Best Homesteading Books – For The Novice Or Pro

Best Homesteading Book –  Top 5

Here is a non-comprehensive list of the best homesteading books and or courses:

1. Self Sufficient Backyard –

2. Survival Upgrades

3. Hidden Survival Foods 

4. Shipping Container Home Made Easy

5. Homesteading for preppers by Dan F. Sullivan

Whether you’re intending to discover exactly how to become a contemporary homesteader or to homestead the old fashioned method, whether you have 40 acres or a little patio on a terrace home. These homesteading publications are the best we have actually discovered and also will certainly aid you on your trip to coming to be a homesteader.

Man and woman being in the kitchen with publications on the counter in front of them.
Ideal Homesteading Publications by Topic
In the video clip below we’re covering all our preferred homesteading subjects and our best publications for each and every topic (you can skip around in the video since it’s all time-stamped with each group!).

We’re sharing practical advice for raising chickens, expanding food, great guides to raising farm animals, homesteading on a big or tiny scale, and just general living a self-dependent life. These publications are a terrific area to begin.

Fundamental Homesteading
Leading Horticulture
Preservation/Canning
Raising Farm Animals
Dairy
Permaculture
Fundamental Cooking
Growing Herbs/Herbal Remedies
Fun Fictional Books
Our # 1 Top Book Choice!

Basic Homesteading Books

These are the books that cover a wide range of subjects on homesteading. They don’t necessarily go also in-depth within each group, however they can offer you a general overview of what to anticipate with homesteading.

1. Back to Fundamentals by Editors of Viewers’s Digest
2. The Encyclopedia of Country Obeying Carla Emory
3. Surviving Off Off-Grid by Michael Shelter

Gardening Best Homesteading Books

Here is the  listing of gardening books we refer to over and over again. These are wonderful resources for starting a yard, generating a lot of food in a little area, soil maintenance therefore a lot mo11re.

• How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
• The Market Gardener by Jean Martin Fortier
• Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon
• The Intelligent Gardener by Steve Solomon
• Four Season Harvest by Coleman

Canning Homesteading Books.

It is necessary to know what you’re going to finish with all your veggies, fruit, meat and also other items you expand on your homestead.

These are some of our preferred go-to publications when it familiarizes just how to appropriately and also securely maintain our foods whether it be by canning, cold, dehydrating or fermenting.

Ball Blue Book.

Ideal Homesteading Books on Raising Farm Animals.

When it involves raising stock, nitty-gritty is EFFICIENCY! That’s why we’re suggesting the complying with books for increasing stock, whether they’re meat poultries, egg layers, a milk cow, goats or sheep.

Pastured Fowl Profits by Joel Salatin.
Keeping a Family Members Cow by Joann Growman.
STEAK by Mark Schatzker.

Best Homesteading Books Transcript:

Hey this is Josh and Carolyn with Homestay family and welcome to this Week’s episode of the pantry chat food For thought today we’re gonna be Answering a question we get all the time Which is what are your favorite books The most important books that you use For home study yeah and we have got a Large library so we’re gonna be covering Our top favorites in a couple of Different homesteading categories that’s Right [Music] All right so we have got a lot to cover Right we did about many books we’ve got A lot to cover but before we get into it Ah we have the tip chat if you want to Skip right to the main topic go ahead And check the description because we Have it time-stamped for you but we’ve Got a little chitchat and a little bit Of a question of the day to answer Before we get into the main topic oh so You want well we told you last week our Little secret that we were actually gone On vacation probably when you watch that Video so Josh and I got away for a Special anniversary trip I think it’s Been about 10 years since you and I got Away Harrison you and I took a break yes Just with each other we’ve been on some Family trips but it was much needed and Very well timed our anniversary happens To fall in a great place in the

Homesteading season because we have Wrapped up most of the heavy spring work We’re not yet in to harvest and Preservation season so it was wonderful We had a good time relax Sunshine spring in summer Yeah and had a good time with each other Absolutely that’s it that’s all we did It was really nice so okay so this will Jump right question for the day and this Comes from a whole lot of people from The instant garden video people want to Know where did you get your water nozzle Oh okay you know what this is the water Nozzle that y’all were referring to and It just came from a local store yeah and So I can’t really share a resource with You but I can’t share it because you Guys like this I love this resource it’s Kind of like a wand in that it’s got all The different adjustments on it but it Doesn’t have the long arm and what I Think people really liked is that Instead of a squeeze handle that your Hand gets tired on or that always seems To break okay it’s got extra parts it’s Just got an on and off on it we a lot of How much they appreciated that and It’s not a long one that’s not as much Management she’s dripping all over me From outside so anyways this has no Brand on it if I could show you the Brand I would yeah but you know there’s The picture of it if you can find one

