Homesteading From Scratch: Building Your Self-Sufficient Homestead, Start to Finish
200
Homesteading From Scratch: Building Your Self-Sufficient Homestead, Start to Finish
200Paperback
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Overview
Guiding readers from desire to full-blown off-the-grid living—and everything in between—this book covers farming, animal husbandry, food preparation, homeschooling, fiber arts, and even marketing. It provides inspiration from other homesteaders, with operations from small to large, who have made a go of it, outlining their successes and failures throughout the process. It helps to democratize the homesteading movement, by providing “ins” for nearly every level of dedication, from the container gardener to full-time farmers. It provides the knowledge necessary to discover homesteading as a movement and as a lifestyle.
Inspired by From Scratch magazine, an online publication devoted to homesteading and intentional living, this book provides readers with continued support and community for information and resources online. This book serves as a reference, as well as a cheerleader, for those who want a bit more control and responsibility over where their food comes from, what they consume, and how they live their lives.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781510712904 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Skyhorse |
| Publication date: | 02/21/2017 |
| Pages: | 200 |
| Sales rank: | 979,207 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d) |
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Section 1 Getting Started 1
Chapter 1 What is Homesteading? 3
A working definition 3
Why should you homestead? 3
What are you homesteading for: money, self-sufficiency passion? 4
Different ideas about homesteading 4
Different homesteading goals 5
Determining your goals 6
Homesteader profile: Samantha McClellan 7
Chapter 2 What Do You Bring to the Table? 9
Assessing abilities 9
Assessing resources do you need land? 11
Notes on zoning and HOA rules 12
You will never be an expert, so you may as well get started 12
Chapter 3 Self-Sufficiency 15
How self-sufficient do you want to be? 15
Separating needs from wants 15
Necessities 16
Chapter 4 The Importance of Food 21
Where does you food come from? 21
Growing and producing your own food 23
What do all those labels mean? 25
Section 2 Farming 27
Chapter 5 Where Do I Get Land? 29
Renting versus owning 29
Yard farming 30
Basic steps to convert your yard into a farm 31
Micro farms 32
Urban farms 32
Chapter 6 How to Farm 35
The basics 35
Conventional farming 36
Organic farming 38
Permaculture 39
Biodynamics 40
Chapter 7 Animal Husbandry 43
The basics 43
Meat, milk, eggs, fish, fiber, and more 44
Keeping your animals healthy 49
Keeping your animals happy 50
Chapter 8 Record Keeping and Planning 53
Don't skip the planning stage 53
Making a farm plan 54
Farming versus gardening 57
Farm/garden design and layout 58
What to grow: cash versus calories 59
Section 3 Dollars and Sense 63
Chapter 9 A Business Plan 65
What is it for, and do you need one? 65
Determining profit … and its importance 67
Chapter 10 Financing 71
The basics 71
Traditional funding sources 71
Nontraditional funding sources 73
Microloans 73
CSAs as a funding source 73
Chapter 11 Marketing 77
Getting the word out 77
Social media and beyond 78
Local avenues 80
Section 4 Learning to Love the Fiber Arts! 83
Chapter 12 The Importance of Fiber 85
As a step toward self-sufficiency 85
As a commercial venture 86
As an alternative to meat animals 86
Chapter 13 Fiber Animals 89
Sheep, goats, rabbits, and alpacas! 89
Wool gathering 90
From fleece to yarn 90
Homesteaders' favorite fiber animals 92
Chapter 14 Crochet, Knitting, Macramé, Sewing, and More 95
Fiber arts basics 95
Outlets for your goods 97
Pricing your goods 97
Section 5 Home Production 99
Chapter 15 Canning 101
Lessons learned 101
A bit of canning history 101
Canning safety 103
Water bath canning 104
Pressure canning 105
Storing canned goods 106
Top five canning mistakes 106
Chapter 16 Dairy 111
Milk and more 111
Making cheese 112
Making yogurt 113
Making butter 113
Farmhouse Cheddar 114
Quick and Easy Yogurt 116
Marble Method for Making Butter 117
Chapter 17 Fermentation 119
My first foray into fermentation 119
What is fermentation? 120
Sauerkraut and beyond 121
Troubleshooting 122
Chapter 18 Eggs 127
Love at first crack 127
Egg surprises 128
Safety information 128
Tips for getting eggs from other birds 129
Egg sales 131
Chapter 19 The Basics of Baking 133
How baking bread saved my sanity 133
The science behind the magic 134
Bread and beyond 135
Baking tips 135
Pita Bread 136
Somdoucrh Starter 137
Mom's Cornbread 139
Section 6 Lifestyle 141
Chapter 20 Children 143
Homeschooling 143
Homesteader profile: Jennifer Hall 145
Herding cats-raising kids on the-homesteads 147
Chapter 21 Community 151
Moving into a community 151
The importance of community 151
Building a community 152
How to host a crop mob 153
Chapter 22 Marking Time 155
Living in the seasons 155
Faith and homesteading 156
Celebrate the seasons 156
Conclusions 159
Acknowledgments 160
Appendices: 163
Sample Farm Plan 163
The Basics of Composting 167
Tools 169
Soil Fertility Basics 171
Solarizing Raised Beds 172
About the Author 173
Index 174