Set in Northern Michigan, it is especially relevant for readers from far northern climates.

Adherents of the `60s counterculture back-to-the-land philosophy will find much to enjoy and savor in this humorous but fact-filled book on homesteading self-sufficiency. I am lucky enough to have had a personally autographed copy of author Sue Robishaw's wonderful book "Homesteading Adventures" sitting comfortably on one of my bookshelves for years. I recently re-read it, and found it as refreshing and as practical a guide to exploring the possibilities of walking on the self-sufficient side of the dirt road as one might find out there in the Ethernet. Miss Robishaw uses the device of two fictional neophytes to pose the important questions regarding how one begins the process of shifting gears and thought processes toward increasing levels of personal responsibility for living "off the grid". And, by the time one is through casually rummaging through the pages, you find that she has cracked more than a single smile or two onto your face while also relating to you a lot of important and useful data about the possibilities for living a less materialistic and more user-friendly alternative lifestyle.

In these days of ever greater complexity and ever more complete dependence on others for the woof and warp of our daily existence, for food, water, shelter, sewage, electricity, entertainment, transportation, and clothing, one is perhaps a bit startled to discover that we can each be much more actively and "proactively" involved in this process, that each of us can garner much of what we need to survive and prosper as human beings on the surface of the planet. It often comes as a surprise because many of us are so deeply embedded in the ethos of the material culture that surrounds us that we rarely are able to independently determine or recognize how many other alternative ways to live exist, and which are there for us to employ if we have the vision, nerve, and energy to do so. In her own way, the author helps us to come to this conclusion very quietly, gently, and with more than a little humor. She is well grounded, and along the way shows us how we can do everything from build our own cabin or earth home to how to make a small but eficient greenhouse to how to design, build, and erect a functioning windmill.

While Sue Robishaw is certainly not a self-sufficiency visionary like Scott and Helen Nearing ("The Good Life"), she does provide a vital and valuable service to the reader by offering a lot of practical lessons regarding how to begin and sustain one's journey toward greater personal responsibility for one's own way of living. It is said that many millions of Americans continue to examine the basis of their own lives with an inchoate and poorly articulated dissatisfaction with the materialistic way of life they are currently embroiled in. To the extent a single book can make a practical difference in helping such folk recognize, understand, and act on this alternative vision regarding the manner in which one lives his or her life, this book is a terrific aid and a practical how-to manual rolled into one paperback volume. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

This book was a joy to read. Tucked within the true-to-life and often humorous accounts of the fictional couple's move to ruraldom are excellent instructions and guidelines for homesteading.

I highly recommend this book, although I wouldn't advise its use as a primary resource for homesteading.

"I swear!"
"Really?!"
"Yes!"
"No, way!"
"The entire book! There are some chunks of interspersed instructional writing, but otherwise the entire book is written in bad dialogue between two fictitious characters! They're spunky and bright-eyed and new to homesteading and have lots of questions! So you get to read all about their adventures as though you're overhearing a conversation between them! And they say everything with exclamation points!"
"But, isn't that annoying and distracting?"
"Why yes, it is. I was disappointed because I'd heard this was a good primer with lots of helpful suggestions and ideas to help people see for themselves that a basic homesteading lifestyle is within reach for us all... but I honestly couldn't get past the third page."
"That's too bad."
"Yup."




Seriously. Three stars for allegedly having good info, but to be honest I couldn't actually read it.

The book was received in record time. The one thing I don't like about the book is the author use a lot of imaginary people in the book. Other than that the book is okay and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to homestead. The information in the book is good and interesting.

The title of this book is misleading. I was looking for something to teach a city girl how to homestead in a straight forward, concise manner. I wasn't looking for a novel. Conversations litter this poorly written book between the author and her made up freinds. After four or five pages I found myself skimming through the remainder of the book to find any informational nuggets.

If you are looking for a homesteading manual and guide, there are much better choices out there than this one.