Like this it is very very handy I’ve got Severed several different styles I Really do like this one and I wish it Had the brand because this one’s holding Up well I some of them really fall apart But this has got like no markings on it And it’s it’s fairly hefty so it’s not a Cheap one I will try to look on Amazon And see if I can find one similar but Yeah obviously we didn’t get it from Amazon so I’ll put a link and it’s just The description been around for a while I would have never guessed that people Would have you know enjoyed it enjoyed That so much very useful are you go We’ll help out how we can right okay so I gotta tell you I went into the library Yes we don’t even that’s good joke to Say he went into the library cuz their Books everywhere all over the house and Honestly there’s still a lot of our Books packed up in boxes we haven’t Developed the shelving we’ve been after A couple years and we just don’t have a Shoving for everything yeah and so yeah I didn’t even get into those boxes right But these are things that are on the Shelf because these are books that more Or less we go to somewhat regularly Yeah and that we enjoy a lot so but even That it was hard to pick just a few Books a few books that we could cover in A reasonable amount of time mm-hmm yeah And we love good library we love

Internet resources but we love our books And certainly want to encourage you all To always make sure you’ve got there’s Just nothing like good books for Research and inspiration you know that Really comes to home here because our Internet is terrible it is so bad that Sometimes it’s hard to pull up a blog Post from somebody else to do a search And pull it up and so it just really Drives home the need to have hard copy Resources something that does not need Any technology to open it up and find What you’re looking for it’s a really Really important thing and of course you Know people are always asking us when Are we going to produce more hard copy Resources most of our content is online There are And the works yep you know you’re Reminding me that there were a couple Announcements we were going to talk About today give people a little Heads-up on a thing or two that was Coming down the pike okay you’re gonna Have coming on vacation mode and I’m not Remembering we have a really exciting Announcement that we’re gonna make Really soon hear about the pantry Chad Oh that’s right it’s gonna become a Podcast right Sal yep so I know a lot of You guys have been asking us about that And you’d love to be able to just listen To the pantry chat while you’re driving

Or working in your garden or your Kitchen and so we are in the process of Pulling the right strings I see it it’s Happening production team that’s gonna Help with this so we can do it right Yeah and don’t know the exact timeline Yet but it’s coming hopefully within the Next four to six days unity of timeline Is that mid August mid-august we’re Gonna have our first episodes out that’s Exciting normal let your eyes open for Them about it as it develops right Because that’ll be a big help to us if When we get started you can jump right Over and give it a you know a thumbs up I helped push that launch that would run Really good so that’s the big one but There’s another smaller in that I don’t Count me fill in though okay that’s not Gonna eliminate the video version that’s What’s really cool we’re still gonna Have this version here but there will be An IC produced podcast yeah as well for So that you’ve got both formats whatever You want exactly yeah so that’s a that’s Exciting because I actually like podcast Yeah and that’s gonna that’s gonna Create some other formats and some other Ways of talking about things eventually Guests getting any more with us that’d Be so there’s gonna be a lot of cool Things they’re gonna come out of that Massage the podcast okay now I have one More announcement that is this is kind

Of a heads up for you guys who are Regular followers here and join us on The pantry chat or read the blog or any Of the other things is that we’re just Getting ready to add a whole section to Our herbal cult our herbal medicine Cabinets colds class how long you’re Gonna be in an herbal medicine colds Class no it’s going to be colds and flus And it’s going to cover other major Viruses that we’re all dealing with Please Deal with what’s going on in the world Yeah you know but here’s the thing if You the price is going to go up when we Add because we’re gonna add a whole Major section to this class yeah and so Anybody who owns the class before we add The section gets in at a lower price and Gets all the additions we ever make to The class so I’m kind of giving you guys A heads up if you want to jump in now at The lower price you can grab it before We make the additions absolutely and you Will get them when they come out Probably around August also cool good Okay great all right got some books take Care of these are some of our go to this Is definitely not exhaustive like we Said either some of our go twos that we Use a lot for different areas of the Homesteading life and if you have a Favorite book in any of these categories We talked about or any that we miss

