Books?

[tombear]

Being very new to this gardening to eat lark and not being the biggest fan of reading iPads, kindles or even sitting at a PC can folk recommend me good old fashioned paper books on homesteading or growing your own? At this stage Janet and John is about my level and I'm a sucker for a skilfully rendered illustration, throwing in a bit of history also keeps my interest.

Heres what I've more or less accidentally acquired at car boots or charity shops and policed up a couple of weeks back.

Not having the background knowledge to judge, are any to be taken with a pinch of salt? Some of them are a bit elderly, lots of dungarees in evidence.

atb

Tom

 

[Goatboy]

This books pretty good, http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Vegetable-Plot-Delicious/dp/0563488174 Pretty good for the beginner. Found it in a friends collection when I was doing a wee bit of research n the history of the Kale Yard in Scotland.

Kale being a great thing to grow as it's easy, overwinters and hard to kill. Also pretty yummy stuff, a great Scottish staple for many a generation.

Some of the other books I was thinking of are all old and way out of print. Will dig (see what I did there!) them out at home and post the titles. You may be able to find them on 2nd hand book sites.

 

[tombear]

Cheers, as it happens I think we have two types of kale to either put out or have gone into the propagators on the window sills all ready Thousand head is one of them. Herself is keeping a spreadsheet.

just filled another 4 x 28 hole seedling trays with a mix of our acid soil and potting compost for her to put seed in when she gets home. They will fill the last of the windowsill space in the top floor shed. When they need putting into bigger pots w'ell expand to another floors windows but I think a lot will go out when they fill the pots they are in. They ain't much smaller than the ones we got for the front yard herb garden from the garden centre.

With the interweb its much easier finding out of print stuff, herself loves the buy for a penny, inflated postage making the sellers profit. I now have to casually mention I am after such and such and either its there for next to nowt and she gets it me or if its full whack/ collectors item I can go whistle. Thankfully my tastes are obscure so no one else wants what I do.

atb

tom

 

[sandbender]

British Red posted a thread listing his choice for homesteading type books...

I was asked recently to list the books I have that are useful or vital to self sufficiency. We have a lot. One large three shelf bookcase in the kitchen forms half of our "reference library" - It covers cooking, gardening and self sufficiency. I have left out from this list myriad cook books and flower gardening etc. as they probably do not apply directly to self sufficiency.

Now the books - rather than list them I have photographed them - The titles and authors should all be visible (although you may have to click on the link to get a larger picture). I have tried to group them by category, but the categories are loose. I've commented on each category on what I think are "seminal" books.

Here we go

The Backbone

When trying to plan a garden or a self sufficient lifestyle you need to think and plan in broad strokes. I find John Seymours work great for that. Often it leads on to me buying a more specialised volume, but a plan has levels - and for a "high level" plan these are, in my opinion, the best. I have both but one is more garden oriented - the other more small holding. Pick one or both.


Books 1 - the backbone by British Red, on Flickr

Handy additions to the backbone

Both of the illustrated books contain a myriad of useful information. I find they contain some information on many tasks I need to undertake. I found both nowhere near as good at the "broad brush planning" as the Seymour books, but contain more detailed information on a specific task. The top four together will get you going on most things!


Books 2 - handy additions by British Red, on Flickr

Useful Planning

I do also like these three books as supplements to planning out your enterprise. Of the three probably "five acres and independence" is the best - but only after you have the Seymour ones


Books 4 - useful planning by British Red, on Flickr

Handy General Purpose stuff

There are lots of books out there that come at things from a historical angle - or truly historical books. Of those interested, the titles on the left are of limited value to a smallholder other than sparking a "further interest". Those on the right (Foxfire series and "Manufacturers Practical Recipes" contain good, solid, information and are worth having


Books 3 - Handy general purpose by British Red, on Flickr

General Garden Books

Clearly growing produce is at the backbone of self sufficiency so we have many volumes on the subject

As additions to the Seymour volume, we find Bob Flowerdews stuff excellent. He's an organic garden, so if that's not your thing, buy another. The basic "Garden Expert" book should be on everyones bookshelf - for its planning seasons stuff if nothing else


Books 5 - basic garden by British Red, on Flickr

Forest Gardening

For some, Forest Gardening (in a nutshell, planting a perennial garden without much rotation) is the way to go. There are many books on the subject but its not how we work in the main - so we have this one


Books 6 - Forest Garden by British Red, on Flickr

Garden Specialisms

There are a wealth of specialist books on one aspect of gardening. Of these I strongly reccomend the RHS pruning book if you inted to keep fruit bushes or trees. The seed saving book is a must if you intend to grow heirloom (non hybrid) plants and keep seeds for next year. The River cottage book is good - but not as good as their Bread book


Books 7 - Specialist by British Red, on Flickr

Herbs

If you have a general interest in growing and using herbs - wither of these will see you right


Books 8 - Herbal by British Red, on Flickr

Medicinal Preparations

Of these the James Wong is the more accesible but the Hedgreow Medicine more in depth.


Books 9 - Medicinal by British Red, on Flickr

Storing Food

Well, once you've grown it, you have to keep it fresh for when you need it - all of these books are great (and don't dismiss the freezing one - I had no idea of the right way to freeze more obscure fruits and veg)


Books 10 - Food Preserving General by British Red, on Flickr

Pickles, Jams and Preserves

This is one of the nicest and most fun things I find - from a home grown mustard to a Thai sweet chilli sauce. Marguerite Patton is of course a goddess and her book is the best


Books 11 - Pickles & Jam by British Red, on Flickr

"Pressure Canning"

If you are going to get into pressure canning - and its a great way to preserve meat and low acid veg - Start with the Balls Blue Book and go from there


Books 12 - Canning by British Red, on Flickr

Other Preserving

ALL of these books are "best of breed" - if you have an interest in the subject matter


Books 13 - butchery, cheese and root cellars by British
Red, on Flickr

Livestock Handling

This is a huge subject in its own right - we are planning to move on to chickens, ducks, bees and perhaps pigs - but I'm no expert here. You will need books though on species, handling, ailments, housing etc.


