The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics Guide


John Seymour - 1973
    Author John Seymour, the father of the back-to-basics movement, shares his singular vision to transform lives and create communities. More relevant than ever in our hi-tech world, The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.

Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind


Michael Bunker - 2011
    Agrarian Blogger, historian, and "plain" preacher Michael Bunker has been living off of the grid for many years, and he has some advice for those living in the industrial/consumerist economy …living an off off-grid life is achievable. It has been done for thousands of years, and it can be done today... It is quite possible that many people who have relied on a failing system for their means of survival will very soon find that they have made a mistake of historic proportions. Historic, because every major "classical" culture went down the same road our society is on today. This book is about the lessons we should have learned, and what you can do to survive what history tells us must come next.

The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 3


Jim Hamm - 1994
    The third volume in The Traditional Bowyers Bible series covers tools Korean and African archery bows of the Plains Indians custom shafts stone points and much more

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits Vegetables


Mike Bubel - 1979
    Stretch the resources of your small backyard garden further than ever before, without devoting hundreds of hours to canning! This informative and inspiring guide shows you not only how to construct your own root cellar, but how to best use the earth’s naturally cool, stable temperature as an energy-saving way to store nearly 100 varieties of perishable fruits and vegetables.

Living off the Grid


Dave Black - 2008
    Electricity and energy don’t have to come off the public utility grid—alternatives abound in solar, wind, and water generated power. Design decisions can drastically affect power consumption, and bio-diesel and alternative fuels can help break the oil habit. Dave Black describes alternatives for eco-pimping your home and lifestyle for independence, economy, and a more integrated way of life. Equally valuable for the urban dweller vaguely concerned about the size of his or her carbon footprint and the rural self-sufficiency enthusiast, Living Off the Grid can help anyone take control of his or her life and way of living.

DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner: 25 Ways to Build a Self-Reliant Lifestyle


Betsy Matheson - 2011
    Many of the projects require basic materials available at your everyday home center, but this book also provides valuable DIY resources for solar, hydro, greenhouse, and gardening needs. This book will help you build security with utility backup systems and become more sustainable, resulting in less dependence on city systems for basic needs. Whether you have a city plot or simply pots, this book includes all of the information needed to plan, build, and succeed with greater self-sufficiency.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living


Carla Emery - 1977
    It is the most complete source of step-by-step information about growing, processing, cooking, and preserving homegrown foods from garden, orchard, field, or barnyard. This book is so basic, so thorough, so reliable, that it deserves a place in every home whether country, city, or in between. Carla Emery started writing The Encyclopedia of Country Living in 1969 during the back-to-the-land movement of that time. She continued to add content and refine the information over the years ad the book went from a self-published mimeographed document to a book published by Bantam and then Sasquatch. The 10th Edition reflects the most up-to-date and the most personal version of the book that became Carla Emery’s life work. It is the original manual of basic country skills that have proved essential and necessary for people living in the country and the city, and everywhere in between. The practical advice in this exhaustive reference tool 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.

Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills


Raleigh Briggs - 2007
    And it's not as hard as we may think! This hand written and drawn book of charming tutorials is both fun and accessible. It's full of simple skills that anyone can and should learn. From creating tinctures and salves to concocting all-natural cleaners and body products to gardening basics, this book is great for anyone looking to live more simply, create a comfortable nest, and truly do it yourself.

How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere


Bradford Angier - 1956
    Broken down into four essential sections, Sustenance, Warmth, Orientation and Safety, this enlightening manual reveals how to catch game without a gun, what plants to eat (full-color illustrations of these make identification simple), how to build a warm shelter, make clothing, protect yourself and signal for help. Detailed illustrations and expanded instructions offer crucial information at a glance, making How to Stay Alive in the Woods truly a lifesaver.

The Trappera (TM)S Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards


Dale Martin - 1987
    Includes pest snares, large animal snares, and transplant traps, plus camp alarms that alert you to intruders and deadly pathguards that could save your life.

Build a Smokehouse


Ed Epstein - 1981
    There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance & Planetary Survival


Matthew Stein - 2000
    In an era of super-storms, burgeoning population, massive earth-quakes, global warming, and record-breaking floods and droughts, more and more people are seeking to prepare themselves to deal with the difficult times that may lie ahead."When Technology Fails" addresses this universal concern in one engaging and concise volume for the general reader. A directory of resources and an instructional guide to sustainable technologies, it outlines survival strategies for dealing with changes that affect food, water, shelter, energy, health, communications, and essential goods and services."When Technology Fails" provides something for everyone, from parents who want to help their families when a disaster strikes, to the go-it-alone survivalist, to the eco-minded person who wishes to tread more lightly on the earth - whatever the future may hold.

Where There Is No Dentist


Murray Dickson - 1983
    This approach to health care implies respect for the dignity of all persons, as well as confidence in their resourcefulness.Village health workers can use this book to help people care for their teeth and gums. Health workers begin with the felt needs of the people--treating the dental problems they have now. Then they work to prevent the same problems from returning.Thus, Where There Is No Dentist shows how to diagnose and treat dental problems and also suggests new ways to work for better dental health in the community.

Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World


Helen Nearing - 1954
    Moreover, it is the distillation of twenty--not two--years in the woods, and it offers wisdom and practical guidance to city dweller and prospective homesteader alike.This book is a harvest of congenial and specific advice on harmonious rural living, for its authors have proved to themselves--and now to the world--that with hard work and harder common sense, they could take a piece of eroded, stony land and make it bloom and support them. In the process they have achieved something fine for themselves and relevant for everybody. (Description from book jacket.)

Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks


Art Ludwig - 2005
    It will help you with your independent water system, fire protection, and disaster preparedness, at low cost and using principles of ecological design. Includes building instructions for several styles of ferro cement water tanks.