Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
This is the book for anyone who wants to become more self-reliant, from suburbanites with 1/4 of an acre to country homesteaders with several. The information is easily understood and readily applicable.
More than 150 of Storey’s expert authors in gardening, building, animal raising, and homesteading share their specialized knowledge and experience in this ultimate guide to living a more independent, satisfying life.
Readers will find step-by-step, illustrated instructions for every aspect of country living including:
Finding and buying land
Buying, building, and renovating a home
Developing water sources and systems
Understanding wiring, plumbing, and heating
Using alternative heating and energy sources
Vegetable, flower, and herb gardening
Traditional cooking skills such as baking bread and making maple syrup
Preparing and preserving meat, fruits, and vegetables
Building and maintaining barns, sheds, and outbuildings
Caring for common farm and ranch animals, and pets
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Lots of Info
I haven’t read the whole book yet but there seems to be a lot of interesting information in it.
5 Stars Handy reference
This is a very handy reference to have. You could not call it exhaustive, but it does provide a dandy introduction to a wide variety of subjects. I still refer to it, usually to determine if a particular area is worth pursuing in detail or to decide on how I am going to approach a project. Say what you want about Storey’s - they are a name brand and have made a good effort in reaching the livestock/animal husbandry market. Some of their books are the best available, some are not. But I can always count on them to give me a good starting point. If you want a smattering on a wide variety of subjects, get this book. If you know someone that would value such a reference, this makes an excellent gift.
2 Stars Vague and Lacking on Self-Sufficient information
I bought this book after homesteading for the past few years. It’s a good thing I didn’t buy this book in the beginning. The author misspells Johnne’s disease along with many other spelling errors and does not give information on curing it. She puts Houdan chickens in the dual purpose category, which in my opinion, Houdan’s aren’t big enough to be dual-purpose. Thirdly, she does not put any information on rainwater harvesting and storage, which is a critical part of self-sufficiency. This book is very vague and does not give the information needed to do anything on your own.
3 Stars Review
It is a pretty good book for showing you the mechanics of how to build and maintain different areas of the farm. It gives good information on how to raise different livestock. It is not something you would want to just read right through and go start a farm. It is more like something you could look at whenever you need some tips. The best way to learn how to start a farm would be to see if you could work on somebody you know’s farm. Either just to help out or for an actual job.
4 Stars Good basic info
This is a great book for “city folk” moving to the country and dealing with septic systems, wells, animals, fruit trees, gardens and canning etc for the first time. You don’t have to be a survivalist to need this info. Who knew the water didn’t work if the electricity went out? Gotta get a generator!
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