After examining the results of Fridays poll it’s obvious many readers are interested in setting up and running a small homestead.
And since you’ve shown an interest, I thought it would be fitting (and useful) to do a review of The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! by Carleen Madigan / Storey Publishing.
Actually, I’ve been planninga review this book for several weeks, but was sidetracked by other projects. Too many irons in the fire. Can’t believe, I was thinking about doing a survival podcast. Thank you for setting me straight on that one.
It doesn’t take a lot of land to have a self-sufficient homestead. I have two acres, but use about half of that for my, garden, fruit and nut trees, henhouse, grape vines, goat lot, rabbit hutch, bee hive, compost pile, trailer and yard. You don’t need a lot of land.
But you do need to know how to use your small acreage efficiently, The Backyard Homestead will help you do that.
Within it’s 368 pages you’ll find easy to understand, straight forward instructions covering a wealth of information, that’ll help you get the most from a small homestead or even your backyard.
The thing that stood out most was the detailed planning diagrams and breakdowns for different sized plots, arrangements and lists of possible yields from each. Of course the actual yield harvested, would depend on many factors. But the suggestions give something to work for and compare progress.
The Backyard Homestead covers a range of topics, all geared toward those of us homesteading on small acreage, such as: vegetable gardening, fruit and nut trees, herbs, grains, poultry, rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, preserving, making wine, cider, vinegar, herbs, making cheese, yogurt and butter and a lot more.
On the back of the book, it tells you that on a 1/4 acre, you can harvest:
- 1400 eggs
- 50 lbs of wheat
- 60 lbs of fruit
- 2000 lbs of vegetables
- 280 lbs of pork
- 75 lbs of nuts
The Backyard Homestead is a great book.
My only complaint (I have to complain about something – no matter how trivial) is that some of the suppliers mentioned are no longer in business. This can be expected as businesses come and go and any such listing is guaranteed to become dated. This isn’t a big deal as other sources and alternatives are easy to find.
I also thought it strange that there were no plans for composting or homemade composters. This isn’t a big deal as this info is all over the web and detailed in just about any book on gardening or homesteading.
Would I recommend this book? Yes; I would.
It is a gold mine of information for those of us homesteading on small acreage.
What about you
What books would you recommend for those homesteading on a small plot of land?
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Suppliers for most things in these books are easy to come across in the US. Less so in Europe, I’m in the UK, and can’t find half the things you take for granted anywhere.
It is a right pain. Many US firms won’t send stuff to the UK and some items are too expensive to send.
Suggestion… Mr. Beeton’s Book of Garden Management (1861) is a terrific resource for the creation of a walled garden in England. There was a BBC series done based on it where they recreated the walled Victorian kitchen garden at Chatsworth. Worth trying to find. The head gardener for the project was a mine of information and went by the name Harry Dodds – he had also been a head gardener at Kew. Anyways the point of all of that is that the Victorian walled kitchen garden is designed to provide all of the fruit and veg and being walled would keep your neighbours out…
I have this book and really enjoyed it as well. Highly recommended.
Oh good!! I have it on hold at the library and am excited to dive in!!!
Hi M.D., I don’t think you can beat “The Encyclopedia of Country Living by
Carla Emery.
One other thing, the amount of fruit seems awful light to me. We just
pick about 35lbs of cherries off of one full size tree that is only half grown.
Add in the rest of the fruit on our acre and it will be a couple of hundred
lbs. at least.
Judith,
The Encyclopedia of Country Living is a great book and one I recommend – but I personally like The Self-sufficiency Manual better, but it’s just a matter of opinion.
I hav’nt read that one but will be sure and try it. Thanks
Thanks MD!
I also like Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach by Karl Schwenke, How to Make It On The Land: A Complete Guide to Survival in the Country by Ray Cohan, and The Manual of Practical Homesteading by John Vivian. I also like Country Living: The Homesteader’s Bible by Chrles R. Self – my only complaint about this one is his reliance on the electrical… but he does have excellent diagrams on how to deal with wiring (just make sure that everything is passed to code and in Ontario you must be a licensed electrician to install wiring – big fines for the DIY).
I love anything by John Seymour!! Great homesteading tips from the master!! Also, ‘Back to Basics’ by Abigail Gehring is real good. ‘The Country Wisdom Almanac’ is good. (Quick details, not long-winded.) Have you seen ‘The Have-More Plan’ written by Ed and Carolyn Robinson, sold by Counryside?? It’s an older book that has lots of homesteading info, but was written after WWII so it has a different perspective, and fun older pictures, etc. Great for info and entertainment!
This was one of the first books I read and purchased after “waking up.” I absolutely LOVE it. I continually refer to this book. I enjoy the fact that a person with little to no outdoor experience can pick up this book and start planning a garden or caring for small animals. My husband and kids have all read it as well. This book was a great stepping stone to help my husband and I take on some of the more advanced topics in John Seymour’s books. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8680857/The-Homesteaders-Handbook-To-Raising-Small-Livestock to download the book in pdf format.
Lot’s of other books there too.
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