Homestead Tsunami: Good for Country, Critters, and Kids

by Joel Salatin, Amy Fewell (foreword)

From his 66-year farm, food, and family experience, Joel Salatin explains why thousands of Americans are selling their urban homes, cashing out retirement funds, and heading to the country. The exodus is both a goodbye to one life and an embrace of another.When society breaks down, people head away from the city. For food security, health, and satisfaction, homesteads offer a haven of hope and help when much seems hopeless and helpless.While fear motivates people to change, only faith sustains. This book offers multiple reasons for modern homestead living. Some

Secure, stable, safe food.Healthy, happy children.Superior immune function.Community and connections.Meaningful work.Creation stewardship immersion.In his 16th book, Salatin offers the homestead why to those contemplating the jump, those trying to dissuade their friends from jumping, and those who regret having jumped. Despite its sweat and disappointments, homesteading offers incalculable benefits that feed the soul, soil, and spirit.Homestead Tsunami digs deep into the ethos of today’s best pension living and learning proximate to people who know how to build things, repair, things and grow things. A better life awaits.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2024

About the author

Joel F. Salatin is an American farmer, lecturer, and author.
Salatin raises livestock on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Meat from the farm is sold by direct marketing to consumers and restaurants.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joel Salatin is my hero. In his most recent book, Homestead Tsunami, he looks around at the wave of new homesteaders and writes this book for them. Well, actually he had 3 people in mind when writing this book 1) people who think they want to homestead and are afraid to take the plunge, 2) people who are currently homesteading and are getting burned out or discouraged, and 3) people who don't understand why a friend of family member picked up and moved out to the country to raise their own food. During COVID lockdowns baby chicks sold out, canning jar lids couldn't be found anywhere, seeds sold out, and the #1 things searched in Google was sourdough recipes - all this made Joel very happy to see so many people turning back to homesteading basics. I don't know how you could ever read anything by Joel or hear him speak and not be encouraged - regardless of where you are on your own homesteading/food journey. He is so inspirational and moving and in this book he expertly lays out all the ways that homesteading is better than all the alternatives. He covers everything from land, food, animals, nature, entertainment, relationships, ingenuity, and much, much more. I'm so thankful for Joel and his encouragement in all the forms it takes. The world is hard, yet while reading this book I'm reminded of so many of the good things. I don't know if I would really consider myself a "homesteader" but I definitely have the "homesteading mindset." I've been gardening and canning for over 13 years now and it never gets old. Growing your own food and cooking and preserving it is exciting every time. But, Joel does a much better job of describing it than I can - pick up this book and be inspired to start your own homesteading journey.

Some quotes I liked:

"Money you don't have to spend is worth more than face value. If you save a dollar, it's really worth about $1.40 because in order to spend a dollar, you have to earn the dollar plus all the taxes associated with it. If you don't have to spend a dollar, you don't have to pay taxes on the earnings and you don't have to pay sales taxes when you buy. These are huge savings." (p. 28)

"The goal must be to take all that angst, all that negative energy that many of us feel right now, and channel it to a positive solution. As homesteaders, when the culture heads like a stampeding herd toward shallowness and dystopia, we must be beacons of hope and help." (p. 32)

"In a day when the word defund seems to be bandied about as the ultimate test of ideological purity, how about we apply the word to things like trash, monocrops, and chemicals? Let's defund GMOs and factory chickens. Let's defund processed foods and unpronounceable ingredients. While we're funding our own enjoyable kitchens and homesteads, we defund outfits that cheat and cheapen. That's a great twofer." (p. 227)

