Deirdre Head

The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It

4 stars (A great place to start your journey toward self-sufficiency...) - If you can't get your hands on Country Life by Paul Heiney, this is your next best bet. Nicely illustrated and covers all elements of what it takes to become reliant upon yourself and your land. This book would prove useful to anyone interested in any component of self-sufficiency from a small garden patch to a working farm. 3 stars (Missing some vital information) - I am really disappointed with the content of this book. It has beautiful glossy pictures, and a great deal on gardening and livestock - but skips important topics entirely. For gardening, this is the least valuable book that I have ever purchased. I expected this book would include a section on making lotions, but lotions were not covered at all. I use white vinegar extensively for cleaning, preserving, and cooking. The book includes vinegar as a needed ingredient for canning, but it did not go into how to make vinegar - a vital product for self sufficency. I bought a 'how to make vinegar' manual for under $3 from lehman's instead. 2 stars (There are much better books than this) - I was disapointed by this book. The book is written totally from the context of living in England. The author is a very poor communicator, he reminds me of an intellectual trying to explain how to farm with poetry and quotes from his vast knowledge of classic books. I have been farming now for a few years and have some experience growing my own corn, vegatables etc.. I also raise catttle and horses. (I am also a licensed Vet in Texas) This author does not know what he is talking about on alot of animal husbandry issues and I see alot of ridiculous nonsense in his teachings of growing crops vegetables etc.. To make a long story short, if you live in the U.S. don't buy this book, it is really awful. There is a far better book...."The encyclopedia of country living" by Carla Emery ...
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