The Essential Guide to Self-Sufficient Living - by Abigail Gehring (Paperback)

About the Book

"Some of the material in this book appeared first in Good living guide to country skills"--Title page verso.

Book Synopsis

Grow your own vegetables and herbs, indoors in containers or outside in a garden. Raise chickens or goats. Build a beehive. Make your own nontoxic cleaning sprays. And more!

Gehring's books on country living have sold more than 500,000 copies. In this book, she offers a guide to homesteading skills that is as charming as it is practical. Full of sweet illustrations and gorgeous photographs, step-by-step instructions for essential skills such as building a chicken coop are interspersed with country lore and old-fashioned tips and tricks.

Readers will learn how to:

• Container garden
• Raise chickens
• Churn butter
• Grow vegetables
• Can tomatoes
• Brew kombucha
• Make shampoo
• Repel garden pests
• Milk a goat
• Improve garden soil
• Make strawberry-rhubarb jelly
• Ferment vegetables
• Make yogurt
• Sprout grains
• And more!

The Essential Guide to Self-Sufficient Living combines the know-how of Back to Basics with the charm of The Farmer's Almanac. This is the perfect gift for anyone interested in a more self-sufficient, greener, country lifestyle.

Review Quotes

"The thing about homesteading and self-sufficient living is you never stop learning. Even after decades of farming and living a close to self-sufficient life, we still benefit from different methods. I love seeing a new book on this topic because I always end up finding a new helpful tip or maybe a dozen! The Essential Guide to Self-Sufficient Living did not disappoint. I particularly found the "growing things" section helpful with the tips on pest control. While this book could be the only book you need on living a more sustainable life, it will also compliment any other volumes you already have on hand. From growing veggies to keeping bees, and keeping chickens to home canning, you will love having this book on your shelf." --Janet Garman, author of 50 Do-It-Yourself Projects for Keeping Chickens and Timber Creek Farm blog

About the Author

Abigail R. Gehring is the author or editor of more than a dozen books including Back to Basics, Homesteading, and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Living. She's practiced living self-sufficiently since her childhood in Vermont, being home-schooled, home-canning jams and jellies, and enjoying natural crafts. She lives with her husband, two kids, and Siberian husky in an 1800s farmstead in southern Vermont.