[A friend in Norway who's family owned land going back 500 years] "To hold onto such a massive parcel for several centuries seemed almost other-worldly to me and prompted me to query him on how it could be done. Without hesitating, he responded, 'primogenitor.' I blinked. 'Say what?' He laughed good naturedly and explained the European custom, dating back to Biblical times, that required giving the firstborn either all or most of the family land in order to keep it from being broken up...Noting that my friend was the second-born son, I couldn't resist asking, 'How does it make you feel, as the second-born?' Without a hint of resentment, he answered, 'No problem. My whole role in life is to make sure my older brother doesn't lose it.' It was such a charitable yet matter-of-fact answer I was dumbfounded. Upon later contemplation, I realized the social equity, the familial power, behind both the statement and the practice. This fellow grew up in a culture where legacy trumped equity. Where the family's interests outweighed individual aspirations. Done at scale and ubiquitous in the culture, such thinking creates social cohesion Americans can only imagine. You only find thinking and contentment like this is extremely old, stable, homogeneous cultures." (p. 255)

"Modern American culture seems fixated on chaos, on destroying nature's design and God's order. Our plants and animals know what they are and how to act. A pepper plant never sends out curly, grasping vine tentacles. A carrot doesn't mate with a radish. A pig doesn't wonder if it would be happier if it were a cow. Being this imbedded in a place that honors and respects the Creator's standards, boundaries, and designs brings solace to the soul. It massages our spirits with consistent common sense. It assures us that 'God's got this.' We need that." (p. 277)

[Lorry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Both by my own estimation and by Mr. Salatin's definition, I am not fully a homesteader. I have a nice little 2 acre piece of property and lots of my outdoor space is used for family space and not food space, I'm a bit scared to try to raise chickens even though I'd like to, and I'm still very new to vegetable gardening but I still found his book to be informative and inspirational. Currently I've got two good size plots along with various pots and planters to grow food. Last summer I produced more than enough produce for my family, my mother and two sisters to have lots of fresh vegetables, as well as, canned vegetables. I do feel more knowledgeable in knowing what and how to purchase real food from farmers markets and direct from farms. This book provides many good arguments for farming and for raising families close to the earth.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of Joel's books that I've read and absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down as what he talked about really resonated with me at this point in my life and in our homestead journey. It really puts the current world status into perspective and helps validate the mindset that has been developing within me over the past few years.

We visited Polyface Farms and toured the property about a month ago. What a beautiful and peaceful place. Stopped in at the store and picked up his newest book along with The Rooted Life by Justin Rhodes and Polyface Designs also by Joel Salatin.

Looking forward to picking up more of Salatin's books.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of Joel's books that I've read and absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down as what he talked about really resonated with me at this point in my life and in our homestead journey. It really puts the current world status into perspective and helps validate the mindset that has been developing within me over the past few years.

We visited Polyface Farms and toured the property about a month ago. What a beautiful and peaceful place. Stopped in at the store and picked up his newest book along with The Rooted Life by Justin Rhodes and Polyface Designs also by Joel Salatin.

Looking forward to picking up more of Salatin's books.

[Andie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand that Mr Salatin was writing for a specific audience, and I get the sentiment, but it was more emotionally driven than I anticipated. I went in thinking there would be more practical things, or more stats. You can feel the passion behind his thoughts, and I loved his chapter on the beauty and pitfalls of the radical independence we find in America, however, the rest of his book failed to resonate with me the way I thought it would. A generous three stars because I know I'm not in his target audience.

[Cindy Bergvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

We visited Polyface farms this past October and loved it. I really like what they are about and the commitment to family and living off the land and working so hard. The book included several stories that gave me a picture of homesteading life. It is appealing. But parts of the book became repetitive.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written about us! After the lockdowns and riots of 2020, we moved to a red state and got 5 acres in the country. Now a few years later we're living the homesteading life, but struggling to maintain balance. What an encouraging book!!

[Julie Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Joel Salatin read and it won't be my last! I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone, especially those of us dreaming of a homestead one day.

[sincerely · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC!!

[Olivia Koschara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read...I'm very much in the same wave length with Joel so it felt like sharing coffee with a friend

[Joe Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is a great explanation into the why of homesteading and all the cultural reason it resonates with so many. Highly recommend

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring. All about the mentality of self sufficiency and creating a new old fashioned community.