Top Homesteading Books

Please put it in the comments and share It with everybody and we’re always you Know interested in new resources and new Inspiration so there’s one category of Books that I want to start with okay Which is kind of this everything Homesteading book there are a lot of These out there now this book I’ve got To say when I was a child this book Fascinated me this was probably my Introduction to homesteading and I have Seen this on so many people’s shelves And it’s very interesting to flip Through and see I think there’s quite a Few updated editions because this is Literally the one I had as a child but You know it goes over everything I mean This is all about planting and managing Your herb garden right so we talk about All the time we do but I gotta say it’s Really hard to dial that subject down Into two pages and cover it very Thoroughly so why a book like this is Really interesting and if you’re a Homestead dreaming it’s a great type of Book but when you get into actually Doing projects it’s kind of limited Right it’s a good place to get going we Flipped this in the early days a lot to Really pull out as much anymore right But it is a good basic resource and a Lot of fun and just make sure you call It the title again back to basic back to Basics it’s the reader diet reader’s

Digest back to basics how to learn and Enjoy traditional American skills now I Think that what I want to say But this is that there’s a lot of books Like this out on the market where it Just covers like everything about Homesteading and again they’re really Useful but when you want to dive into One particular subject you’re gonna find That you’re gonna need to jump into Books that are dedicated to that Particular size really learn how to do It so just know that one of these books Is gonna be good right but not gonna get You all into the movie in a couple of Them the next one you’re gonna dive into Here it goes a little further yeah And of course this is kind of like I Don’t know this is the Homestead classic Right Carla Emery the encyclopedia of Country living and there’s all different Editions in some editions she’s taken Out sections and some she’s added Sections it’s you know kind of comes Back and forth as she was writing and This honestly if I can’t find an answer Anywhere else I’m gonna look in here Because a lot of times she has a lot of Hidden gems in here yeah and this is a Really one good one but it’s another one That just covers kind of everything and So it’s an essentials it you know it’s It’s there it’s a background for your Backdrop back up and so it’s a good

Best Books On Homesteading

Essential Cyclopaedia yeah absolutely so That’s kind of the everything books we Do kind of have a theory of or a Category of books that’s like the theory Of everything homesteading right and we Have a few of those I don’t know did you Grab the back to the beyond off-grid Book Michael bunker I did not I did not See that one out Wow that’s yeah that’s a little more Theory a little more discussion mm-hmm Around off gridding and and even not off Grading really really and where to do What so beyond off-grid by Michael Bunker is a great book that’s a lot in The early days they’re not when we pull Out all the time but it had a big impact On our pro chart decision whether to go Off great or not right yeah and we Haven’t yet and for a good reason that We’ve talked about in other places but Anyways very very good book so good good Job bring him out yeah falling into that Same kind of theoretical discussion area About the backdrop and things you need To think about as you’re thinking about Homesteading this independence days by Sharon astok is one of my favorites and I Pull this out year after year and give It a good read through usually once a Year because I really like the school so All right okay all right we got a few Subjects to go through maybe we’ll just

Gardening here for men’s game is my top And Carolyn’s to talk go to gardening Books and one of my tops as Steve Solomon’s gardening when it counts if You want just an all-around great Gardening book that just covers the Spectrum of composting – tools – Watering – seeds planting strategies – Soil it’s just it really is a great All-around book yeah and his methods are Rooted deep in the way I approach Gardening this is not it this is not an Organic only but it is it is a mother in Their earth news book so it leads Heavily that way and it’s been very very Good and he also dies a lot into Mineralization of the soil and that’s a Big discussion within organic gardening Whether if your organic gardening Properly you need to fertilize Mineralize and I like to use word Mineralize and he makes a great argument For that and if you get into this and You get into his complete organic Fertilizer you may want to get his Newest book the Intelligent gardener Goes a lot deeper into the discussion About organic methods and mineralization And how to create a good complete Organic fertilizer most of us are Missing minerals minerals that are key To our health and doing that well Mineralizing well within the organic Systems is takes a long time that

Develops challenging and so I like his Mineralization theory but gardening when It counts that’s a must have very very Good book yeah next one is John Jevons How to grow more vegetables so this is This I love the subtitle in then you Ever thought possible on less land than You imagined and this bio intensive Method which I don’t use exclusively I Use this more as an encyclopedia as it Has so much on spacing on plants on Companion planting on soil strategies And then if you are in a small space and You want to do high productivity with The bio intensive it also has that but So this I use this book all year every Year these two bucks Two of my main go-to s that I’ve had for A long time a newer one that I’ve Started to use because of our scale is Jean-martin 40 a the market gardener yes We are not market gardeners and I know a Lot of you aren’t but if you’re if You’re getting serious and you want to Find a balance between healthy Production and efficiency then you’ve Got to start thinking economically and This is where forte is really really Good and so if you’re thinking about Market gardening or you’re just wanting To learn some strategies of productivity That lean that way which I do we’ve got A large household we’re feeding anywhere From 12 to 15 and sometimes more people

