The Homesteading Handbook: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More (Handbook Series)

Here is a full-color guide to help you and your family to be kinder to Mother Earth, while being kind to your bank account! It doesn’t matter where your homestead is located—farm, suburb, or even city—you can learn to grow vegetables, use alternative energy, can and preserve, and more! You, too, can be more self-sufficient! With the rapid depletion of our planet’s natural resources, we would all like to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. But in the midst of an economic crisis, it’s just as important to save money as it is to go green. Plan, plant, and harvest your own organic home garden.Enjoy fruits and vegetables year-round by canning, drying, and freezing.Build alternate energy devices by hand, such as solar panels or geothermal heat pumps.Differentiate between an edible puffball mushroom and a poisonous amanita.Prepare butternut squash soup using ingredients from your own garden.Conserve water by making a rain barrel or installing an irrigation system.Have fun and save cash by handcrafting items such as soap, potpourri, and paper.Experience the satisfaction that comes with self-sufficiency, as well as the assurance that you have done your part to help keep our planet green. The Homesteading Handbook is your roadmap to living in harmony with the land.

The ultimate guide to self-sufficient living for country, urban, and suburban folks.

With the rapid depletion of our planet’s natural resources,
we would all like to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. But in the midst of an economic crisis, it’s just as important to save money as it is to go green. As Gehring shows in this thorough but concise guide, being kind to Mother Earth can also mean being kind to your bank account! It doesn’t matter where your homestead is located—farm, suburb, or even city. Wherever you live, The Homesteading Handbook can help you:

• Plan, plant, and harvest your own organic home garden.

• Enjoy fruits and vegetables year-round by canning, drying, and freezing.

• Build alternate energy devices by hand, such as solar panels or geothermal heat pumps.

• Differentiate between an edible puffball mushroom and a poisonous amanita.

• Prepare butternut squash soup using ingredients from your own garden.

• Conserve water by making a rain barrel or installing an irrigation system.

• Have fun and save cash by handcrafting items such as soap, potpourri, and paper.

Experience the satisfaction that comes with self-sufficiency, as well as the assurance that you have done your part to help keep our planet green. The Homesteading Handbook is your roadmap to living in harmony with the land.

“A full-color guide that shows you how to reduce waste and start homesteading without breaking your bank” from the author of Back to Basics (Homesteading Where You Are). With the rapid depletion of our planet’s natural resources, we would all like to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. But in the midst of an economic crisis, it’s just as important to save money as it is to go green. As Gehring shows in this thorough but concise guide, being kind to Mother Earth can also mean being kind to your bank account! It doesn’t matter where your homestead is located—farm, suburb, or even city. Wherever you live, The Homesteading Handbook can help you: Plan, plant, and harvest your own organic home garden Enjoy fruits and vegetables year-round by canning, drying, and freezing Build alternate energy devices by hand, such as solar panels or geothermal heat pumps Differentiate between an edible puffball mushroom and a poisonous amanita Prepare butternut squash soup using ingredients from your own garden Conserve water by making a rain barrel or installing an irrigation system Have fun and save cash by handcrafting items such as soap, potpourri, and paper Experience the satisfaction that comes with self-sufficiency, as well as the assurance that you have done your part to help keep our planet green. The Homesteading Handbook is your roadmap to living in harmony with the land. The home garden. Planning a garden Improving your soil Conserving water Mulching in your garden and yard Organic gardening Terracing Start your own vegetable garden Start your own flower garden Planting trees Container gardening Rooftop gardens Raised beds Growing plants without soil Pest and disease management Harvesting your garden -- Pantry. Canning Drying and freezing Edible wild plants and mushrooms Make your own foods -- The backyard farm. Chickens Ducks Turkeys Beekeeping Goats Sheep Llamas -- Simple structures for your land. Doghouses Birdhouses Simple stables Poultry houses Fences, gates, and pens Basic bridges Tool sheds and workshops Smokehouses Root cellars -- Energy. Solar energy Wind energy Hydropower Geothermal energy Composting toilets Greywater -- Crafts. Handmade candles Making your own soap Pottery basics Knitting Tying knots -- Well-being. Herbal medicine First aid. Wherever you live - farm, suburb, or even city - The Homesteading Handbook will show you how to embrace a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Learn to plan, plant, and harvest your own organic garden. Enjoy fruits and vegetables year-round by canning, drying, and freezing. Build and install alternate energy devices such as solar panels or geothermal heat pumps. Who doesn't want to shrink their carbon footprint, save money, and eat fresh, homegrown food whenever possible? Even readers who are very much on the grid will embrace this fully-illustrated guide on the basics of living the good, clean life. From beekeeping to basket weaving to baking, this handy guide has everything you need to experience the satisfaction that comes with self-sufficiency, as well as the assurance that you have done your part to help keep our planet green.--COVER Creating a garden—whether it’s a single tomato plant in a pot on your windowsill or a full acre chock-full of flowers and veggies—takes imagination, hard work, a bit of planning, patience, and a willingness to take risks.