Yes, the internet is great. People can search for and learn about anything they have ever wanted to know. I use the internet all the time when I need an answer to a specific question right now, and I am so grateful to be able to do so. But there is just something about a book, don’t you think? I am a lifelong book lover and nothing replaces the feel of a book in my hands, turning the pages, and the satisfying feeling when I have finished, filled with new knowledge that was gained through trial and error by the people who came before me. I also think a book is much more fun to read in a hammock, or under a tree than a smart phone. The books I am going to recommend turned me from someone who was just a homesteading wannabe into someone who was capable of fulfilling that mission. I read many, many more books than this only journey. These were my absolute favorites, and I had a hard time choosing only ten. I asked myself the question: If the internet suddenly was not available, which books about homesteading would you want on your shelf? Warning: Do not read these books unless you want to get seriously fired up about becoming a farmer! There is an incredible amount of wisdom contained in the following pages. Please save yourself time, money, and stress and do your research before undertaking a lifestyle that is completely new to you. This post contains affiliate links.
Micro Eco-Farming was the first book my husband and I ever read about farming. We were living and working in a friends organic apple orchard at the time and we found the book lying around their house and decided to read it. This book, combined with the experiences we had on that farm, changed the course of our lives.
I could recommend any book by Joel Salatin. He is unapologetically irreverent and entertaining and extremely knowledgeable. He is a hard working yes man and believes that where there is a will, there is always a way. This is a book I have gifted and recommended to friends who are wanting to begin a more self sufficient life. It has many ideas for getting the whole family involved in the farming enterprise while creating an environment that is healthy, safe, and one that you would actually want to live in. If you want to have a family farm this book will get you excited and get your creative wheels turning.
This is an excellent book to read before you purchase your homestead land. If you have already purchased land, no worries, this book will help you to envision the highest and best use for your land. This should be on every homesteaders shelf as a reference.
I take a more permaculture slant toward growing food. I want to work in cooperation, not conflict, with the earth. To me, permaculture is a holistic approach, and because I am a big picture type of person, it just makes since to. me.
Another great book about growing food with a permaculture approach. This book is geared toward a homesteader who wants to grow enough food to feed their household. If you are interested in permaculture on a production scale keep scrolling down.
Yep, you can never read too many books about growing permaculture! Sepp Holzer was a pioneer in this field and this book deserves some of your shelf space.
This book was recommended to me by a friend who grows a beautiful garden in a more conventional way, and by conventional I don’t mean she uses pesticides, she doesn’t. I just mean everything is very neat and organized in a more standard way. I love this book because it has great tables for figuring out how much space and seed you need to grow a certain amount of food. This is a great reference.
This is the ultimate and, as of the writing of this post, really the only book that provides solutions for large scale permaculture. The author of this book grew up with a permaculture garden and has figured out how to apply these rules to a scale that can feed hundreds of people. He and his wife run a permaculture CSA and this book includes insight into many of the day to day systems they have implemented to make things run smoothly. It includes beautiful hand drawn/painted illustrations by the author for those of you who think in a more visual way. If you love the idea of permaculture and you want to grow food on a market scale you need this book. Seriously. I searched high and low for the information presented here for years and was so grateful when this book came out.
Every homestead should have an orchard. Some of the permaculture books touch on trees and guilds, but this book is great because it was written by Micheal Philips, a man who has a lifetime of knowledge to share regarding trees and orcharding in specific. Information on pests, grafting, tree diseases, and much more.
The entire series of Backyard Homestead books are great, especially for the homesteader who is just getting started. In fact, if you know very little and you want to start right away on whatever small piece of property you have I recommend the Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Animals and also the Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing As Much Food As You Need On A 1/4 Acre. I came to these books later in my journey and so they were not as useful to me, but I often wish I had found them at the very beginning. These two books will get you off and running! One of the books in the series that is so wonderful, and useful to even those who have a few years of homesteading under their belts, is this book about what to do and who to do it. One of the really amazing things about a farm life is that no two days will be the same. If you come from the corporate world this can take some getting used too. What is exciting about the constant changes is that you never get tired of anything. There is a season to sow, to weed, to harvest, to preserve. There are seasons to do building and fencing and to cover crop. This book is great for those of us who did not grow up on a farm and are not accustomed to these rhythms. It will help you maximize your efforts because you will be doing tasks at the time the makes the most since.
And as an added bonus I am going to let you know about the awesomeness of the Foxfire Books.
This is 14 book series that touches on literally every single homesteading skill you can imagine. I gave one or two these books every year to my husband every year at Christmas until we had the whole set and he treasures them. I could not fit them in my list of ten, but I actually felt guilty when I was going to publish this post without sharing them, so here you go. What is so wonderful about having books like this on your shelf is that your children will eventually pick them up and read them and learn about amazing skills like blacksmithing, log cabin building, animal care, spinning and weaving, and many, many more. This set of books is like a time capsule preserving the knowledge of many forgotten skills for future generations. I learned to let my husband open these books last on Christmas because once he had one unwrapped in his hands he would begin looking at it and sort of stop paying attention to anything else. These books are an absolute homestead gem. You’re welcome.
What are your favorite books about homesteading? Have you read any of the books on this list? If so, what did you think about them? I would love to hear from you!