Yeah and we’ve really got to be Efficient with our land use not just Total organic relaxed practices well and Time use and that’s something that he Really talks about in here and I think That’s good for anybody who’s doing a Large garden and really trying to get a Majority of their food out of it yeah is To just learn how to be really efficient With your time and energy and resources Right and yet even though he’s you know He’s approaching it from a place of Profit so you’re getting those Efficiencies but yet it’s still very Sustainable and so one of the things I Get from from Fortier a lot is a lot of Systems a lot of his systems are great I’m now using the watering system that He uses okay some of the tools they’re Very very helpful okay those are I mean We could go on with gardening books and We’ll get into some other areas of Gardening with permaculture here in a Minute but those are these three Particularly I look at all the time yeah Yeah they’re just essential you know What I really like about some of these Gardening books and the theory of Gardening and the understanding that These books give you is that when you Say pick up a seed packet and it gives You the planting depth and spacing and All of those things that’s kind of an Average that they’re giving you right

They’re kind of saying a standard Average go about this depth but the Reality is that your soil is not average Your circumstance is not average so Maybe you need to plant it a bigger Spacing because of your watering Circumstance which Steve Solomon covers Very Or maybe you can grow more intensively Because you have the resources to put Into it so when you start understanding The things that these books are teaching You can really tailor your gardening to Your own circumstances and get the most Out of your garden in a great way so I Really like that that’s that’s a very Very good point because a lot of people Teach certain methods like this is the Method to use right exam they can There’s lots of good methods right they May or may not work well for you in your Situation so having that diversity of Information which a lot of these Resources cover right is it very very Helpful and so that helps you learn how To apply things to your situation Absolutely yeah cool maybe preserving Okay we’ll go back to the kitchen all Right okay so maybe I’m kind of a Traditionalist in this but I really find Myself going to the ball canning books For canning regularly I of course the Ball blue book again it’s not blue Anymore I just feel like they should

Make it blue just because it’s a little I didn’t really get it but the old one Was and then they’re newer all new ball Book of canning and preserving this has Kind of fancier recipes in it I find Myself reaching for these all the time There are a lot of good preserving books Out there but these are just kind of my Gold standard I just really use these Constantly or not because I don’t do a Whole lot with canning those are not Just recipe books or they’re tutorials In here they do they give you a basic Tutorial and walk through the blue book Also covers freezing and dehydrating a Little bit of fermenting but they come At it from a very very laboratory sort Of method so we’re going to talk about That in a different way in just a minute But when it comes to jams and jellies I Love using Pomona’s pectin because I can Use way less sugar than if I were to use A different pectin but I can do the Quick cook method without really boiling The long boil on the jams and jellies That I feel like just loses the Brightness of flavor so because I like The Pomona’s pectin I love the preserving with Pomona’s Pectin book I highly recommend it to you Guys if You’re interested in in any jams and Jellies this is just a great way to go Because you can really go low sugar with

This and still make it taste great There’s a great book for that and since We’re talking preserving I’m gonna pull Out my absolute favorite fermenting book Which is traditionally fermented foods By Shannon stronger and I I really Really like this book because not only Does she talk about just a lot of theory Behind fermenting but she actually lives Completely off grid off off grid she has No soul or any backup at least she Didn’t use to electricity In the heat of Texas in the middle of Situations yeah and she’s working with How to preserve foods without a freezer Or without a lot of the electricity Driven or good things that we have and So she actually really relies on her Fermenting and will ferment for a year At a time not in the refrigerator so She’s talking seriously Traditionally fermented foods and that’s The kind of form using biology using Natural systems to make something Preserved for a long time so I really Really like that about her she’s not Just doing it on kind of a culinary like Let’s make something taste good and eat It in three days she’s not playing Around she’s not she’s serious I really That’s the way to go yeah preserving Okay that is kind of my top preserving Works that I was trying to be you know Yeah we’ve got the cover here still

Really have five shelves of books on Preserving so these are my top let’s Talk animals maybe firm okay and Chickens raising meat chickens Particularly or even just starting Chicks a big chickens we don’t have an Egg chicken book I don’t know we’ve done That for so long and really we needed One take a blood we have been developing Over the years for a decade now raising Meat chickens well and Joel solitons Pastured poultry profits is just the Book to go whether you’re in Geared toward again a little bit Commercial production but it doesn’t Really matter if you want to raise meat Chickens this is the book this has Everything you need to know yeah and Just these are the difference between Somebody who’s geared for commercial Production versus somebody who’s just Geared for backyard production I’m not Sure what you’re saying efficiency yeah Yeah time and efficiency there so this Is not gonna be the big room the super Pampered pet chicken book no no it is Gonna be getting you very healthy very Organic if that’s what you want right Actually raised good quality in an Efficient way and the other difference Is scale yes because on the homestead While we’re not doing a commercial scale We want efficiency yes we want to do the Most sustainable productive work we can

As efficient as we can right and and so That’s why it’s something like that is Really good really good no okay as far As keeping a milk cow one of our go-to Books is keeping a family cow by Joanne S Grohmann keeping a family cow just and Just to go to an excellent excellent go To yeah and again she’s not necessarily Grass based or organic but she does Discuss options along that’s what I like About this book is is she’s a little Maybe more traditional yeah however you Want to say that but but she gives you Options and has a good discussion and You just can go here for all phases of Dealing with a milk cow so if you’re Gonna have a milk cow you need that now I know that is specifically for a milk Cow but we’ve never really kept milk Goats and a lot of people are into milk Goats do you know how much that covers Milk goats are not a whole lot because The goats diet is gonna be different Their gestation periods different our Health their challenges just about Everything is different okay so no we Don’t have a resource on that because we Go to small perfect that’s really the Main reason and it’s hard to make goat Butter yeah butter We like cream anybody I don’t you Remember what I wanted this was a sheet That was a sieve in Jordan Yeah we enjoy water out of sheep’s milk

Which I always heard you couldn’t do They actually let it rise to like they Skimmed it it wasn’t through a separator And no they did use part of the animal To do that because it had I believe the Enzymes inside partly in a stomach or Something like that I can’t remember it Was the stomach but it was phenomenally Good Wow really really good that’s a Cultural experience feeding on and now If you’re gonna if you’re gonna get into Beef cows and grass-fed beef and you Want to know their student I mean Obviously grass-fed is is you know a Growing thing that people are interested In has been for a long time but if you Want an all-around good book grass-fed Cattle yes Great book yeah the first book I read on Grass-fed cattle by I don’t even say his Name Julius Rochelle that this is like An encyclopedia and just if you ever Want to get started you’re thinking About it this is the book to go to as a Starting place now I actually had a Close friend sorry to interrupt you Close friend of mine the other day go They were considering buying half of a Cow to go to their freezer from a Producer who was a grass-fed producer And they just said oh I’m so worried About the flavor because I had a little Bit of grass-fed beef one time and it Was so gamey it was not good and you

Know can it be good does this with this Talk like if you’re a consumer and you Want to buy it or you don’t learn Anything from this or this is really From the cattle producer like you’re Raising your own beans this is really From the cow producer raising your own Beef side okay grass-fed beef can be Very good we’ve raised grass-fed beef Now for nearly 15 years almost and it Can be excellent it can’t also be very Bad can be very and if you want a great Discussion on this I can’t tell you the Author’s name but the book is called Steak and this is journalist that went Traveled all around the world and looked At beef production from the American Industrial to the American grass-fed to Everything in between In different countries of Europe Australia I think New Zealand Japan all Over the place and he gets into that Discussion and so well it’s not a Technical discussion it explores the Different areas because his one of his Summaries was was grass-fed was the best Steak out of everything he had all over The world okay It was his best it was also his worst You see where his stick you know he Depends on how it’s okay but that’s a Really fun read if you’re into your food And you’re into steak especially if You’re thinking about maybe purchasing a

Large amount of it that sounds like You’re really good Just want to learn about different ways To the beef is raised and and have fun With it very cool great Good good is that the animal divide one More deal man no no that’s a different Different subjects okay let’s go into Well we’re talking about dairy animals Let’s go to the dairy books that I love The cheese-making books I have two that Are really on my top list and I have a Lot of books on my shelf on dairy and I Gotta say these are the two that I pick Up over and over again and I almost Don’t ever touch any of the other ones So the first one is much more I use it In as much more theoretical and to Understand what I’m doing and this is The art of natural cheese making by David Asher this is a great book if you Want to understand making raw milk Cheeses of working with raw milk or just Making cheese and actually understand What’s happening and how to do this in Your kitchen I do find though that his aren’t the Recipes that I tend to grab in use in Christians so maybe because I like the Step by step picture recipes that are in The next book but this is a great book If you’re looking to get into homemade Dairy it covers all the dairy aspects For kefir yogurt soft cheeses hard

