Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead [Paperback]

Phil Garlington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

Rancho Costa Nada outlines the principles for the dirt cheap desert homestead, including transportation, sanitation, food storage, electricity, and much, much more, plus fascinating portraits of the desert homesteaders who are Phil Garlington's neighbours. This book is an American classic, full of ingenuity and good old Yankee know-how, and making do, and living way off the grid, and getting by on your own without kissing anybody's ass, or being a slave to the consumer economy. This is an amazing tale of what can be done on a low-tech scale with good old American free-thinking in these high-tech times.

Product Details

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Loompanics Unlimited; First Edition edition (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559502363
• ISBN-13: 978-1559502368
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,591,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best books Ever!!!, December 25, 2009

By 

giocasa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead (Paperback)

I was so excited, I stayed up all night reading this book, it has truly changed my life. Finally, a way for the common guy to get by, if He's crazy enough to try it. The author finds himself fired again , and entertains the idea of living on his desert property, bangs himself together a shanty, and lives well, and tells us the tale. Tips on utilities, cooking, camping, keeping clean are all here. The side lines with the demented vet are my absolute favorite things here , and I think they are very funny. I have experimented with many of the suggestions given ,and they are sound enough. My truck is still rigged with two extra deep cell batteries, as suggested for a portable powerplant. This is one of the very few books that has lived up to its title, is really fun to read ,and You can learn quite a bit here too. This book has truly changed my life for the better, and I re-read my dog eared, and dog chewed, copy often for a laugh or two.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the wacko homesteading book for me!, January 31, 2006

By 

Jason J (IA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead (Paperback)

After reading many disappointing books on survival, dropping out, homesteading and self-sufficiency I got this gem from Loompanics about a guy who is DOING IT. His message is simple: get a piece of desert land (why can you afford it? - it's worthless), built a simple shelter, and actually live the life the you claim to yearn for. No BS, no apologies, no pretending that you've got $10,000 just laying around - just good solid advice. On top of it all, an occasional rant for good measure. Get it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real 'Outside' story, February 26, 2005

By 

Mark A. York "Reporter" (Sunland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead (Paperback)

Phil Garlington, California's answer to Hunter S. Thompson has given us a real gift in this frank, funny and brutally honest how-to-memoir. Destined to be a cult classic with exiled would be back-to-the-landers wherever they may be, 'Rancho Costa Nada' shows, not tells how anyone fed up with modern society can chuck it all and still keep some of the small comforts that most folks run the treadmill to have on a daily basis. It's trade off: Freedom or indentured crawl-on-your-belly servitude and many of the more free-spirited can't stand. I'm one of them, and always have been. Like Garlington in his early years, I left for the wilds of Alaska, chronicled in 'Alaska Tales.' The cold reality of that life makes a desert sojourn a good choice for one's later years. In the irreverant style reminiscent of Edward Abbey this author splits our sides with hilarious interviews profiling colorful folks the mainstream has left behind. Phil's ingenuity cobbling together the hogan and amenities is truely inspiring for those on a limited budget. I first became aware of Garlington from the 'Propwash Chronicle' in the anthology 'Out of the Noosphere' from the editors of Outside Magazine, one of the funniest stories I've ever read. Hopefully we'll get an anthology of more of the travels of Phil Garlington.

Also recommended: Aces and Eights