Learn how to live sustainably in the city, the suburbs, or the country Many people are cutting back on consumerism and trying to simplify their lives, realizing that the "new way" isn't necessarily the best way. The sustainable living movement goes beyond a desire to protect the environment and practice green living; it's about rediscovering simple survival skills that, in an earlier time, were known and practiced by almost everyone. The New American Homestead gives you a wealth of information about homesteading—a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency—from raising chickens, bees, and other animals to gardening in earth-friendly ways to canning, preserving, home brewing, and cheese making. The book does not assume that you have a sizable parcel of land in the country; author John Tullock's techniques can be put to use in virtually any space, even a small urban plot. The book appeals to anyone who has a yard, courtyard, deck, or porch with room for gardening; wants to spend less money maintaining a household; and desires to reduce his or her carbon footprint through sustainable living The author emphasizes cultivating foods of all kinds in spaces of one-third of an acre or less, with consideration given to costs, family needs, available space, and the pleasures of the table Includes advice for achieving sustainability in other aspects of urban/suburban life Whether you're dwelling in the country, suburbs, or the city, The New American Homestead shows you how to live a more sustainable life.

"Homesteading the Plains offers a bold new look at the history of homesteading, overturning what for decades has been the orthodox scholarly view. The authors begin by noting the striking disparity between the public's perception of homesteading as a cherished part of our national narrative and most scholars' harshly negative and dismissive treatment. Homesteading the Plains reexamines old data and draws from newly available digitized records to reassess the current interpretation's four principal tenets: homesteading was a minor factor in farm formation, with most Western farmers purchasing their land; most homesteaders failed to prove up their claims; the homesteading process was rife with corruption and fraud; and homesteading caused Indian land dispossession. Using data instead of anecdotes and focusing mainly on the nineteenth century, Homesteading the Plainsdemonstrates that the first three tenets are wrong and the fourth only partially true. In short, the public's perception of homesteading is perhaps more accurate than the one scholars have constructed. Homesteading the Plainsprovides the basis for an understanding of homesteading that is startlingly different from current scholarly orthodoxy. "--

Discusses the history of the Homestead Act, what states were involved, how people lived and crossed the land to open the Western United States.

God, self-reliance, simplicity, & service: The homesteading secrets to success! With this in mind, Cody and the Wranglerstar family decided to leave a comfortable city life several years ago and start their adventure in the rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Now popular pioneers among a growing movement of people seeking independence from debt, freedom to raise their family with values and faith, and the peace of a simpler, more meaningful approach to life, they detail their journey on the Wranglerstar YouTube channel to hundreds of thousands each week. Discover their personal story, what worked, what didn’t, and what you can learn from their mistakes Explore detailed “How to” sections throughout the book, providing hands-on knowledge and practical tips for just about anyone Master techniques you can use to help you in your home, garden, and life with these full-color drawings, photos, and illustrations! With this window into the modern homesteading movement, you will find innovative strategies and forgotten wisdom reclaimed from the past that can be made your own. Have you dreamed of stepping off the treadmill of life? Do you feel in your heart there is something more than the usual daily grind? Join the Wranglerstar family as they blaze a trail for all those who dream of becoming truly independent by living an amazing and more fulfilling American dream. In the blueprint of their story, you can see the decisions and paths that are at the heart of this life and faith transforming way of life!

Examines the business, labor, and human history of Homestead, Pennsylvania, the heart of the American steel industry.

The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition. Ben Falk is a land designer and site developer whose permaculture-research farm has drawn national attention. The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies (relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading. The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings. The Resilient Farm and Homestead is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.

On July 6, 1892, three hundred armed Pinkerton agents arrived in Homestead, Pennsylvania to retake the Carnegie Steelworks from the company's striking workers. As the agents tried to leave their boats, shots rang out and a violent skirmish began. The confrontation at Homestead was a turning point in the history of American unionism, beginning a rapid process of decline for America’s steel unions that lasted until the Great Depression. Examining the strike’s origins, events, and legacy, The Homestead Strike illuminates the tense relationship between labor, capital, and government in the pivotal moment between Reconstruction and the Progressive Era. In a concise narrative, bolstered by statements from steelworkers, court testimony, and excerpts from Carnegie's writings, Paul Kahan introduces students to one of the most dramatic and influential episodes in the history of American labor.

Chronicles a family's efforts to build a home near the Arctic Circle in Alaska, depicting their moving discovery of love and courage in a land of modern-day outlaws, feuds, grizzly bears, and unbelievably harsh winters.

The first ever history of the post-World War II homesteading program that provided frontier land to returning veterans. Reveals the many challenges they faced--and how they helped change our perceptions of the modern American West.

"Gould's attention to the ironies and ambivalences that abound in the practice of homesteading provides fresh and insightful perspective."—Beth Blissman, Oberlin College "This luminously written ethnography of the worlds that homesteaders make significantly broadens our understanding of modern American religion. In richly textured descriptions of the everyday lives and work of the homesteaders with whom she lived, Gould helps us understand how the tasks of clearing land, making bread, and building a garden wall were ways of taking on the most urgent issues of meaning and ethics."—Robert A. Orsi, Harvard University "This is a fascinating, authoritative, and accessible look at one of America's most important subcultures. If you ever get around to building that cabin in the woods, or especially if you don't, you'll want this volume on the bookshelf."—Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape "Rebecca Gould's compelling book on American homesteading brings the study of the religion-nature connection in the U.S. to a new place."—Catherine L. Albanese, author of Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age "Gould provides brand new data and sheds new interpretive light on familiar figures and movements. At Home in Nature is a model of how to seamlessly blend ethnography and history."—Bron Taylor, University of Florida, editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature