Backyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency Author: Visit Amazon's David Toht Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1580115217 | Format: EPUB
Backyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency Description
Review
" from the legal aspects of local regulations, raising chickens, goats, bees, and more, David Toht presents an excellent introductory reference on how to create one's own steady source of fresh food."
James A. Cox
Midwest Book Review
December 2011
From the Back Cover
GETTING STARTED
* Benefits of pure food
* Family recreation
* Local regulations
* Potential yields and savings
RAISING VEGETABLES AND HERBS
* Garden planning/layout
* Structures/irrigation
* Vegetable profi les
* Planting techniques
* Composting/healthy soil
* Seasonal gardening
GROWING FRUITS, BERRIES, AND NUTS
* Planting fruit trees and bushes
* Fruit profiles
* Organic pest control
* Grafting and pruning
* Harvesting methods
RAISING CHICKENS
* The joy of chickens
* Collecting eggs
* Care and feeding tips
* Other small animals
RAISING GOATS
* Benefits of goat milk
* Structures/fencing
* Care and feeding tips
* Other large animals
BEEKEEPING
* Benefits of beekeeping
* Care and harvesting
* Building hives
* Collecting honey
HARVEST HOME
* Canning/drying/freezing
* Making beer, wine, cider
* Making jerky, sausage
* Making jams, jellies
* Pickling/salting/smoking
* Building root cellars
See all Editorial Reviews
- Series: Gardening
- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Creative Homeowner; First edition (November 3, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1580115217
- ISBN-13: 978-1580115216
- Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
This book is one of many you can find about, well, homesteading in your backyard. It's always good when the title is appropriate to the words within. ;) I own a few of these books, and this one doesn't veer one inch from the beaten track. What I mean by this is not that there is anything wrong with the book, only that if you already own a couple "self-sufficiency" books, this one is not going to shock you with any new information.
It does have quite a number of illustrations, which is great if you are a visual person. In fact, I really think that this is the best thing going for this book. Some of the other "back-to-basics" which I have read which have few pictures. Ordinarily, I am more than fine with this, since, if I have to choose, I'd rather have competent words than a ton of photographs. However, this book is pretty good at having plenty of illustrations without sacrificing the word content, and I appreciate that.
I will warn those of you who are a little neurotic about misspellings, that there were a few in here (and I am not generally very observant about those things, so I can only imagine what a more keen-eyed person would pick up). The photo quality is good, but not great. The information is laid out nicely--quite well organized. My personal favorite homesteading book is the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery (the 10th edition), but that book is sorely lacking in organization, so I appreciated this feature in this book.
My favorite section in this book was the part on chicken coops. It had a lot of photographs of different styles, which I appreciated, and went into zoning laws a little more then some of my other books do.
Since this book is supposed to be focused on a backyard, its variety of animals is a little limited.
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