From the garden or barnyard to the kitchen table, here is a comprehensive resource for step-by-step information about food production. Filled with more than 1,000 recipes, 700 mail-order sources, how-to instructions, and earthly wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of self-sufficient living, this thorough, reliable treasury should be in every home. Features 300 illustrations.

Packed with step-by-step instructions, useful tips, time-honored wisdom, and both illustrations and photographs, this compact guide has everything you need to dive into a more self-sufficient life. From canning and preserving to keeping chickens, fermenting vegetables to soap-making, Gehring covers all the basics in this easy-to-read, approachable collection. Topics covered include: Generating your own energy Herbal medicine Cheese-making Maple sugaring Farm mechanics Building a smokehouse Dyeing wool Composting Disaster Preparedness And more! Whether you own one hundred acres or rent a studio apartment in the city, this book has plenty of ideas to inspire you. Learn how to build a log cabin or how to craft handmade paper; find out how to install a solar panel on your roof or brew your own tea from dried herbs; Cure a ham, bake a loaf of bread, or brew your own beer. This book has something for everyone.

Drawn from the perennial bestseller The Encyclopedia of Country Living, this guide offers even more expert advice on how to plan, can, preserve, and cook your own harvest Equipped with the knowledge of when to harvest, how to harvest, and what supplies are needed to preserve your harvest, anyone can learn what it takes to create authentic, old-fashioned recipes in this age of supermarket dependence. Carla Emery’s in-depth knowledge comes from her years spent with farmers and homesteaders who truly lived off the land. Culling from, and expanding on, sections in the famed Encyclopedia of Country Living, co-author Lorene Forkner offers a discussion of our changing motivation as food consumers, detailed explanations of the processes behind canning and preserving, and a wealth of recipes for fruits, vegetables, meats and fish, and herbs. From drying to pickling to freezing, Emery’s preserving methods are as broad in scope as the recipes themselves. Do-it-yourselfers can welcome summer's arrival with Chunky Peach Jam and Oven-Dried Tomatoes, or host a fall harvest with fresh Herb Bouquets and Smoked Chicken. Step-by-step instructions, illustrations, charts, and informational sidebars make the process easy and enjoyable.

In a single volume Ernest Thompson Seton, renowned naturalist, writer, artist, and founding leader of the Boy Scouts of America, presents one of the most comprehensive guides to the outdoors ever written. Originally published in 1922 as The Book of Woodcraft, this work represents the culmination of years of observation and experience in the wilderness. Within these pages lie instructions and anecdotes—some expected, some delightfully unanticipated—regarding literally hundreds of arts, crafts, skills, and games. Here one can learn to distinguish edible plants from poisonous ones; start a fire using only a jackknife; build a four-store birdhouse out of a wooden box; communicate in sign language; tie a variety of essential knots; identify trees, wildflowers, animals, birds, and constellations; and much, much more.

Promoting ecological awareness, this practical guide, richly illustrated, details how to achieve real country living and conveys the pleasures and benefits of small-scale, high-quality crop and livestock production. COUNTRY LIFE offers real-life options for people who yearn to be self-sufficient or who simply want a more fulfilling "house in the country". Over 700 illustrations.

A guide to country living features photographs, illustrations, instructions and tips for living off the land, covering such topics as canning and preserving, soap-making, and building a dog house.

A perfect companion to The Encyclopedia of Country Living, this is a complete gardening manual for setting up your own vegetable garden—whether it’s just a few rows of lettuce or a year-round field Drawn from, and a continuation of, the bestseller The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Growing Your Own Vegetables is informed by years of hands-on experience and the wisdom gathered from a generation of homesteaders and small farmers. Starting with planning the garden (plot size, seasonal considerations, getting the most from a small plot) and laying it out (rows, beds, plowing), this book addresses the planning and growing issues for all North American climate zones. Gardeners need to understand (and love) their soil, and the Growing Your Own Vegetables explains it in simple terms, with advice on composting and testing for contamination (so important since this is going to be your food source!). Author Carla Emery was a very early advocate of gardening without chemical fertilizers, so the approach here is organic all the way. Much of the book is the crop-by-crop guide to planting, cultivating, and harvesting the delicious vegetables we love to eat: onions, leafy greens, stems and flowers (rhubarb, artichoke, broccoli), roots (spuds, radishes, jicama), grasses & grains (just imagine: your own wheat field!), legumes, gourds, and the nightshade family (that would be tomatoes, peppers, eggplant).

Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast—heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm in Kentucky and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasizes practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem. "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."—Publishers Weekly "Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."—Booklist (starred review)

Collects over one hundred of the best spooky Halloween crafts and recipes from the pages of "Country Living" magazine.