Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Books: The Backyard Homestead


Books are among my favorite gifts to receive. I love spending Christmas morning flipping through the pages of a new book, making plans. Last year, my favorite gift was Sewing for Baby.

Getting a new book is a big deal around these parts, since I primarily use the library for financial and ecological reasons. I want to make my requests wisely!

This year, I'm thinking about requesting The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre. Have any of you read it? Do you recommend it?

Once we sell our house, move to Austin, and create a pocket neighborhood, I really want to get my hands dirty and start growing our own food. Hooray! I'm excited just thinking about it. This book looks like the perfect inspiration and reference guide.

While I was searching for that book, I came across another book that I really want to read: The Quarter-Acre Farm: How I Kept the Patio, Lost the Lawn, and Fed My Family for a Year. I'll try to request that book from the library, since it seems like more of a read-it-once kind of book.

Have you come across any other books in this vein that you recommend?

P.S. I'm on Goodreads now. You can find me as "Sara Cotner" or join the "Feeding the Soil" group. Thanks for the recommendation!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Sara!

    My husband has this book and he loves it! I'm not the gardener in our family (I've been gifted with a black thumb), but it's a very easy and enlightening read and I know David's gotten tons of ideas from it. Hope that helps! :)

    -Jenna

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  2. I have this book and recommend it as a book worth having in your collection. I feel like it has great ideas for whatever degree of urban homesteading you are ready for and will offer ideas to expand as you move forward.

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  3. I've read it too and it seems like a great book to have as you plan the landscaping of your new land. Another good one is Gaia's Garden - http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Second-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298

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  4. Hi, Kelly! Yes, permaculture at home sounds perfect! Thank you.

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  5. I just took this out of the library and love it already. Thanks for the suggestion. I'd write more but the little guy is napping in my left arm and you know how one handed typing can be...

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I promise I am open to feedback and truly appreciate hearing others' insights into my choices (it's like free therapy!), but please say it in the same way you would say it if we were sitting across from each other at brunch or next to each other on a park bench while our children play.