The current hustle and bustle of city life and unreliable, chemical-filled products are too much for most of us to handle.
Like me, you also might want to lose the habit of such a life and try being self-sufficient for most of the things.
Well, that is where homesteading comes in. Like, who does not want to be self-sufficient and walk towards a path that leads to sustainable living?
But, for most of us, homesteading can be very overwhelming, and we won’t even have a slight idea of where to start.
Fret not; I am here with a list of 10 books that might help you get into homesteading, and trust me, it’s for complete beginners like yourself.
1. The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
Published in 1974, The Encyclopedia of Country Living covers many homesteading ideas, from canning and baking to raising animals.
The late Carla Emery was so dedicated to making this book the perfect guide for homesteaders that she spent all her life updating and correcting it.
This book is perfect for beginners because it is easy to understand, has step-by-step information, provides practical advice, and is adaptable to all lifestyles.
Filled with personal experience, this book has an approachable tone that can encourage even the laziest of homesteaders.
2. The Backyard Homestead by Carlen Madigan
If you have a small plot of land and you want to maximize your productivity, this book is for you.
The Backyard Homestead covers the basics of maximizing the utilization of a small land area and growing a variety of yields.
The book centers around five essential topics: gardening, raising animals, food preservation, grains and staple crops, and beverage making.
This can help you experiment with your abilities and develop several homesteading skills.
It uses relevant illustrations and pictures and user-friendly language that is easy to understand, even for beginners.
However, experienced readers might find the claims overly optimistic and feel that some of the necessary topics are not covered in depth.
3. The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner by Ann Larkin Hansen
A perfect guide if you are looking for a homesteading guide based on seasons.
The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner provides a month-by-month breakdown of things they need to do to keep their equipment, garden, and livestock organized.
It covers seasonal gardening, livestock and orchard management, land maintenance, equipment management, and keeping records.
This book’s straightforward language helps users plan their months, months in advance, with relevant to-do lists.
Hansen has provided practical tips that beginners can understand and resonate with experienced homesteaders.
However, some of the topics might require prior knowledge.
Also, if you live outside the zones discussed in the book or in areas with extreme climates, this book may not be suitable for you.
4. Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig
Nourishing Traditions is a perfect homesteading book for people who love to eat healthy.
It is a nutritional guide and cookbook that encourages users to follow a traditional, nutrient-based diet while adding a touch of ancestral wisdom.
The book discusses traditional cooking techniques, nutrition, and scientific details about what we eat.
The main thing I liked about this book is how it blends the science behind food with traditional dietary wisdom.
It encourages people to eat often-loathed healthy fats, which can do wonders for gut health.
In addition, it debunks popular myths about food and nutrients and provides amazing recipes.
This book helps aspiring homesteaders become self-sufficient by encouraging homemade recipes and maximizing nutrient intake.
5. Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers by Lisa Kivirist
Soul Sisters is a perfect homesteading book for women.
It is a toolkit that helps them get into farming, grow their own food, homestead, and self-sustainability.
The book covers various topics, such as farming basics for women, budgeting and funding products, building confidence, collaborative farming, community support, and sustainable farming practices.
In this list, Soul Society might be the only book that focuses completely on women farmers.
Not only farming, it covers all the necessary details about homesteading and even teaches women how to earn from it.
Written by a woman herself, this book is perfect for aspiring female homesteaders because she writes very practical advice, provides confidence to women, teaches resource management, and promotes building a perfect network.
6. The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals by Gale Damerow
If you are a small-scale farmer looking to raise homestead animals on your farm, this might just be the right book for you.
The book includes all the basics of raising geese, ducks, chickens, rabbits, goats, etc.
It also covers a wide range of topics, from selecting animals to utilizing their products.
The best thing about this book is that it provides step-by-step instructions with perfect illustrations. It also includes a variety of animals, real-life examples, and helpful DIY tips.
It teaches readers to be self-sufficient, provide cost-effective solutions, and focus on building animal-raising skills.
7. A Farmer’s Guide to the Bottom Line by Charles Walters
Charles Walters, the writer of A Farmer’s Guide to the Bottom Line, focuses on teaching farming while aiming to make it profitable and sustainable for the farmers.
It covers farming economics, strategies that are sure to make a profit, resource management, marketing and sales, and risk mitigation.
This book combines farming and its yields with economic and profitability aspects and makes it one of the better choices for homesteading.
Whether you are a small-scale or large-scale farmer, it provides a detailed guide to making your farming fruitful and profitable.
As a beginner homesteader, this book guides you toward improved profitability, helps you make better decisions, helps you better understand the market, mitigates risks, and boosts your confidence as a self-sufficient farmer.
8. Everything Worth Preserving by Melissa K Norris
Are you tired of seeing all the delicious food being wasted?
Well, you can always preserve it. Everything Worth Preserving by Melissa K. Norris is the go-to book if you are wondering how to preserve food.
It contains preservation methods, recipes, storage guidelines according to seasons, food safety guidelines, and sustainable food practices.
Even if you are a complete beginner, you can always turn to this book for better food preservation tricks.
Covering the first-hand experience of author Melissa K Norris, this book focuses on versatile techniques, quality, and a holistic approach to food preservation.
This book teaches homesteaders better food preservation techniques, reducing costs and waste, and achieving better yields from seasonal food.
9. The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman
Lean Manufacturing, or lean farming, is a process of maximizing productivity and yields while minimizing the waste products generated.
The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman does exactly that.
With a wide range of coverage from waste reduction, maximizing value, simplifying daily farming, farm design, and profitability, this book is perfect for homesteaders with a limited budget.
The Lean Farm has lean agriculture practices that are scalable with time.
The tips provided in this book are efficient, and the author provides practical tips and examples for readers to understand better.
This book helps beginner homesteaders increase productivity with reduced costs and waste, manage time better, and ensure the quality of products is good and sustainable.
10. The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables by Jessica Sowards
As the name suggests, the book aims at new gardeners. This book focuses on teaching beginner gardeners to confidently grow their own vegetables.
It covers topics such as planning a garden, choosing the perfect plants and vegetables, plant care, pest and disease management, and harvesting.
This book is entirely beginner-focused, and the author, Jessica Sowards, has written about her personal experiences.
It also has many illustrations and visuals with an encouraging tone, making growing vegetables yourself a fun experience.
This book boosts the confidence of beginner homesteaders and helps them make better decisions, leading to cost-effective, sustainable, practical, and healthy living.
Final Thoughts
Homesteading without guidance is challenging for beginners.
I am helping people raise backyard farms and providing sustainable living tips and guidance. But everyone has their own experience, so you need to expand your intellect through sources as well.
The above-mentioned books are best for avid readers who kickstart their homesteading journey.
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