The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! (Paperback)

~ Carleen Madigan (Editor)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bottom line is, even if you're not ready for complete self-sufficiency, in today's economic climate, it just makes sense to try to produce some of your own food. And this book is a great way to get your feet wet."
(Epicurious.com )

"The tone is sweet and accessible, and the well-organized chapters cover all the bases…” — July 2009 (Bust )

“This book delivers what it aims to sell. Its 368 pages of information on creating a successful, self sufficient, backyard homestead that will keep you and your family busy and eating all year long. 4.5 out of five stars, this is the book homestead enthusiasts have been looking for. Go buy this book!” (Everyday Prepper )

“The Backyard Homestead is a comprehensive and accessible guide to starting a vegetable garden, raising chickens and cows, canning food, making cheese, and a whole lot more.  Editor Carleen Madigan…a homesteader in her own right, draws on the dozens of books about country living that Storey has published since its founding in 1983.”

(Boston Sunday Globe )

“Because you need to brace yourself for what’s on the horizon:  The Backyard Homestead.  This fascinating, friendly book is brimming with ideas, illustrations, and enthusiasm.  The garden plans are solid, the advice crisp; the diagrams, as on pruning and double digging, are models of decorum.  Halfway through, she puts the pedal to the metal, and whoosh!  At warp speed, we’re growing our own hops and making our own beer, planting our own wheat fields, keeping chickens (ho hum), ducks, geese, and turkeys (now we’re talking) and milking goats, butchering lamb, raising rabbits, and grinding sausage.  Oh, and tapping our maple trees, churning butter, and making our own cheese and yogurt.  Peacocks, anyone?  Need I say more?  Well, yes.  Stock up on some knitting books because next winter, you’ll want to grow your own sweaters, too."

(New York Times Book Review )

Product Description

Put your backyard to work! Enjoy fresher, organic, better-tasting food all the time. The solution is as close as your own backyard. Grow the vegetables and fruits your family loves; keep bees; raise chickens, goats, or even a cow. The Backyard Homestead shows you how it's done. And when the harvest is in, you'll learn how to cook, preserve, cure, brew, or pickle the fruits of your labor.

From a quarter of an acre, you can harvest 1,400 eggs, 50 pounds of wheat, 60 pounds of fruit, 2,000 pounds of vegetables, 280 pounds of pork, 75 pounds of nuts.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (February 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603421386
• ISBN-13: 978-1603421386
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,634 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

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  #1 in	Books > Home & Garden > How-to & Home Improvements > Do-It-Yourself
  #1 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh eggs! Fresh bread! Fresh basil!, March 23, 2009

By	S. B. Townsend (Boston) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What else could you want? Do you need? Well, after reading Madigan's book, apparently I want to have and do alot more with my life and garden in the city. I've already been trying to turn my 1/16th (?) of an acre city garden over to chickens, veggies, and fruit, but, yikes!, this book has been an absolute dream find for me. It has made me realize that I've barely cracked the surface as far as creating a life that is in happy harmony with the plant and animal world, not to mention how my family's eating experience will become more fun, more fresh, and more delicious! I can't wait to start making my own mozzarella and planting those nut trees! That will be the easy part...getting my husband to agree to those four gorgeous blue Andulusian chickens I've been coveting might be slightly harder.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even if you don't have a backyard!, March 10, 2009

By	A. Rainer (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This book was recently introduced to me by a friend who was tired of hearing me just *talk* about my preserving and canning aspirations - she thought, rightly, that having this book as my guide would spur action. What always sounded like a lovely annual ritual to me is now actually - I have been happy to discover, after reading "The Backyard Homestead" and its clearly, engagingly written advice - something I can and do do. But I have discovered so much more that is possible within - as it turns out, having only a balcony, and no actual backyard, is not a deterrent when looking to live more self-sufficiently, and Madigan addresses viable options for all kinds of living circumstances. There really is something for everyone within, and inspiration is inevitable.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great All-In-One Reference, March 9, 2009

By	M. J. Paso ""kitchen gardener"" (California) - See all my reviews

I love "The Backyard Homestead"! It is a user-friendly guide that not only shares the "how to" aspects of food self-sufficiency, but includes lots of wonderful recipes as well. Ms. Madigan's caring and respect for the environment shines throughout each chapter of this delightful book.