Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More (Back to Basics Guides) [Hardcover]

Abigail R. Gehring (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Back to Basics Guides | Publication Date: November 1, 2009

The companion to the bestseller Back to Basics for country, urban, and suburban folks.

Who doesn’t want to shrink their carbon footprint, save money, and eat homegrown food whenever possible? Even readers who are very much on the grid will embrace this large, fully-illustrated guide on the basics of living the good, clean life. It’s written with country lovers in mind—even those who currently live in the city.

Whether you live in the city, the suburbs, or even the wilderness, there is plenty you can do to improve your life from a green perspective. Got sunlight? Start container gardening. With a few plants, fresh tomatoes, which then become canned tomato sauce, are a real option. Reduce electricity use by eating dinner by candlelight (using homemade candles, of course). Learn to use rainwater to augment water supplies. Make your own soap and hand lotion. Consider keeping chickens for the eggs. From what to eat to supporting sustainable restaurants to avoiding dry cleaning, this book offers information on anything a homesteader needs—and more. 1000 color illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

From instructions on making your own composting toilet to trimming the toenails on your llamas, this back-the-land guide offers a vast wealth of resources for the eco-minded, twenty-first-century homesteader. The crowded chapters cover growing and harvesting food; keeping livestock (and building structures to house them); incorporating renewable energy technology, such as solar panels, into existing homes; making crafts, household items, and toys; homemade health remedies; and earth-friendly interior design. With so many topics introduced in such a limited space, it’s inevitable that some subjects are treated more superficially than others; for example, a spread on stress management, which includes tips such as “take a walk,” seems out of place in a title filled with so much targeted, useful advice. Best are the practical specifics, and even city dwellers with no interest in taking up beekeeping or basket weaving will enjoy browsing this for recipes, gardening ideas, and, as the introduction states, other accessible ways to “take a few steps closer to a healthier, happier, and more responsible lifestyle.” --Gillian Engberg

About the Author

Abigail R. Gehring is the editor of Back to Basics, Homesteading, and Self-Sufficiency, and author of Odd Jobs and Dangerous Jobs. She’s practiced living self-sufficiently since her childhood in Vermont, being home-schooled, home-canning jams and jellies, and enjoying natural crafts. She lives in New York City and Windham, Vermont.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (November 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602397473
• ISBN-13: 978-1602397477
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 11 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Canning & Preserving

More About the Author

Abigail R. Gehring is the author or editor of six books on country living skills. She's practiced living simply since her childhood in Vermont, helping build a log cabin, home-canning jams and jellies, and enjoying natural crafts. She's also the author of "Odd Jobs" and "Dangerous Jobs."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even An Old Country Girl Can Learn New Tricks from "Homesteading" - A Great Book!, November 21, 2009

By 

Penny L. Muzzey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More (Back to Basics Guides) (Hardcover)

Growing up in the country, many of the aspects touched on in "Homesteading" were reminders of how I was raised. Yet, even though I had participated in many of the activities presented here (gardening, canning/freezing, raising animals, crafting), there were so many items and suggestions I had yet to discover! The step by step directions on how to make your own paper, or yogurt and butter, or the various natural herbal remedies discussed in "Homesteading" were great surprises for me. There are multitudes of magnificently bright, eye-catching pictures, and the text is easy to read. All of the directions for the various projects are very user friendly, with "quick tip boxes" throughout. Anyone new to simple, back to basics living will certainly benefit from this book, and if you're like me, this book might just be a bright reminder of days gone past - and days you'll want to enjoy again!

180 of 217 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars done bother, January 13, 2010

By 

Earthmother (upstate ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More (Back to Basics Guides) (Hardcover)

If you are looking for real information on homesteading, this is NOT the book. At best the information is very general and almost worthless.

The author has information on buying food from CSAs, Co-ops,and farmers markets. How about more info on growing your own food. There's nothing on raising beef or pork.

In the section on dairy goats, she speaks about the breed La Mancha, yet the photo is NOT a LaMancha. The goat in the photo has ears, La Manchas don't have ears. Also although goats will eat some grass, they are poor grazers.

In the section of llamas there is a least one photo of alpacas.

In the sheep section, the author tells the reader to milk a sheep you must pull the sheep up to the fence so it can't get away, then she has you milking the animal from the front. What? I have all these animals, plus more.That's not even close to how milking is done.

I don't need a homesteading book to tell me how to hang wallpaper, or how to use Feng Shui to decorate my home.

The photos used for growing in a greenhouse are greenhouses that none of us can afford to buy. The same with the chapter on energy and the photos for solar panels and wind turbines.

Where's the info on building with recycled material?

This is a book for yuppies with lots of money who want to play "homestead."

This author does not know what she is writing about. There are many more worthwhile books out there.

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More an overview of many topics, November 30, 2009

By 

Mr. Fix-It (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More (Back to Basics Guides) (Hardcover)

I purchased this book thinking it would be a "compendium" on the topics involved in homesteading. Instead it is an overview or introduction to many topics. I like the fact that there is much to learn from this book, and it covers many, many topics, but few of them in depth. Worth buying if you are interested in the subject of self sufficiency, but it will make you want to get more books and materials to fill the gaps left by this book. For the price I'd buy it again.