Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance

Rating:
Summary: This is a FANTASTIC reference book
Review: I bought this book for my husband who owns and operates a saw mill. He also raises bees. This book has sections on his interests and mine as well. There is information on gardening, canning, animal care, herbs and so much more. There are wonderful recipies and literally hundreds of tips and ideas. This is a book will we read and read again. It has very clear illustrations and clear, useful directions. A real find.

Rating:
Summary: This is a FANTASTIC reference book
Review: I bought this book for my husband who owns and operates a saw mill. He also raises bees. This book has sections on his interests and mine as well. There is information on gardening, canning, animal care, herbs and so much more. There are wonderful recipies and literally hundreds of tips and ideas. This is a book will we read and read again. It has very clear illustrations and clear, useful directions. A real find.

Rating:
Summary: UGH!
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. It does not give practical information on any country skills. It appears to be a compilation of the many great Storey books out there so if your interested in something specific like chickens or goats, just buy Storey's guide to chickens or goats. I learned nothing new from this book. Since it was published in 1999 it would appear they were jumping on the bandwagon for the Y2K hysteria.

Rating:
Summary: Super book!
Review: Not only is there a bounty of excellent and easily accessible information in this book but it is enjoyable to read. This book is a good place to start if you're thinking of rural living.

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Summary: Encyclopediac Guide to Life in the Country
Review: Since I live in a rural area, I was eager to see what Storey's encyclopediac book of useful country skills would have to say about gardening. It turns out that this fascinating book has quite a lot of helpful information about many different rural activities, including gardening.

This book has twelve chapters packed with information to help the country gardener, as well as a very useful chapter on preserving the fruits and vegetables your garden produces. The gardening section of this amazingly complete book begins with chapter nine. This chapter discusses everything you need to know about planning, planting and harvesting a vegetable garden. Some of the most valuable sections of this chapter are the garden planning chart and the information on extending the season.

Next, the book discusses herb gardens. From theme gardens to uses for herbs, this chapter is again packed with information. I really enjoyed the recipes, but the crafting ideas were also useful.

Storey knows that even country dwellers need extra beauty, so the book includes a chapter on flower gardening. Sections on flower arranging and drying flowers are included.

Water gardens and rock gardens can be fun and add a lot of interest to the landscape. Besides clear instructions for creating both garden types, Storey gives some useful lists of plants to put in these gardens.

The next two sections on improving soil and garden pests and diseases are terrific resources for the beginning gardener. Additional sections of the book cover feeding birds, lawn care, building outdoor structures, and growing fruit.

This book is well written, crammed with ideas, and fun to read. It is a terrific resource for someone interested in the country life.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book in the "Storey" series
Review: Storey, for me, is quickly becoming my reference book of choice, as far as "how to live on a farm if you weren't born on one" goes. This book was my jumping off point. It contains sections on how to buy land, how to build your home, how to raise chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. I should note, however, that this book is more like a "compilation" of works by other authors. The Basic Country Skills (BCS) extracts information from many other books, and puts them in one reference text. There are a few parts where I think the editors forgot to re-lable diagrams (specifically in the "how to butcher a cow" section) but if you're planning on slaughtering your own animals, you should probably buy a reference manual specific to butchering to compliment this one. BCS is a great book for people like me who are planning to buy a little patch of earth somewhere far away from the hubub of city life, but who can only dream about it for the present. BCS is a great primer for those who want to get closer to where our food comes from than waxed supermarket produce, or shrinkwrapped beef. I'm not a vegetarian, but it doesn't seem fair for meat eaters to eat something that they didn't have to feed and care for, and finally, to come to terms with the fact that this animal you've had for 9 months is going to be the beef for your family for the next year. Taking its life, so that you can continue yours.. that should be each of our (meat-eaters anyway) responsibility. To treat our food with dignity, and kindness, and thank it for nourishing and providing for us.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book in the "Storey" series
Review: Storey, for me, is quickly becoming my reference book of choice, as far as "how to live on a farm if you weren't born on one" goes. This book was my jumping off point. It contains sections on how to buy land, how to build your home, how to raise chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. I should note, however, that this book is more like a "compilation" of works by other authors. The Basic Country Skills (BCS) extracts information from many other books, and puts them in one reference text. There are a few parts where I think the editors forgot to re-lable diagrams (specifically in the "how to butcher a cow" section) but if you're planning on slaughtering your own animals, you should probably buy a reference manual specific to butchering to compliment this one. BCS is a great book for people like me who are planning to buy a little patch of earth somewhere far away from the hubub of city life, but who can only dream about it for the present. BCS is a great primer for those who want to get closer to where our food comes from than waxed supermarket produce, or shrinkwrapped beef. I'm not a vegetarian, but it doesn't seem fair for meat eaters to eat something that they didn't have to feed and care for, and finally, to come to terms with the fact that this animal you've had for 9 months is going to be the beef for your family for the next year. Taking its life, so that you can continue yours.. that should be each of our (meat-eaters anyway) responsibility. To treat our food with dignity, and kindness, and thank it for nourishing and providing for us.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book in the "Storey" series
Review: Storey, for me, is quickly becoming my reference book of choice, as far as "how to live on a farm if you weren't born on one" goes. This book was my jumping off point. It contains sections on how to buy land, how to build your home, how to raise chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. I should note, however, that this book is more like a "compilation" of works by other authors. The Basic Country Skills (BCS) extracts information from many other books, and puts them in one reference text. There are a few parts where I think the editors forgot to re-lable diagrams (specifically in the "how to butcher a cow" section) but if you're planning on slaughtering your own animals, you should probably buy a reference manual specific to butchering to compliment this one. BCS is a great book for people like me who are planning to buy a little patch of earth somewhere far away from the hubub of city life, but who can only dream about it for the present. BCS is a great primer for those who want to get closer to where our food comes from than waxed supermarket produce, or shrinkwrapped beef. I'm not a vegetarian, but it doesn't seem fair for meat eaters to eat something that they didn't have to feed and care for, and finally, to come to terms with the fact that this animal you've had for 9 months is going to be the beef for your family for the next year. Taking its life, so that you can continue yours.. that should be each of our (meat-eaters anyway) responsibility. To treat our food with dignity, and kindness, and thank it for nourishing and providing for us.

Rating:
Summary: I want to live where I can't hear any trains...
Review: This book is well dubbed "A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance." It is a good choice for anyone interested in someday getting their own farm and making it self-contained; or just for people who are interested in the way grandma used to do all that neat stuff back on the farm in the old days. It includes chapters both on specific techniques of country living (gardening, care of livestock, self home maintainence, etc.) as well as a chapter on the planning of the farm itself, including discussions of house designs, methods of construction (and economy thereof), layout of farm as well as overviews of particular building and design schemes such as passive solar heating and solar and wind power, 'living off the grid'. Overall an excellent primer in rural living.

Rating:
Summary: I want to live where I can't hear any trains...
Review: This book is well dubbed "A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance." It is a good choice for anyone interested in someday getting their own farm and making it self-contained; or just for people who are interested in the way grandma used to do all that neat stuff back on the farm in the old days. It includes chapters both on specific techniques of country living (gardening, care of livestock, self home maintainence, etc.) as well as a chapter on the planning of the farm itself, including discussions of house designs, methods of construction (and economy thereof), layout of farm as well as overviews of particular building and design schemes such as passive solar heating and solar and wind power, 'living off the grid'. Overall an excellent primer in rural living.