The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins ~ Not a topic that most people want to discuss, but if you truly want to “close the loop” and harvest abundant crops from your own land without outside inputs, then it’s important to look to yourself as a source of fertility. This discusses every aspect of humanure in an accessible and easy to implement way. Artisan Cheese Making at Home by Mary Karlin ~ Though she does have a lot of advanced recipes in here, I still think this is a good guide to getting started with cheesemaking (especially if you hope to progress to more advanced recipes). Self-Sufficiency (1973). London: Faber & Faber. (With Sally Seymour.) The original self-sufficiency guide. Plus, the fact that it was written by a spunky teenager, self-named Dolly Freed, gives this work an upbeat, audacious tone that makes you feel like you can take on the world after reading it. With wisdom beyond her years, Dolly says, “It’s easier to learn to do without some of the things that money can buy than to earn the money to buy them.” Then, she shows you how in hundreds of ways. These are the books he recommends for beginners, and they were incredibly helpful to him when he was starting out.

Easy cheese making recipes can be made at home in under an hour, things like mozzarella, ricotta and paneer, and they’re the perfect place to start for beginners. I know I’ve covered a lot of great Self Reliance Manuals, but I’ve definitely missed some good ones. Mastering Fermentation by Mary Karlin ~ Perhaps the most accessible beginners fermenting recipe book, this book contains detailed recipes (and beautiful pictures) of nearly every type of common home ferment, from vegetables to vinegars and cheeses. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for a recipe book, rather than general theory.Second Edition. Mimeographed on Carlton and Mustang paper with an ivory Plastisheen cover; 185 copies finished April 10, 1974. Find sources: "John Seymour"author– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( March 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) John Seymour (12 June 1914 – 14 September 2004) was a British author and pioneer in the self-sufficiency movement. In 1976, he wrote The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency. I’m often asked how I learned to live as we do, foraging food, canning everything in sight, and maintaining a solar-powered homestead. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation by Tradd Cotter ~ The only resource you’ll ever need if you plan on growing mushrooms at home, regardless of the variety. Indoor or outdoor, small scale or commercial scale, he covers everything. The author also covers foraging common wild species as well, both edible and medicinal.

The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self Reliance in Uncertain Times by Carol Deppe ~ Carol is a seed breeder and home gardener that grows an impressive variety of food crops to supply the bulk of her daily calories. If you really want to grow calories, not just fancy lettuce, she has a great guide. Just like charcuterie, cheesemaking can be simple and easy…or it can be incredibly complex and detailed.

While most people are familiar with grape wines, you can actually make old fashioned country wines out of just about any fruit (and some vegetables too). Ninth Edition. Title and much of “Definitions and Measures” chapter dropped to make room for new information. Indexed and fully illustrated; el supremo version so far. And massaged by Sasquatch’s editors to make my writing follow (most of) the rules that in the past I’ve been famous (infamous?) for spurning. No more world records for typos. Oh, well. John also made many television programmes: an early series followed the footsteps of George Borrow's Wild Wales (1862). In the early 1980s he spent three years making the BBC series Far From Paradise (with Herbert Girardet) which examined the history of human impact on the environment. Just about every “prepper” book has at best a 2 paragraph summary of each of the topics discussed here, along with some incredibly bad advice about treating gun wounds with tampons. Many of these countries are located in areas of the world that produce and export large quantities of raw materials and have healthy populations.

Beyond these general canning manuals, I’d also recommend a number of specific canning books that cover mostly water bath canning recipes for jams and preserves: If you’re a beginning bread maker looking for the simplest possible process, you can always get a bread maker and try your hand at bread machine recipes.This book is a wonderful mix of personal stories, useful farm tips, and hope that we can change our farming practices and our relationship with nature and still eat like Gourmands. This book also takes you through the authors’ own experience gathering knowledge from the likes of ancient Parisienne market gardeners, John Jeavons, Eliot Coleman, and beyond. These books cover the basics of setting up a solar powered system, but I’ve also included a number that explore other types of alternative energy.

If you go through these and realize it’s the life for you, in the next section I’ll cover alternative energy books.

Foraging and Wild Food

Alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro are ideal for those looking to become more self-sufficient. Be aware that dehydrating is a bit different than freeze drying food, which requires a different freeze drying appliance. Sadly, there aren’t any good books on freeze drying, but the machines come with good home manuals. The Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian ~ The most popular beginner homebrewing book, this one covers the basic steps of homebrewing beer, and has a lot of beginner recipes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell you a lot of the “why” different steps are important. Good to get started, but you’ll need the next book if you really want to understand what’s happening. (If you don’t care why it works, and you just want to follow a recipe to make beer, then you’re good with just this one.) A Year Without the Grocery Store: A Step by Step Guide to Acquiring, Organizing, and Cooking Food Storage by Karen Morris ~ I was sad to learn that the author did not actually go a year without going to the grocery store to write this book. She did, however, write a beginners guide to bulk food storage that’s a great place to start if you’re trying to put up a years worth of food for long term (25+ year) storage without spending a lot of money. This book is more than just practical advice, as it gives you illustrated examples of how to perform tasks. The illustrations go so far as to break down accurate floor plans for a new home.