Practical Self Sufficiency

A guide to living off the land includes instructions on vegetable and fruit gardening, animal husbandry, and preserving produce

Find your route to a more sustainable lifestyle with Dick Strawbridge, of Channel 4's Escape to the Chateau, and his son James. We can all take steps to reduce our carbon footprint and be more self-sufficient. For some, that might mean upping sticks and living off the land. For the rest of us, the reality might involve smaller, but no less important, lifestyle changes: cutting back on plastic or food waste, growing vegetables, preserving meat and fish, preparing jams and chutneys, baking sourdough bread, making your own plant-based milks, or keeping a chicken or two. Dick and James Strawbridge know what it's like to make these changes. Between them, they've lived on a smallholding, in a terraced house, and even a chateau. In this updated edition of Practical Self-sufficiency they share everything they've learned, and give you the tools you need for a more rewarding and environmentally conscious life.

Looking for a way to reduce your environmental impact? Find your route to a more sustainable lifestyle with Dick Strawbridge and his son James. We can all take steps to reduce our carbon footprint and be more self-sufficient. For some, that might mean heading to the countryside to live off the land. For the rest of us, the reality might involve smaller, but no less important, lifestyle changes: cutting back on plastic or food waste, growing vegetables, preserving meat and fish, preparing jams and chutneys, baking sourdough bread, making your own plant-based milks, or keeping a chicken or two. Dick and James Strawbridge know what it's like to make these changes. Between them, they've lived on a smallholding, in a terraced house, and even a chateau. In this updated book, they share everything they've learned and give you the tools you need for a more rewarding and environmentally-conscious life. Whether you want to completely revamp your lifestyle or just make everyday changes that will make an impact, Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century is the perfect place to start.

The classic USDA handbook to self-reliant living, now completely revised and updated.

Vegetables proves just how productive you can be all year round, whether you have a tiny urban patch, a dedicated allotment or plenty of space in your own garden. Growing your own vegetables is one of the easiest ways to transform the way you eat. You'll have fresh ingredients at your disposal and,with this book, the knowledge to cook with them to create delicious dishes every time. With the step-by-step guides to growing, and dozens of ideas for cooking your home produce, you'll soon enjoy everything from pea and mint risotto to kohlrabi coleslaw and baked sweet potato and goat's cheese pie.

Embrace off-grid green living with the bestselling classic guide to a more sustainable way of life, now with a brand new foreword from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. John Seymour has inspired thousands to make more responsible, enriching, and eco-friendly choices with his advice on living sustainably. The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency offers step-by-step instructions on everything from chopping trees to harnessing solar power; from growing fruit and vegetables, and preserving and pickling your harvest, to baking bread, brewing beer, and making cheese. Seymour shows you how to live off the land, running your own smallholding or homestead, keeping chickens, and raising (and butchering) livestock. In a world of mass production, intensive farming, and food miles, Seymour's words offer an alternative: a celebration of the joy of investing time, labour, and love into the things we need. While we aren't all be able to move to the countryside, we can appreciate the need to eat food that has been grown ethically or create things we can cherish, using skills that have been handed down through generations. With refreshed, retro-style illustrations and a brand-new foreword by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, this new edition of Seymour's classic title is a balm for anyone who has ever sought solace away from the madness of modern life.

Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, you can practice self-reliant methods of living. This book is an in depth look at practical ways you can reduce your dependency on others, and work towards a life of self-reliance. It includes sections on obtaining, preserving, storing, and preparing food, recycling and repurposing, skills and tools of the trade for self-reliance, getting out of debt, the importance of water, lighting and alternative power, sanitation and hygiene, staying warm and cool, transportation options, and more. For anyone who wants to work towards being self-reliant, this book, with over 250 photos and diagrams, offers many helpful suggestions and ideas.

Today, as many of us are becoming more eco-conscious and concerned with carbon footprints and other pressing environmental issues, thoughts are turning to ways of sustaininga simpler, greener way of life in which we are producers rather than consumers. For many, complete self-sufficiency may be an unattainable dream, but small ways can be found in which to provide for some of our own basic needs. This book walks readers through the sometimes complicated set-up of self-sufficient homes, and the art of planning and planting a garden that can grow enough food, choosing and keeping animals, finding and harvesting food. Tips throughout the book can help readers who are not able to live an entirely self-sufficient life find small ways to waste less and make choices that are more green. A Practical Guide to Self-Sufficiency is a necessary addition to the library of anyone trying to connect more with the land and raise their own animals, grow their own food, and waste less.