Winter reading list
After we finish
dicussing Folks,
This Ain't Normal
next week, I'm going to take a break from the book club and
work through my winter reading list instead. Although I won't
break these books apart by week, I'll definitely be posting about each
one after I finish it, so you're welcome to read along. Here are
the
books that piled up all through the growing season:
- The
Intelligent Gardener. (I've actually already read this, but
will wait to post about it until I get my soil test reports.
Highly recommended.)
- How to Grow More Vegetables
- Small-Scale
Livestock Farming. (I'm about halfway through this one and
it's pretty basic, but I'm hoping I'll find a few useful tips.)
- Storey's
Guide to Raising Pigs. (We're still pondering whether pigs
will
be a project for 2013.)
- Hit
By a Farm. (Just for fun.)
- Gaia's Garden. (I decided it was time for a reread.)
- Just In Case
- The
Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation
- Meat: A Benign Extravagance
- The Resilient Gardener
- Paradise
Lot. (It's not out yet, but once it hits my mailbox, I suspect I'll
read this first.)
It's a pretty ambitious
reading list for what's left of the winter,
especially since I always find more books that really, absolutely must
be read right now to sneak into the
pile.
Hopefully I'll have time to read most of these books before the spring
gardening bug hits, though.
What's on your winter
reading list?
Thank you all for your kind
reviews of Trailersteading! I'll admit I was a bit
afraid to push the publish button because I wasn't feeling strong
enough to deal with a lot of redneck bashing, so I've been very
pleasantly surprised by responses to my newest ebook. Your
reviews inspire me to keep writing!
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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I will be reading: Gias Garden again along with Bee Keeping For Idiots. For pleasure I want to read the autobiography of Mark Twain.
I ask need to finish 1quilt this winter and another 1 before next Christmas.
Sat down and read "Trailersteading" in basically one go Saturday. I just got notified that my review was approved by Amazon. When we first began considering using a trailer as an affordable way to move to our homestead, well, I was one of the people looking pretty far down my nose! I considered it a "last resort". You have opened my eyes! (And that was even before I read the book!).
It wasn't prejudice against folks who live in a trailer per se - I genuinely believed that trailers were "substandard" housing. You've changed my mind.
I have just finished reading Trailersteading. I loved the information you provided and wish I had something similar 20 years ago when we out our first trailer for $1500 and moved onto our 3 acre property.
I finished the1 Acre Homestead this weekend as well. Although I was a bit disappointed in general it did help to reinforce some unclear concepts of permaculture. The home economics section would be excellent for most couples starting out but old news for us since we have already live through that phase of life.
Grow More Food was a good read although I am looking forward to following along with you. There is a wealth of information in the chart that make the book worthwhile. I will use the double dug method to breakup the clay/hardpan under the 2 inch of topsoil have before moving on to no till premie methods.
Last month's book was Holistic Orchard. A lot of good ideas in this one. I have started preparation for 20 fruit trees for next year's planting. A year of manure/leaves aided by deep rooted cover crop should help this effort along. Long range plans for a densely planted forest garden in this area.
I just started Eliot Coleman's New Organic Grower. Although it is more geared for market growing it does have quite a bit of useful information on rotation, cover crops and useful homemade gadgets. There is enough useful information to take way no mater which technique you choose to follow although I am positive a hybrid is more in line for me.
I will be reading Gaia's Garden with you. Hopefully this will help fIll out the forest garden plans. This area will cost more than any other so I don't want to make too many mistakes. My biggest concern right now is the nagging thought... "is 20 tree forest orchard garden really considered starting small?"
I am currently reading Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. I have a few others in the queue as well- including Folks, This Ain't Normal.
Have you ever considered raising ducks or quail? Seems like quail especially would be an easy way to keep some meat around.