The Self-Reliant Homestead: A Book of Country Skills

by Charles A. Sanders

A hands-on text for country living, this book contains detailed advice on everything from selecting a piece of land to raising livestock, from making wine from home-grown fruits to making fences strong and durable. Here is abundant advice from a real country homesteader, a book equally valuable for lifelong farm-dwellers or for the new-to-the-country city folks looking to set down roots.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2003

Reviews

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a rather short, very affordable book, this is a pretty decent guide. With the topics it treats, it strikes me as having somewhat of a male point of view — by which I'm not saying women wouldn't like it, nor that it isn't apropos of a family homestead. (Many country-living guides have been written by women, and the emphasis tends to be on food gardening, the kitchen, a livable home environment, lovable livestock. Those books have an important place.) It’s simply that, as other reviewers have said, Sanders realistically discusses certain technicalities and considerations; as one example, he mentions welding as a feasible gainful rural trade.

This informative book encompasses a wide range of basic concepts & knowledge. It augments one of my favorite modern-homesteading "classics", Richard Langer's Grow It!, the original edition of which appeared in the early 1970s. Langer goes into a bit more depth on some topics, so I'd recommend both books as solid introductory texts. From there, Youtube vids can teach you a lot of fine points about method & technique.

[Miranda Spear · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good introductory read for anyone looking to start a homestead. Its introductory beacuse this book often only grazes topics or briefly introduces them. However, Sanders acknowledges this sometimes and dives deeper into certain topics over others. This book covers everything from how to read land documents to how to build a pole barn; what type of fruit trees to plant to canning said fruit; how to find tractor implememts at local auctions to the basics of pretty much every farm animal to hobbies to logging and more.
He also includes plenty of drawings and his own designs for a lot of the elements of a personal homestead. This was written before the internet was mainstream, so some of the links (but surprisingly not all, I checked a majority of them) may need to he updated, as is some of the pricing discussed. Regardless, this is a good intro to homesteading and is still a great piece of knowledge to have on hand. Would recommend!

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a homesteading resource must-have! It is EXTREMELY thorough and technical, it answered questions I didn’t even know I had, and provides a wealth of ideas and information about everything you can think of. An incredibly detailed appendix in the back and tons of resources. My only complaint is that it’s a bit out of date with some of the resources not being available anymore (but it would give you a great start to finding those answers regardless) and some of the technical builds lack diagrams so I got a bit lost. However, there are many helpful visuals overall, so just one star lost.
But there are recipes and fence guides and animal overviews and building blueprints and just EVERYTHING a working homestead would need.

[Lex Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a ton of practical information in this book, it doesn’t feel like an overtly-knowledgeable, expert guide to the art of homesteading. It reads like help from a guy who’s done it, and he gives advice only on all the crops and livestock he’s personally experimented with. I️t would have been nice to see a removed take on even more possibilities of homesteading, but this is good if you want a more personal approach on most of the basics. It’s also a little outdated at this point, this was written before the internet was very widespread.

[Sydnee Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to go back and reference this book when we’re actually ready for homesteading. So many great tips and instruction how to become self-reliant on your own property! I was also able to take a few things and apply them to life in the city now.

[Julia Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

it reads like it was written by an engineer... 🤷‍♀️

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Sanders' voice reminds me of a friendly neighbor. I doubt you could truly move out and handle your own homestead after reading this book if it was your only resource, but he does cover a lot of ground in a basic way and I guess at least gives you a clue what you need to know more about. He also has some very helpful lists and resources in this relatively slim and easy to read book. Besides that, it is an entertaining read if you are just daydreaming about a move to the country.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical, nonfiction book about becoming self-reliant (sort of... you must buy your tractor from someone). Mostly impractical living for today's world- at least in Connecticut- but an interesting read nonetheless (ie, I now know how to butcher a chicken).

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in the middle of a springtime-move-to-the-country obsession, so this is one more book in a line of the genre. How-to, helpful hints. Made daydreaming more realistic, I guess.
Information is relayed in a friendly way, not extremely organized, but sensible.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am currently reading. Learning survival skills on the chance we suffer an economical collapse.