Cheeses blue cheeses all sorts of Different things so can I pitch in a Little bit because I’m a different mind We learn different ways Yeah and Carolyn does much more that She’s making now but I’ve done a bit of It and I started with this book and I Really like this book especially for the Heart Jesuses which is where I started And did most of and for me it was a Great foundation a great start good Cheese making so I don’t know if that’s My technical sense or what that is about The way I like to do things in learning But yeah it is really really good okay Yeah it is it’s a great book but the one That I go to time after time to actually Make my cheese you can see like the back Covers going on it’s seeing a lot of Views in the kitchen is milk cow kitchen By Mary Jane butters if you’ve never seen a Mary-jane butters book they’re great I Know when Josh first was absolutely like A high-end dairy picture book you know Expensive dairy but I got to tell you Uh-huh I started flipping through it and Looking at it and then seeing some of The things you were doing this book is Deep it is it’s very good but it’s very Well liked here’s the page on Bree and It’s step by step photos and all the Pictures and you know if if you feel Like you want to leave the cheese-making

Or dairy making for a few minutes and Figure out how to do a dairy braid a Dairymaid braid in your hair that’s in Here too that might be why I thought it Was a little but it is actually an Incredibly good book it has a lot of Recipes on the cheese on all sorts of Homemade you know yogurt sour creams Butters all sorts of stuff like that but Then it has a lot of recipes on how to Use your cheese’s in meals and desserts As well as a lot of cow care and other Fun things and you know if you’re if You’re ever thinking about having a Dairy cow or you’re just wanting to make Better use of dairy go here before you Ever get a cow Yes art learning these skills and these Arts buying you know raw milk if you’ve Got access to it or whatever and start With that and you’ll really learn what You can do and decide whether or not It’s cow is actually worth it for you Important before you get run over with What are we getting right now five six Gallons of milk about six gallons of Milk a day you need to know what to do With it before you get that in your Fridge so cool okay so now we want to Dive into some just all around homestead Development and management books and for That we go to permaculture permaculture Is a sustainable system of design and Management that focuses on taking care

Of people taking care of the earth or Land or resources and providing a Surplus right it’s very very economical Yes it’s very very efficient mm-hm and It takes good care of our resources People so to me any any homesteader Should be diving into understanding Permaculture so one of the best Introductions that I like is just simply An introduction to permaculture by Bill Mollison one of the authors of the term And one of just kind of the founders of The whole movement of permaculture so This this is about really designing your Homestead and managing it even the Systems within your Rustad right so if You’re looking at buying a piece of Property or maybe you’re on a piece of Property and you’re looking at upgrading Your systems where to put your garden Where to put certain things and what Elements to bring in this is what you Want to be reading on instead and it is Very important to be thinking about Those things I know when we started and I’ve watched a lot of people they just Go and they just go well this seems like It to be good here and that’ll be good There okay yeah and and we’re not really Thinking about sustainability or the Interconnectedness of things and Function and how that all works together To create a sustainable environment Where we’re making our land and animals

Able to produce for us over time okay Well still having good productivity yeah So that’s really important to think About if you want to dive in a little Deeper I mean there’s endless resources On permaculture that’s a great starting Place if you want to dive in a little Bit deeper the next great book is the Resilient farm and homestead by Ben Okay This is definitely deeper a little more Theoretical but but also very optical He’s been applying it on his own farm For many many years and teaching and Designing so this kind of goes to the Next level and it’s just excellent Excellent resource for permaculture and I wish I could pull out about ten other Ones but you know I and I just want to Go back to this idea that how important Proper design is on your homestead Because you can take a set of projects That you’re doing on a homestead say You’ve got pigs in a garden maybe some Chickens and you’re chopping firewood And you can have those things in a rain Arranged in a way that makes your Movement your day your work around the Homestead really really hard and really Really time-consuming all right Or you can Have them arranged in a way that makes You much more efficient makes your work Easier makes one system feed into

