Homesteader's Guides – serie

A fresh, new guide to the backyard lifestyleThe homesteading movement is continuing to grow, as more people are stepping up to have a hand in where their food comes from. Whether you want to dabble or immerse yourself completely in the do-it-yourself, back-to-basics lifestyle, Welcome to the Farm is a comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to growing the very best food right in your own backyard. Shaye Elliott takes readers on a journey that teaches them how to harvest baskets full of organic produce, milk a dairy cow (and make butter), plant a homestead orchard, can jams and jellies, and even raise chickens and bees. From her experience running The Elliott Homestead, Shaye provides all the how-to wisdom you need to know about:·The benefits of a home garden·The basics of seed starting·Building your own greenhouse·What belongs in the winter garden·Canning, freezing, and dehydrating techniques and recipes·The pros and cons of caged vs. free-range chickens·Keeping a dairy cow and what to do with all the milk·Raising animals for meat·Making your own cider and wine·And so much more!Welcome to the Farm is aimed to serve homesteaders and urban-farmers alike, guiding them through the beginning stages of small-area farming and utilizing whatever amount of space they have available for optimal and delicious food production.

A beautiful and simple guide to edible gardeningThe “garden to table” movement is inspiring another generation of gardeners but many of them have questions. How important is composting? Is seed saving really worth it? Focusing on sustainable, organic growing practices and plants, The Backyard Gardener is a comprehensive handbook that will help get them started. Kelly Orzel covers everything from soil selection to growing and harvesting. Sidebars such as “garden center survival tips” offer useful advice to help readers build their confidence and know-how. This guide also features photographs of beautiful plant bed designs, propagation techniques, and much more.

From urban patios to rural homesteads, learn to cultivate versatile flowers that beautify your space while doubling as culinary herbs, healing plants, and craft materials.Flower farming has seen a recent surge of interest, largely due to social media and the presence of idolized flower farmers, such as Washington State’s Floret. Most home gardeners already grow several types of flowers for landscape and ornamental purposes, so the thought of having fresh, beautifully displayed, homegrown bouquets for sale and offering You-Pick flower operations on a new level is enticing to many home growers.Most cut flowers have multipurpose qualities—gardeners and homesteaders can choose varieties that are not just aesthetically pleasing but also useful as culinary herbs, medicinal tinctures, and pigments for eco-dyeing and in dried arrangements for decor, art, and jewelry. Many of these plants can also be easily grown in pots for flower lovers living in the city. Joanna Blessing of Olde Soul Acres invites readers to dive deeper into intentionally growing cut flowers and enjoying the fruits of their labor. She covers the ins and outs of planning a garden that will promote a thriving, sustainable ecosystem, as well as how to harvest and arrange cut flowers and how a home gardener can scale up to bring a monetary profit to their homestead. Chapters cover:Assessing your garden space and resourcesSelecting versatile varieties of cut flowersBuilding relationships with local markets and florists21 recipes for edible flowers, tinctures, floral teas, desserts, and more18 crafts and projects using your flowers“If you’ve ever dreamed of stepping outside to a bloom-filled backyard that nourishes both soul and pantry, this book is your guide to success!  I walked away with not only a planting plan for my new fabric dying flower garden but also a renewed love for the land and what’s possible with just a handful of seeds.” —Victoria Pruett, author of Creating a Modern Homestead

The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion is a beautiful guide for the modern day homesteader. From learning how to incorporate herbs and essential oils around your home, to learning how to enhance your family’s health and well-being, this book is the go-to resource for those wishing to live a more natural homesteading lifestyle. This book takes readers through the basics of herbalism, including the different types of herbs and their uses. It also breaks down how herbs are used in tinctures, salves, essential oils, and infused oils. You’ll learn how to efficiently incorporate herbs into your lifestyle, creating your own herbal remedy cabinet for yourself and for your livestock as well. And through encouragement and evidence-based information, you’ll be confident using herbs, cooking with herbs, and sharing your herbal products with your friends and family. With an array of beautiful photos and easy to read terminology, just about any homesteader, new or seasoned, can learn from The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion, and finally feel comfortable incorporating the many wonderful qualities of herbs around their homes and homesteads.

Food preservation is one of the most intimidating aspects of homesteading, yet one of the most important. Although there is a plethora of websites, books and blogs dedicated to learning how to preserve the harvest, people must search multiple places in order to gather the necessary information. For a beginner new to the world of preserving this leaves them frustrated and quite discouraged. The ideal tool for a newbie is a detailed reference guide, one such as The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest, that shares the basics on canning, dehydrating, freezing, fermenting, curing, and smoking, and how to use the right tools for each method.Homesteader and blogger Ann Accetta-Scott guides readers at the beginning, moderate or advanced levels of preserving. Newcomers to the world of preserving can start with a simple jam and jelly recipe using a hot water bath canner, while others may be advanced enough to have mastered the pressure canner and are ready to move onto curing and smoking meat and fish. The progression in this book will help the home preserver build confidence in the most common methods of preserving.