Anyone read 'The Self-Sufficient Life and how to live it'?

Oz, most of the book clubs now have online accept or decline reply functions. I used to always forget to send those dang cards back in, now with the online function I never get a book I don't want. You might want to check thier website to see if it's available.

I never heard of that book but I know the one I used way back when we started thinking about homesteading-Five Acres & Independence. Even though it's an old book; there's lots of great information that's still relevant to our chosen lifestyle.

Good Luck in your homestead search,
Kathy

 

All of John Seymour's books are great. I have what I believe is a compilation book that was released in the UK called The complete book of self-sufficiency. I've just order the DK release of this book as well which is really good. Everything from making bread to dressing out a pig. It's all in there.

Another great book of his is "Forgotten Arts and Crafts" great overview of a myriad of different homestead crafts from hurdle making, to hedge laying, to clog making.

J

 

I haven't seen a bad John Seymour book yet. Some of the books share some of the same information because they became compilations of earlier works but all of them are great references. Just on the food side of things Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has a couple of really good "cookbooks" that are far more than any simple cookbook. I don't know if they are available stateside yet or not but they are great reference works as well.

Enjoy Mr. Seymour's book. You'll be out making hurdles or catching eels in no time.

J

 

Good news OZ, if you belong to the outdoorsmansedge book club then you don't have to worry about sending that card back in unless you want to order another book. I've been a member of this book club for several years now. When I first joined up we had to send those cards back in but after a while they quit making it a mandatory responsibility. I think they were getting too many unordered books back in the mail.

This is a very good book club Oz, I think you are going to like them. I don't buy from them every month but I bet there is at least one book that I would like to buy every time I get there brochures. If I was back to working full time I probably would be ordering a book from them each month.

 

I just wanted to second Thatch's recommendations for John Seymour's and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's books. Anything by Seymour is wonderful (I've got 3 of his books); Hugh F-W's stuff is also very good; but I'd recommend "The River Cottage Cookbook" (much more than just a cookbook, the chapter on Pork starts with "How to buy a weaner pig") over "The River Cottage Year"; which is still a great book, but is quite specialised to the UK. His aim is to teach people about what food is in season when, and how to cook it and eat it when it's fresh (and cheap); but I feel that he really focuses on 'traditional British country fare'; much of which probably isn't available in North America. Gooseberry Fool anyone?

Jo

 

I own a couple of Seymour's books. Forgotten Skills and Crafts is a compilation of two previous books. I bought another book through Cobblemead publications, this one written in the 60's I think. Self Sufficiency I think was in the title. Great information, funny but I sometimes had some trouble understanding proper English the expressions are so different from this side of the pond.

Another good book is Husbandry by Nathan Griffith. That is how I found about Cobblemead press.