Homegrown & Handmade - 2nd Edition: A Practical Guide to More Self-reliant Living

Description

A modern approach to homesteading-no farm required Food recalls, dubious health claims, scary and shocking ingredients in health and beauty products. Our increasingly industrialized supply system is becoming more difficult to navigate, more frightening, and more frustrating, leaving us feeling stuck choosing in many cases between the lesser of several evils. Author Deborah Niemann offers healthier, more empowering choices, by showing us how to reclaim links in our food and purchasing chains, to make choices that are healthier for our families, ourselves, and our planet. In this fully updated and revised edition of Homegrown and Handmade, Deborah shows how making things from scratch and growing some of your own food can help you eliminate artificial ingredients from your diet, reduce your carbon footprint, and create a more authentic life. Whether your goal is increasing your self-reliance or becoming a full-fledged homesteader, it's packed with answers and solutions to help you rediscover traditional skills, take control of your food from seed to plate, and much more. This comprehensive guide to food and fiber from scratch proves that attitude and knowledge is more important than acreage. Written from the perspective of a successful, self-taught modern homesteader, this well-illustrated, practical, and accessible manual will appeal to anyone who dreams of a more empowered life. Deborah Niemann presents and teaches extensively on topics ranging from soapmaking to livestock care. She and her family raise livestock for meat, eggs and dairy products, while an organic garden and orchard provide fruit and vegetables. Deborah is also the author of Raising Goats Naturally.

Deborah Niemann and her family moved to the country in 2002, and soon 2 goats turned into 20, and a desire to make a simple chevre launched a new career helping people raise goats. Deborah is the author of Homegrown and Handmade, Ecothrifty, and Raising Goats Naturally. She blogs at thriftyhomesteader.com from her farm in Illinois. Joel F. Salatin is an American farmer, lecturer, and author whose books include Folks, This Ain't Normal, You Can Farm, and Salad Bar Beef.

Budding homesteaders who want to live simpler, healthier, and more self-sufficient lives will treasure this updated edition of Niemann's encyclopedic reference. The additional material on operating a home-based business is worth the price of admission alone. Dreaming of a mindful life? Niemann's advice on gardening, cooking, orcharding, raising livestock, and much more demonstrates that it's possible to begin the journey in your own backyard. -- Rebecca Martin, Managing Editor, Mother Earth News ...buy this book, read it and then go do something. You are not alone. Mentors to help you along the way are out here. -- Joel Salatin, from the Foreword Our beautiful world would be such a healthier and happier place if every home treasured a well-thumbed edition of this book! Whether the desire is to simply grow a few veggies or to fulfill the much grander vision of producing meats and dairy products, fruits, preserves and natural fibre products, Deborah has shared her vast extent of knowledge and experience in a way that is instantly accessible. Whether it be growing pigs or pumpkins, making cheese or felting wool, I can find out all I need to know with the turn of a page. Simply -- I love this book! -- Jenni Blackmore, author, Permaculture for the Rest of Us and The Food Lover's Garden I am so impressed with this new edition of Homegrown and Handmade. Deborah Niemann has shown once again not just her wide range of skills and experience, but also her curiosity and ongoing willingness to learn. Having grown up with a mom who cooked from scratch, I deeply appreciate Deborah's emphasis on cooking for ourselves, as well as the numerous recipes included. Not everyone has the room or the time to raise their own food crops or meat or dairy animals, but everyone does have choices about what and how they eat. Wherever you are on your journey toward a more self-reliant lifestyle, Homegrown and Handmade provides practical guidance and gentle encouragement to help you make the choices that work best for you. -- Victoria Redhed Miller, author, Pure Poultry and Craft Distilling Deborah Niemann is the real homesteading deal. She walks the talk and practices what she preaches, all of which authentically and vividly comes through in the engaging pages of Homegrown and Handmade. A treasure-trove of seasoned advice and resources, this book will serve as "idea fuel" for your homesteading journey. -- Lisa Kivirist, author of Soil Sisters