Rating: 
Summary: A great book for everyone!
Review: Even though I am a confirmed city dweller, I enjoyed this book. I read it more as an encyclopedia, rather than a how-to manual. It was great!Have you ever wanted to know how women fed their families hundreds of years ago? This book will answer all your questions. It explains all about country living and gives some incite into the struggles and the many rewards that come with that kind of life. It is a must for any reference library!
Rating:
Summary: A "MUST HAVE" for anyone interested in "country"living!
Review: I read this book quite a few years ago. I borrowed it so much from my library, I got others hooked on it! So much so, I soon was unable to check it out because someone else always had it checked out!!!
Rating:
Summary: What a Great Book
Review: This big, thick book is full of all kinds of wonderful information. I love it! I use it as a reference all the time. It includes almost everything to do with farming and "doing things the old-fashioned way" as well as references on where to go if you desire still more information and a helpful list of contacts and books for each subject. I think it has something to teach everyone. I farm as a hobby and have found the book indespensible and my relatives, who are homesteaders, found lots of new and helpful information in it. This book would make a great gift and is a must-have for a library. It's like a country friend that sits on a shelf, ready to give answers when you have a question!
Rating:
Summary: My wish
Review: The Encyclopedia of Country Living is the essential wish book. I never imagined dreaming of hard work, but Carla has me dreaming it. Through my correspondance with Carla, I've learned the woman in the book is the real Carla. She is a warm, caring, knowledgable person. If she were to write 3 more books that were twice as long, I would read them all. Carla writes with such detail and such truth. She doesn't try to make country living sound easy or glamorous. My wish is that there were more Carla's and more books with the honesty of her's.
Rating:
Summary: Carla Emery fills in where our grandparents have failed us
Review: As someone whose grandparents grew up on farms but abandoned the rural life and neglected to pass on family traditions and wisdom, I am grateful to Carla Emery for spending almost 30 years compiling this wonderful collection. As my generation rediscovers herbs, natural foods, organic gardening, frugal living, recycling/reusing, home births, home education, home health care, and the importance of family ties, we need something like this book to get us started on our quest for information. So far our family has used it to build a chicken house, select chicks for our flock of laying hens, build a rabbit hutch, can bread & butter and dill pickles, plant, harvest and dry herbs, and much more. Reading this book is the next best thing to asking Mom or Grandma how the old-timers did it, including the warm, folksy, conversational style
Rating:
Summary: The most complete book for countryfolk ever published
Review: If you have ever wanted to get back to nature and live in a self-sufficient environment, this encyclopedia is a must! Carla Emery has grown up living off the land and explains
how to do everything from growing your own food and
butchering your own animals to birthing babies at home.
It is chock full of delightful recipes and antecdotes. Once
you read her book, you will feel a part of Ms. Emery's
life and literary success
Rating:
Summary: THE "BACK TO THE LAND" BIBLE OF HOW TO DO ANYTHING
Review: Carla Emery started out peddling recipes by mail to make ends
meet and gradually expanded them, by answering questions sent to her, into a telephone book size
compendium of everything you might need to know in order to live in the any country with little money. It tells how to do everything from locating your land, digging a well, growing, canning, preserving, storing, pickling, your food, raising,
birthing, milking animals, making cheese, making do,
and surviving in the country. There are a few recipes included. Buy two copies! The first you will wear out the first year.The second will be a reference. You will know Carla as a friend with her personal story intertwined with a book as enjoyable as it is informative.
Rating: 
Summary: Religious Jargon
Review: If you want to be preach at, Read this book!! If you want relevant country life information, get a different book. Carla has a hidden agenda to convert everyone...I wanted a country living reference guide, not the bible reprinted.
Rating:
Summary: Please understand the purpose of this book.
Review: I have the first, home-printed edition of this book, as well as the latest edition.When I read the various comments, I see some misunderstanding of the nature of this book.Carla's book is not just a reference (there are better ones in specific areas)but an autobiography as well. We learn about a lifestyle many of us will never know, but find facinating. We learn of the struggles and successes of one family. And along the way, we learn a great deal about small subsistance farms (not hobby farms). Use Carla's book for reference, but also entertainment and education. It's a fun read, and need not be done in one sitting or in any order. Just enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Long term evolution
Review: This is a book that started out as a mimeographed collection of articles that the author distributed out of the trunk of her car. It is anectdotal and random and very HUMAN and I love it. Some have complained that it isn't concise...that it is hard to find only the hard info in all the stories and observations and shared information from readers over the years...and for those people I am thankful that they are able to find some of the more focused works to serve their needs. This is a life's work for Carla Emery...and a continually evolving thing. She has been through a lot and shared much of it with her readers...like a helpful neighbor with some vital chicken info or soap making advice to relay over the backyard fence...and I have appreciated this book for years. It's not perfect...but it's very good and fun to read and worthwhile. This book is a good investment.
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