Books 14 - Livestock by British Red, on Flickr

Crafts

I don't mean crafts in a hippy tie-dye way. I mean making the things you need and use. The list is endless bus soap making is a great place to start


Books 15 - crafts by British Red, on Flickr

Specialised Crafts

Some of these facinate me intellectually (e.g. distilling) but making your own vinegar is a huge step towards those chutneys and the Bread book is awesome - everything you need to know about bread by hand.


Books 18 - Make your own by British Red, on Flickr

"Building"

You are going to have to build stuff. Maybe not a home, but a fence, a door, a gate. My favourite of these are "Handy farm devices and how to make them" and the BTCV fencing manual - I guarantee you will use both


Books 16 - DIY by British Red, on Flickr

The Good Life



Most of us want treats and a glass of something at day's end. All of these are good. The CJJ Berry is a good primer on wine and where I started


Books 17 - Wine and sweets by British Red, on Flickr

Clearly that is not all you would need to know about self reliance - but it would be my choice for starting out

Red

I can see why BR photographed these books, to type all the titles and authors takes a fair while, still for anyone interested here they all are.


John Seymour - The New Self-Sufficient Gardener
John Seymour - The NEW complete book of Self-Sufficiency


Carla Emery - The Encyclopedia of Country Living
John and Martha Storey - Storey's Basic Country Skills


Michael Roberts - The Smallholders D.I.Y
- The Smallholding Plan A Practical Starter's Guide
M.G. Kains - Five Acres and Independance


Una McGovern - Lost Crafts
Eliot Wigginton - The Foxfire Book
Thomas J. Elpel - Primitive Living. Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills
G. S., Ed. Ranshaw - Manufacturers Practical Recipes


Bob Flowerdew - The Gourmet Gardener
Bob Flowerdew - Complete Fruit Book
Bob Flowerdew - Going Organic
Dr. D.G. Hessayon - The Garden Expert


Patrick Whitefield - How To Make A Forest Garden


Sue Stickland - Back Garden Seed Saving
Jerry Minnich - Gardening for Maximum Nutrition
Christopher Brickell - Pruning
Mark Diacono - River Cottage Handbook No.4 Veg Patch
Rita Buchananan - A Dyers Garden


Andi Clevely - The New Guide to Herbs
Lesley B - The Complete Book of Herbs


Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal - Hedgerow Medicine
James Wong - Grow Your Own Drugs


Carolyn Humphries - how to freeze
The Gardeners & Farmers of Terre Vivante - Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Recipes and Techniques
Piers Warren - How to Store Your Garden Produce
AFRC Institute of Food Research - Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables


Lynda Brown - The Preserving Book
Marguerite Patten - Jams, Preserves and Chutneys
Amelia Swann - The Victorian Kitchen Book of Pickles and Preserves
Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew - The Complete Book of Preserves and Pickles


Judy Kingry and Lauren Devine - The Complete Book of Home Preserving
United States Department of Agriculture - The Complete Guide to Home Canning, Preserving and Freezing
- Cooking and Canning with the All American Pressure Cooker/Canner Instructions and Recipes
Altrista Consumr Products - Blue Book Guide to Preserving


Mike and Nancy Bubes - Root Cellaring Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables
A.D. Livingston - Cold-Smoking and Salt-Curing Meat, Fish, and Game
Ricki Carroll - Home Cheese Making
John J. Mettler Jr - Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game


Katia Thear and Dr. Alistair Fraser (Editors) - The Complete Book of Raising Livestock and Poultry
Katie Thear - Starting with Chickens
Claude Goodchild, Alan Thompson - Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps
Katie Thear - Starting with Geese
Katie Thear - Starting with Ducks


Susie Vaughan - Handmade Baskets
Angela Ramsey - the handmade paper book
Carol Kroll - The Whole Craft of Spinning
Melindaq Coss - the handmade soap book


Janice Cox - Natural Beauty at home
Julie Townsend - Vinegar A guide to the many types and their uses around the home
Ola Norrman - Home Distillation Handbook
Daniel Stevens - River Cottage Handbook No.3 Bread


Bernie Weisgerber - An Ax to Grind A Practical Ax Manual
Elizabeth Agate - Fencing a practical handbook
Colin Eden-Eadon - Wood Work The Complete Step-By-Step Manual
Rolfe Cobleigh - Handy Farm Devices and how to make them


C.J.J Berry - First Steps in Winemaking
Bruce Weinstein - The Ultimate Candy Book
Terry Garey - Home Winemaking
Margas & Rich Gulling - Wild Wines and Meads

 

[British Red]

The John Seymour book you have there is good - but get his book "the self sufficient gardener" - its my go to book

 

[bigbear]

Glad you say that Red, as he has always been an inspiration to me, and I agree with your choice, mind you, all his books are a worth a read......

 

[tombear]

Cool, I will keep a eye out for them.

ATB

Tom

 

[Quixoticgeek]

If you want, I can do you a copy of "Fat of the land" for the postage.

J

 

[British Red]

His fiction is well worth a read - particularly "Retrieved from the future"