Another which ends up making your work Even more efficient and go further and So this is you know I know when we get Into homesteading it’s it’s this stuff That’s exciting it’s this stuff we want To jump right into and get our feet wet To narrow down Yeah the dairy or the cooking or the This something the gardening but if you Don’t have that kind of infrastructure That framework to work under dialed in Correctly you’re gonna struggle with all These things eventually because you Won’t have it dialing to be efficient For you to work for you so you’ll always Kind of have a little bit of a struggle Going on it’s just so important to get Into that not so much fun theoretical Stuff well I love systems and I love Efficiency just coming from a Construction background and business Management background I love those Things that I love having my hands in The soil and working with the earth so This combines all of that and I gotta Say to expound a little bit more subject We get a lot of people ask us how do we Do it all yeah we a lot of emails we a Lot of comments like how do you guys do It how do you manage the farm how do you You know homeschool and take care of the Kids and make money and run a business And do all these things yeah and you Know we’ve been at it for a long time

It’s been hard it’s been a struggle but The permaculture mindset are these Things that we’re talking about is a Large part of it because we’ve worked to Create efficiencies and while Permaculture focuses a lot on Sustainable land design and management The paradigm thinking processes that you Are describing apply in the kitchen in Preserving and how all these things Different how you arrange your day and Because it shapes your thinking and so To me I think that the paradigm the Thought process of permaculture has Permeated all that we do and it is one Of the key things as far as strategy That allows us to do so much it is so Productive absolutely so if you can put Your your exciting dreams down for a few Minutes and you know put the dairy off For a little bit and go and study Przemek culture first to get those Systems done correctly then you’re just Going to have a lot more success with Everything else You’re right that’s a great it’s a great Foundation it’s a great place to start Right but there’s plenty of books you Can also take you know courses to e Courses online and in person and like if You’re thinking of going to the land Buying a property and you could go do a Course like that first I highly Recommend that we’ve both taken our

PDC’s they’re called And they’re very very worth the money in Our life right now Absolutely moving our way back to me Okay so I am to just basic cooking and This is this is hard for me in a few Different ways kind of probably number One because they don’t really use Recipes recipe or to give you a recipe Sometimes it’s hard for me to do that Because I’m not a recipe follower but I Do like to get ideas for wrestling vases To do things people need yes you know Foundational organ a recipe to get Started absolutely yeah so as far as Learning about traditional cooking this One’s just kind of pretty standard in a Lot of people’s kitchens now this is Nourishing traditions and if you need an Education and how to feed your family Nutrient-dense food from real food this Book is going to seriously give you an Education it is a recipe book but I Think the initial section on the types Of foods here is worth its weight in Gold all by itself so that’s really good Now that said I have cooked maybe one Recipe from this book in all of the Years that I have had it and I don’t Even remember what Trece P it was so so I don’t seem to use it as a recipe book So much but it’s a very very good Educational book and I think anybody Who’s feeding a family should read this

Book yeah but when it comes to recipes This book actually really surprised me The prepared family cookbook by Enola Gay and when I first got this book and I Flipped through it I was kind of like at I wasn’t too excited about it but Somehow this is the book we pull out Over and over again it just has great Recipes but I think it’s because it has Great recipes based on real ingredients That I’m likely to have either in my pantry Or on my shelf or out in my garden and So or the freezer so we really really Like that because it’s you know it’s Gonna be made with food that I can store Or I have in my pantry so as you’re Prepared because I’m prepared so anyways That those are probably my talk to you When it comes to cooking all right okay I had one more gardening book buried Down here that I think for those of you That are wanting to extend your season So okay you know part of our strategy Has always been to learn how to extend Our season without intensive resources You know without heated greenhouses and Whatnot those things would be wonderful But they’re expensive right yeah and you Know maybe one day we’ll have some of Those but Eliot Coleman’s for season Harvest and he definitely goes into you Know some larger systems but there are a Lot of strategies here yeah and if you

Want to grow more food it’s not just About growing more food into space it’s About extending the season and Maximizing your use of the season over Time yeah yeah and so that’s what this Book for Steven harness for season Harvest does from Eliot Coleman so that One just got misplaced and got buried Especially if you’re in a place like we Are where you have yeah challenging Winters your northern climates yes he’s From Maine yes yeah yeah and we’re still Developing other systems and we’re going To come back to this one soon and start To use it more as we get some of our Infrastructure in and can focus on this But this has helped us a lot and very Very good news good okay well I we kind Of like did that evenly on accident Health every time I go to my book shelf I think I recommend a different book Because there are a lot of really good Ones out there this is one for this Season especially with AK Ovid going on I talked about this last week in a video Or a couple weeks ago herbal antivirals By Stephen Herod boner boner boner um This is just an incredibly good book and It’s a book that I think everybody Should read right now especially the Introduction part under Stand viruses this was written before Kovac nineteen but it does deal with Some coronaviruses and definitely deals

