The essential resource for modern homesteading, growing and preserving foods, and raising chickens, The Encyclopedia of Country Living includes how to cultivate a garden, buy land, bake bread, raise farm animals, make sausage, can peaches, milk a goat, grow herbs, churn butter, build a chicken coop, catch a pig, cook on a wood stove, and much, much more. This comprehensive resource is the most authoritative guide available to a sustainable lifestyle and living off of the land.
Carla Em
$ 18.41
The Encyclopedia of Country Living,
In 1998 my husband, our four year old son and I moved from the city to 11.93 acres in the middle of nowhere. We lived for two years without running water or electricity. From my first copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living I learned how to milk a goat and raise my hogs. I learned how to dress out a large animal and brooder chicks with kerosene lanterns. Not that I read this book a lot or anything, but I literally wore the covers off of the copy that I ordered from Lehman’s Non-Electric Hardware Store.
I’m on my second copy now, which my husband had drilled with a three hole punch to give it more staying power. I highly recommend this book to learn the life-style of self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is a mind set and a life-style. I highly recommend it.
My son is 18 years old and a freshman in college now. I am an old woman of nearly 55. I wouldn’t give up my memories or skills for anything. This is a fantastic reference book, and really, the only one you’ll ever need.
One other note: I wrote Ms. Emery about some health problems I was having and she wrote me back! I’ll never forget her kindness to a stranger. One of my deepest regrets is I did not get to meet her. As a struggling author here on Amazon I find her achievements amazing. I hope her family reads this and knows how much her writing meant to our family. God bless you, Ms. Emery. I hope you can know how much your postcard meant to me.
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|Good Reason This Has Stood The Test of Time,
I had the pleasure of getting to know Carla Emery and her husband over the course of a few days in 2005 (we were working next to each other at the same event). She was a very sweet and likeable person, and she was the real deal. She grew up on a farm and used and did most of the skills she writes about in her book. For her it was a way of life.
There’s a good reason this book is a classic with multiple editions. It includes more information on country skills than most of us will ever use. It boogles my mind how she put it all together. Back to Basics is another classic in this genre, but that was written by a whole team of writers. This was all Carla.
Reading this is like spending time in a room full of homesteaders and listening to them chat and swap stories. Of course, you probably won’t need to know how to give birth to a baby without a doctor around or how to midwife/husband a baby calf into the world in a snow storm, but it’s comforting to know you could find out how if necessary, even if the power is out. Most likely you’ll need if for things like mending a fence or growing grain. Yep, it’s in here. And Carla’s likeability comes through in print. This book is a classic.
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|Still an Excellent Must Have,
I bought the 40th anniversary of this book, after using my library’s copy of an older version of this book, for many years. The 40th anniversary edition basically has updated web links and updated addresses. In this day and age of change, I suggest having the updated version. Its huge and has more info than you will probably ever need but its enjoyable reading excerpts on how to deliver a baby to how to care for your own dead relatives.
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