The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It

I bought this book because I have started gardening in my small yard. I have also planted apple, plum, and cherry trees around the house. I decided to really step up my game and added chickens to the mix. I really enjoy my new hobby, but I realized quite quickly that I need to have a clear and comprehensive plan before I get too much further along. I don't want to wake up next spring and realize I've destroyed my home and my yard. I bought this book because of the other reviews I read. This book is truly changing my life. I have created such an ambitious agenda for the next few years. I have a 1250 sq. foot home on a 100' x 100' lot in the center of Joplin, Missouri. I am going to have an off the grid home and be self sufficient in five years. I am not going to spend very much money getting started, the author presents creative ways of dealing with problems without running to the hardware store. A good example is the coop for the chickens made with branches, poultry wire, and the empty feed bags. I bought a $200 dollar chicken coop that is already struggling to hold itself together in the Missouri weather. I could have built the coop in the book for next to nothing. This book is so detailed and amazing about every facet of this lifestyle. I have probably read it twice now and many of the sections much more than that. I recommend this book to you. It is illustrated beautifully and it has become my go to book for almost everything that comes up with my new hobby. If you are a devotee of the back to the earth movement, and a closet prepper like myself (my shameful secret). This book will take a prominent place on your library shelf. I have bought a couple of other books that are more survival in a doomsday situation. I'm not a prepper, daydreaming of the end of the world. I'm a prepper that wonders if my 401K could vanish in another future wall street scandal and SSI might disappear from mismanagement or neglect. My kind of prepping is the kind found in this book. It is the victory garden of my grandparents generation or the cottage garden of peasants in the old country. This book is wonderful. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you let me know if this recommendation helped you.

I purchased it used, but it looks new. It does have a library card and pocket attached to it and some small minor notes in the back cover but this is the best self-sufficient book out there. I purchased three other and they fall short.

Great book very informational!

I had the original, brown covered, hardback copy of this book for years and years. I literally loved that book to death. It helped me learn so many of the skills I needed to become more self sufficient. Well, the cover finally fell off and the pages were stained and tattered so I decided it was time to get a new copy. I absolutely love this book and the information it contains. If you are thinking of homesteading or if you are already homesteading, this book is a must have. This book has taught me, over the past few decades, about gardening, animal husbandry, grains, farm layouts, building coops, making bread and so much more. It's a wealth of information and I would definitely recommend this book to any and all homesteaders. 100+ stars for sure. I hope this was helpful.

Everything you need to know about living off the land. Very informative

This book looks nice and has plenty of good pictures to look through. The explanations are well written. I was looking for something a little different than what this book offers, but I am very impressed with it. There is a lot of good information to read. The book itself is very specific to a lifestyle that is already focused on self sufficiency. It would be very good for someone who is already pretty self sufficient, or is on their way to becoming more self sufficient. It is not necessarily going to show you how to move right out of the city and into the countryside, but it will give you a good idea what to do when you get there.

This book has the most wonderful illustrations that hearken the styles of bygone eras. The copy is filled with easy to understand instructions on such a wide variety of topics from basic gardening to making wine and beer. The "Saving Energy" chapter discusses how to apply an integrated approach to heating and power sources from the basic elements (wind, water, sun and even from waste products), The "Crafts and Skills" section clearly illustrates things you may see when visiting historic Williamsburg and wanted to try your hand at: pottery, weaving, basket-making, making bricks, or woodworking. This is a nice companion for other Mini-Farming and self-sustainable books that touch on topics but may not go into such illustrated details. The "Food from the Garden" chapters have a wonder color illustrated index of vegetables, herbs and fruits that make a quick reference to your family favorites and new varieties you may never have heard of before. Each image in the index contains the page number where you will find details on sowing, growing, pest control, harvesting and storage. There are handy tricks and tips throughout this book to help even the most novice of gardeners increase yield. The book is a complete life overhaul and record of the cumulative knowledge from John Seymour and those he learned from but can be taken in small incremental steps by individuals in our modern "consumer-based" society that wish to return to a more self-sufficient existence in these uncertain economic times.

Seymour did a wonderful job with this book, and it is as relevant and useful as when it was first published. The newest version Amazon carries includes an encyclopedia of plants, including garden vegetables, herbs, fruit, etc., which is basically like getting two books in one. Seymour's book will allow anyone with some basic knowledge to go a long way towards being self-sufficient. Critics who complain that Seymour doesn't go into enough detail are missing the point of this book; it is intended as a quick-reference or near-introduction to self-sufficiency, and Seymour often concludes sections by asking readers to ask their neighbours, or contact local extensions. He doesn't expect his book to be the final word on all it's contents; it's just a good solid start. If you buy this book and harbour any ambitions of becoming self-sufficient, you will find it endlessly useful, and your go-to reference. If you buy it because you are looking for a quick and easy way to live cheaper, you should abandon your efforts now, as Seymour starts off with an anecdote highlighting the fact that this life is a lot of hard work, but (and this is the key point), hard work is not a bad thing, and indeed is actually a good thing. If you disagree with him on this last point, then you are lost.

klasse Buch, schade dass es dieses nicht auf Deutsch gibt. Ist für jeden zu empfehlen der des Englischen mächtig ist.

A great book to help with getting partly self sufficient in todays world and how to reuse items that would normally go in the bin.

All you need to know about self-sufficient life, with very detailed explanations and wonderful drawings. A bit of land, and I'm off!!!!!...^_^...

Excellent book for those planning to go self sufficient or just want some good info on gardening. Tons of information and a book I refer back too often before, during and after the gardening season