With just the idea of these big viruses And pandemics going around so this is a Really really good book from a couple of Books that I like for just kind of um Your you know go to you have a problem In the house you need to solve it you Need to come up with a remedy book is Practical herbalism by philip Fritsche This is one i reach for all the time and The modern herbal dispensary by Thomas Easley and Stephen Horne this one’s Gonna focus a lot more on the plants and What you can do with them and index them By plants this one talks a lot more About the herbal medicine making process And how to choose your right remedies And different things like that so these Are both incredibly good books but my Hands down most grab for first book that I go to and there is a problem in the House that I don’t need to that I don’t Know how to deal with by myself is all Of the books by Rachel Weaver I just got be your own doctor I just Brought that one down here but there’s Also be your own pediatrician and Backyard pharmacy I think it’s called She is a mom of like twelve or fourteen Children very very practical knowledge And I love it that she’s gonna say Something like well you could use this Combination or you could use this but You know salt water works just as well I Love that kind of practical knowledge

That gives me the easy option that I Have in the house that I can work with And somebody who’s kind of seen it all She’s worked as a herbalist for a lot of Years so just a great great book very Practical you’ve been using those for a Long time you know just seeing you apply Those to both myself yeah she’s my Doctor because I need somebody to tell Me what to do I think we all do when we Don’t what you’ve applied from that book We’ve just seen work really really well On our family over yours yeah and it Really helps you understand a condition That you’re working with you know what You should be doing food wise other Things you need to deal with So I really recommend these books okay Cool so a totally different direction Here because I got all these books about Knowledge and learning and homesteading Life that once in a while you need a Little fiction fun and so one that I’m Reading right now Carolyn’s read many Times over a year in Provence by Peter Mail this is just a fun book about an English couple that moves to Provence France into the agricultural lifestyle So if you want you like agricultural Reading right but I want to read about Cultures and some good humor and just Get away from all the heaviness of the Knowledge you’re trying to take in this Is a great book it kind of steeps you in

The environment of good food and growing Good food and enjoying it it’s important That inspiration yeah so another series Of books that I really like is the Cadfael mystery books Yeah and I’ve gotten a lot out of these He the main character here is a monk who Is an herbalist in the eleven hundreds And so very interesting book very Medieval England time mm-hmm and there’s Actually a lot of tidbits of knowledge Is you can pick up from these books I’ve Actually learned a lot not so much on The herbalism I wish they went more into The herbalism but just touching base With the agricultural processes of a Food storage practice is all sorts of Things but they are murder mysteries so If you are sensitive to something like That then just know that they are a Murder mystery and so there are murders In agricultural it’s you know religious Contacts they’re there they’re really Really good they’re really good you do Read them in order though and start with Book one I don’t I don’t know which book This is I think this is a book of short Stories about it is yeah but start with Book one because it builds on yeah that Characters all the way through if you’re Interested in that okay well last but Not least you guys the most important Book of all your Bible it is a book of History it has a book salvation it is a

Book of agriculture yes it is a book for Every In life nutrition nutrition just wisdom Yeah and so it’s a book that we read Everybody in our house that can read Every single day and it is also another Part of how we do it is the sources of How we do what we do yes yeah and the Light to our path so can’t include our Favorite books without including that One absolutely and I think with that We’ve covered what we can reasonably Cover overstaying our welcome right Obviously we have a lot of gaps though So again please share your favorite Books on subjects we didn’t cover or Favorite books you know we’re not Covering books on rabbits Bleep keep it ease right I mean there’s A ton out there and so you guys pick it In because I’m sure you have a lot of Great books yeah and you know we’re Gonna be looking through that and maybe We’ll pick up some new ones absolutely Sounds good next week I think we’re Talking about home school we are in this You know that we homeschool Carolyn was An educated teacher and has applied that Now for nearly 15 years to our family And today many more people are either Thinking about homeschooling or and some Sense is being forced to home-school Because of the current circumstances and So it’s becoming more and more relative

So I think we’ve just got some thoughts About getting started basics on getting Started and homeschooling we’re giving a Lot of questions right now so just kind Of given some basics there all right Guys been good hanging with you we will See you next time goodbye. Hope this helped you find your best homesteading books.