In these days of ‘pandemic fear’ and the possibility of the SHTF scenario, it is no surprise that many folks are turning to the possibility of being more independent of the stores and living off the land – maybe with the help of a Homesteading Guidebook for beginners.
But how do you even start such a venture – particularly if you have little or no knowledge on how to grow your own food and care for chickens and other animals?
Fortunately for me, I have a good grounding of the basics of living off the land as I was raised on a small hobby farm. For many city dwellers however it can be a daunting – even fearful – thought, to consider growing enough food to survive a possible breakdown of the system they are used to.
Thankfully there are many guidebooks on the subject, and this particular book by Norman J Stone – “Homesteading – A Beginners Guide: Canning & Food Preservation; Raised Bed Gardening; Raising Chickens; Growing Organic Vegetables; Vermin Control: Quick Bites 5 Book Bundle.” Is an excellent guidebook for the beginner or novice to the world of Homesteading
Uncertain times ahead?
There is no doubt that uncertainty regarding the future leads to fear of many kinds, and probably the most basic is how to provide enough food to eat should the stores be closed or short of produce. Food and drink after all are a basic need for everybody.
This is where the ‘preppers’ or off-gridders have a distinct advantage, granted – but it’s never too late to learn the basics of self-sufficiency.
Fundamentally though, even without some global disaster, the knowledge and ability to grow your own food and be more independent of the corporate giants has to be a good thing right?
That said – lets look at what this particular Homesteading guidebook has to offer…
First of all this is a 5-book bundle. This is a collection of 5 of his short introductory books to the world of Homesteading, each book highlighting different aspects or Homesteading skill sets.
- Book1 – Canning & Food Preservation
- Book 2 – Raised Bed Gardening
- Book 3 – Raising Chickens
- Book 4 – Growing Organic Vegetables
- Book 5 – Vermin Control
In Book 1 on Canning and food preserving the author begins by listing some persuasive argument for having a knowledge of preservation.
- Less Waste: Why waste food? By preserving your garden produce, you ensure that it does not go to waste. Most of the time a garden produces far more vegetables or fruit than we can eat in the one sitting – preserving food means that we do not have to throw it away because it has gone bad.
- Economic: Food costs money; if we do not preserve our garden produce in some way, then we have to throw it away – along with the money it will cost to replace it from the supermarket!
- Health: Organic material has the unfortunate tendency to go bad! If we preserve or food by any of the means that will be discussed later in this work; then we can assure ourselves of good healthy produce for the family table.
- Preserve Flavour: Canning or freezing for instance is an excellent way of preserving flavour. When food ripens and is ready to eat and full of flavour, it does not stop there; It soon over-ripens to produce rotten food. Preserving helps to keep that full flavour for another day.
- Enhance Flavour: Preserving food by the means of smoking or pickling for instance can add a whole new world of exciting flavours to your produce. Pickles or Chutneys for instances make excellent flavour enhancers to many food dishes, and smoking fish, meat or cheeses can have amazing tasty results!
As you can see there are several very good reasons for preserving your excess produce from the garden, most of which are not difficult and easy to implement.
His logic is hard to fault! He follows this up by providing the basic information needed to preserve many food stuffs by smoking and salting for meat and fish, to drying, pickling, freezing, vacuum packing and jam-making.
Overall I found this section quite inspirational – especially as I am just in the process of harvesting my summer fruits!
Book 2 on Raised Bed Gardening is something I know a fair bit about, having growing vegetables in Raised beds for several years now – but there is always more to learn!
The description at the beginning hardly needs said – A Raised Bed is after all quite self-descriptive to my mind (sorry).
However the many tips in this section on how to build a Raised Bed from several types of materials, as well as how to fill it for a reasonable cost, I did find very informative.
Many other aspects of Raised Bed gardening are also discussed such as the advantages to be had compared with traditional gardening methods.
Also how to locate the Bed for best results is something that can be overlooked when caught up in the enthusiasm of ‘getting the job done’.
I like the brief summary at the end of this section… “As you may have guessed by now – I really do think that the raised bed system is one that is well worth considering, in fact it is difficult to think up any disadvantages of a raised bed. Probably the only one that carries any weight, is simply the effort and expense to set it up in the first place. I do hope however that you are able to see the advantages of such a system, and appreciate that the time and expense needed at the beginning will in fact pay dividends for years to come.”
Sums it all up quite well I think!
Book 3 on Raising Chickens is a section that must not be missed. Just about every self-respecting Homestead or hobby farm should have a few chickens in the yard at the very least.
To quote the author… “It has to be said that if you are not already keeping chickens on your steading – then you are in the minority! A small farm or steading without chickens is a bit like bread without butter or jam; it tastes fine but just lacks something to enhance the flavour.”
The book begins by listing a short selection of hens by breed you can choose depending on your priorities. For example you may choose a White Leghorn chicken that can produce up to 300 eggs per year. Or you may choose an all-rounder like the Barred Plymouth Rock chicken
that will produce a good number of eggs, but is also a good meat bird weighing in at around 7lbs or more.
Chicken care as well as how to get the best out of your chickens over a cold winter are also covered in some detail with a section on how to deal with destructive insects, disease, and predators such as fox, racoon, stoat and others.
Book 4 on Growing Organic Vegetables begins with a detailed section on what organic growing is NOT about – which I found quite interesting and informative.
As for the basics behind organic gardening he says “Organic gardening should be considered as just a part of your overall lifestyle, and not just limited to growing your vegetables. This is because the idea incorporates a lifestyle of holistic or environmentally friendly living, that does you and your family the most good with a limited impact on the environment as a whole. The use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides is a ‘no go’ and instead emphasis is placed on bio-diversity and the use of natural products.”
The book goes on to describe how to “feed the soil” which is the ‘backbone’ of organic garden methods, as well as how to make good compost – including what should and should not be added to the compost heap.
A good section on organic fertilizers as well as methods of organic pest control focusing on various common pests (slugs are a biggie – I hate slugs!).
Book 5 on vermin control I found to be particularly interesting, most probably because the hobby farm I grew up in was plagued by rats when we first moved there.
Rats can be a real problem around the Homestead, and anywhere that keeps animals like chickens in particular needs to be aware of the dangers they pose – and how to deal with them.
The authors personal experience of rats where he lost 2 dozen ducklings in 1 night, add a ‘reality check’ to the problems that rats pose.
I found this section to be a bit ‘thin on the ground’ to be honest, and felt that it could have included more. However the element of pest control is also covered in book 3 of Raising Chickens so I suppose that make up for it in part at least.
Summary:
Would I recommend this book? Well the truth is that yes I would – but only for the beginner to Homesteading – which I suppose is the target market!
The 5 books covered are individually promoted as ‘Quick Bites’ so to be fair there is a degree of honesty in the description.
You can check it out for yourself by clicking on the Amazon link – Good luck with the Homestead!