Husbandry: The Surest, Cheapest Way to Leisure, Plenty, Prosperity & Contentment, Plainly Illustrated [Paperback]

Nathan Griffith (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Cobblemead Pubns; 1st edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966510305
• ISBN-13: 978-0966510300
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,078,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good living in the country without tons of money., November 27, 2000

By 

E.G. (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Husbandry: The Surest, Cheapest Way to Leisure, Plenty, Prosperity & Contentment, Plainly Illustrated (Paperback)

Nathan Griffith's "Husbandry" tells how anyone can achieve a good living in the country, even if they don't have lots of money.

It's the only book of its kind I have seen, giving the author's first-hand, no-nonsense accounts of good living by sustainable management of rather small, cheap parcels of land.

The author is a classically trained musician, but for many years has lived primarily from the amazing bounty of his little bit of marginal land in a rural part of Appalachia.

He tells how to find and evaluate country places, how to examine their titles at a courthouse, and how to buy them cheaply.

Then comes a great deal of in-depth guidance on:

1. Preparing the land to support you.

2. Getting drinkable water from it.

3. Raising all types of poultry and livestock on it.

4. How to milk a cow and make butter, cheese, ice cream and yogurt.

5. Butchering meat and making ham, bacon, and excellent sausages.

6. Training draft horses and oxen (even for beginners).

7. Managing pastures and meadows, field crops gardens and orchards.

8. Harvesting sugar, honey and molasses.

9. Preserving food.

10. Rustic Construction, Repairs, Blacksmithing.

11. Making soap, charcoal, lime, leather, etc.

12. Rural sanitation.

13. Saving and improving seeds and crops.

...And on and on. And all of it without dependence on debt, drugs, petroleum, chemicals, gimmicks or outside help.

The book is only about 300 pages, but there's so much on every page it takes quite a while to read it all. There are also plenty of helpful illustrations.

This book is a fascinating look into making a very good living, whether or not you have a "respectable" income.

Reading it has set me to seriously pondering chucking it all, and do like the author has done: Namely, achieve a peaceful, leisurely and independent life, while making the planet a better place to live--at least for myself.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can buy this new for $18 at sheepmagazine.com., December 6, 2011

By 

Mooshika Art "ArteMouse" (Central California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Husbandry: The Surest, Cheapest Way to Leisure, Plenty, Prosperity & Contentment, Plainly Illustrated (Paperback)

These re-sellers are ripping you off. They buy books at thrift shops and used book stores for pennies on the dollar and then RIP YOU OFF... Not Amazons fault.
Bottom feeders... the whole lot of them. Look around before you buy... I found several sites selling it MUCH cheaper. Try Countrysidemag.com , go to their bookstore.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best!, January 4, 2002

By 

DW (AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Husbandry: The Surest, Cheapest Way to Leisure, Plenty, Prosperity & Contentment, Plainly Illustrated (Paperback)

Of all the farming/agricultural/rural/back-to-the-land books out there, this one stands above them all. It is concise, easy to read and practical - - It is the only book you need (we've all heard that before, but it's true in this case!)