The Self-Reliant Homestead

Rating:
Summary: Breadth without Depth
Review: Charles Sanders has created a good primer for self-reliant country living. His material covers everything from required tools to canning to fences to homemade gift ideas. The breadth of the text is truly amazing - in 295 pages of text Sanders covers just about every aspect of establishing a homestead.

However, such breadth in so relatively few pages practically guarantees that no one subject will get its due. Winemaking, for example, receives only 11 pages and raising various varieties of livestock is covered in just 26 pages. In other words, this is an excellent book with which to start the process of establishing a homestead, but anyone intending to actually follow through will want to move on to more comprehensive sources fairly quickly. (Sanders displays his seeming love of trivia in a five page discussion of land measurements that inexplicably includes information on a historical method of measuring invented in 1620 by an English mathematician.)

One very helpful feature is the book's appendix, which offers sections on weights and measures, methods of figuring a variety of volumes and weights, a chart of the reproductive expectations for various animals and more. These charts alone are worth the price of the book. A second appendix of recommended reading and/or websites to turn to when the material mastered within would have rendered the text even more valuable, but Sanders has inexplicably left such a resource out. To be fair, some recommendations are sprinkled throughout the text but they are not as easily found as if they were compiled all together.

Rating:
Summary: A must have book for homesteaders!
Review: I agree with the 1st reviewer...great book! What I find handy is that after most chapter, the author includes a list of resources for further reading, just in case (not likely!) you find his coverage of the topic lacking. This book is great not just for homesteaders, but for any one who lives, or aspires to live, in the country! It covers some topics not covered in most other books of this type, including attending an auction, Country games and pastimes, tractors, atvs, and firearms, in addition to the "usual" homestead topics of water, food preservation, etc.
Buy this book now if you want to live in the country!

Rating:
Summary: Breadth without Depth
Review: I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting some land and moving to the country. It covers all the basics of farming, raising livestock to building a farm pond.

It is written in a style that is conversational and his approach is "this is what has worked for me". Many books on the subject assume that you have some starter knowledge on the subject; this one covers the very basics for people that have grown up in the city or suburbs.

Rating:
Summary: This should be your first book on moving to the country!
Review: I would highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about getting some land and moving to the country. It covers all the basics of farming, raising livestock to building a farm pond.

It is written in a style that is conversational and his approach is "this is what has worked for me". Many books on the subject assume that you have some starter knowledge on the subject; this one covers the very basics for people that have grown up in the city or suburbs.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: This book is an absolute msut for homesteaders, weekend gardeners, hobby farmers, etc. Think of this as an up to date version of popular earlier works of this type.
Sanders' writing style is easy to read, and the book is chock full of good advice. Use just one or two of his ideas, and you'll more than pay for the price of the book!