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Self Sufficiency Books
A few reviews with my honest
opinion. I do get
a small commission if you buy something through the
site, which pays my hosting charges - so please!!
If you're interested in self-sufficiency, you
may be interested in the Smallholding
Books in my bookshop from Broad Leys.
Self Sufficiency
Keeping a plot and growing your own food is a
step along the road of freeing yourself on dependance
on the system. Even if it isn't a practicable dream
for most of us, we can dream!
If you think a book is good why not let me know
via the contact
page? |
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Vegetable Growing Month by Month by:John Harrison OK, I'll come clean and declare my interest! I wrote this and I'm a bit biased. Well extemely proud of it to be truthful.
It's aimed firstly at the new vegetable grower but there are tips and tricks that I think will help even more experienced gardeners. It's not a coffee table book, no full colour photographs or exotic ideas, just basic advice I'd give to another grower on the allotment.
For a full chapter list and to buy a signed copy direct, click this Vegetable Growing Month by Month or for a discount follow the Amazon link to the right.
Go on - it's not expensive and you won't be sorry! At 256 pages it's just over 2p a page! |
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The Self Sufficient-ish Bible by:Andy and Dave Hamilton It's strange how a book can point up the generation gap. I read John Seymour's "Complete Self Sufficiency" in my 20's and it had a massive influence on my life and views.
This book is nothing like it. It doesn't advocate moving to the country and living the good life on a smallholding. It's more for those of us without half a million pounds to buy a dream piece of land but who want to live a more self-sufficient life where we are now.
I wasn't too keen on the style of the book, too much graphic design and full colour photos for me but my daughter, who is in her twenties, loved it. The generation gap.
That reservation aside, this is a book I would recommend. It's full of ideas, some great, some not so great but all interesting and thought provoking at least. It's a book that everyone will get something out of. As the blurb says "An eco living guide for the 21st Century" |
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Hobby Farm by:Willy Newlands Subtitled "Ideas for the New Countryside" this highly readable offering from journalist Willy Newlands is just that. It's not aimed at the serious smallholder, struggling to wrest a living from a patch of land half way up a Welsh mountain or any of us looking for the good life on a budget.
This is aimed squarely at those with the money to buy 10 acres and the income to play with them. It's a blueprint for a different way of using the countryside, improving the ecology whilst making a few pounds to defray the expense of living the good life without drawbacks.
Most of the ideas are covered in enough depth to help you decide if it worth looking into further or a non-starter for you, which is really useful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it would make a great gift for anyone, especially someone living in the city, with an interest in moving out to the countryside. All I need now is the right lottery ticket!
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Scenes from a Smallholding by:Charles Quentin Griffin I've read Chas Griffin's column in the HDRA magazine for years and it was with joy that I saw he'd finally written a book.
Chas Griffin has a style of writing that immediately puts you at ease and a sense of humour that is apparent from the opening line of "As many as two people (possibly three) have recently suggested that I should consider publishing a collection of articles". Yet hidden away in the text are nuggets of sensible advice and proven strategies for those who might wish to up sticks and head off into the depths of darkest Wales (or anywhere else for that matter) in search of the Good Life. |
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Urban Dreams Rural Realities: In Pursuit of the Good Life by:Daniel Butler, Bel Crewe Told in contrasting voices by each of the pair in turn, this is a humorous account of a couple's first year in the wilds of Wales, for which they had left London in pursuit of a rural idyll. It juxtaposes the fantasy and the reality of an attempt to live "The Good Life".
Really is a funny book - both of us read it and loved it. A laugh a page as well as some more serious points hidden in there |
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New Complete Self-sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by:John Seymour Make the break, realize the dream and start living "the good life". Packed with comprehensive information on all the practical details, from ploughing fields to milking cows, as well as information on how to create an urban organic garden and harness natural energy, this second edition aims to be a useful handbook for realists and dreamers alike.
Well - it is brilliant and a 'must have' The original inspired me many years ago and this edition still inspires. It's not so much the technical information as the underlying faith that you can do it and have a better life. |
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