Selfsufficientish.com

What is your favourite book of the self-sufficient-ish variety?

Obviously the 'ish bible is always number one, so for those of us who have it, what is your second favourite?

Mine is John Seymore Book of Self-Sufficiency

yeh Seymours book. then again Geof Hamiltons ornamental kitchen garden is a favourite.. about mixing flowers and veg up in attractive way. Prolly where I started..

Good question Ann... I've got quite a few books on my shelves.... and one that immediately springs to mind is The Earth Care Manual by Patrick Whitefield - an excellent book packed full with information - not one you can read cover to cover and hope to retain all the info though.

There are others though - I really couldn't pick just one.

The one I recommended to LBR recently - 'Freedom from Clutter' - talks about decluttering your entire life and living simply - by Don Aslett

invisiblepiper wrote:The one I recommended to LBR recently - 'Freedom from Clutter' - talks about decluttering your entire life and living simply - by Don Aslett

I SO need that book!!!!!

I'm with you Ann, John Seymour's "Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency". I'm doing a lot of reading though, so I might change my mind.

I also like Mike Fox's "Self Sufficient Larder". It's a short book, probably not a fantastic book and probably doesn't contain anything much that regular Ishers don't already know, but it got me started in the kitchen and started me off baking my own bread after thinking all my life that I was no good at it (I wasn't. Now I'm am ). I now spend half my life in the kitchen.

2 books that got me to seek more info were Barbara Kindsolvers 'animal, vegetable miracle', and Linda Cockburns book....cant remember the name and have lent it to a friend. shes a kiwi who spent 6mths living a very self sufficient life in Queensland Oz.

i also like blog hopping around the net and have come across lots of blogs just as interesting as some of these books.

I forgot to mention the river cottage cookbook, which is the one I read that realy started me down this road.

John Seymour, of course. And a book called Country wisdom and know-how (got from a remaindered bookshop).

But my fave is My Organic Life by Joan Dye Gussow. A bit like HFW really - it got me through a tough period when I was desperate to get out of town.

I love 'The Permaculture Garden' by Graham Bell. Really easy to read, heaps of interesting info too.

I really like the After Dinner Gardening Book by Richard W Langer. Wombat found me a copy in our local second hand book shop and it's fab! The blurb says "Offbeat and fun - step-by-step guide to growning beautiful plants from the seeds and pits of fruits and vegetables. Right in your own living room!" It's a really good, interesting and informative read as well as rather amusing.

Seymour's Guide is my fave too, although, apart from a couple of veg growing books that's all I have self-sufficiency wise so a bit biased!

Milims wrote:I really like the After Dinner Gardening Book by Richard W Langer. Wombat found me a copy in our local second hand book shop and it's fab! The blurb says "Offbeat and fun - step-by-step guide to growning beautiful plants from the seeds and pits of fruits and vegetables. Right in your own living room!" It's a really good, interesting and informative read as well as rather amusing.

Jackie French's "Backyard Self Sufficiency"

Nev

Has anyone else come across John Lane's "Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society"? I found it really inspiring. It's not as practical as the already mentioned (and excellent) John Seymore, but it's all about improving life through living simply, as written in the blurb: 'the restoration of wealth in the midst of an affluence in which we are starving the spirit". A really good read, (especially at the moment, with everything gearing up the the christmas consumer madness!)

regards,
bryony

Hi Bryony - I bought Timeless Simplicity. I hoped it was going to be a practical book by a man who'd done it but found it far too spiritual for me. However I gave it to a friend who loved it! Different strokes eh?