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Homesteading From Scratch: Building Your Self-Sufficient Homestead, Start to Finish
Homesteading From Scratch is for people who want to do things differently—the type of people who want to eat real food, grow herbs, make cheese, raise baby animals, hunt mushrooms, pick blackberries, unschool their children, can jelly, ferment kraut, farm organically, connect to nature, live intentionally, and more.
Guiding readers from desire to full-blown off-the-grid living—and everything in between—this book covers farming, animal husbandry, food preparation, homeschooling, fiber arts, and even marketing. It provides inspiration from other homesteaders, with operations from small to large, who have made a go of it, outlining their successes and failures throughout the process. It helps to democratize the homesteading movement, by providing “ins” for nearly every level of dedication, from the container gardener to full-time farmers. It provides the knowledge necessary to discover homesteading as a movement and as a lifestyle.
Inspired by From Scratch magazine, an online publication devoted to homesteading and intentional living, this book provides readers with continued support and community for information and resources online. This book serves as a reference, as well as a cheerleader, for those who want a bit more control and responsibility over where their food comes from, what they consume, and how they live their lives.
Guiding readers from desire to full-blown off-the-grid living—and everything in between—this book covers farming, animal husbandry, food preparation, homeschooling, fiber arts, and even marketing. It provides inspiration from other homesteaders, with operations from small to large, who have made a go of it, outlining their successes and failures throughout the process. It helps to democratize the homesteading movement, by providing “ins” for nearly every level of dedication, from the container gardener to full-time farmers. It provides the knowledge necessary to discover homesteading as a movement and as a lifestyle.
Inspired by From Scratch magazine, an online publication devoted to homesteading and intentional living, this book provides readers with continued support and community for information and resources online. This book serves as a reference, as well as a cheerleader, for those who want a bit more control and responsibility over where their food comes from, what they consume, and how they live their lives.
- GenresNonfiction
200 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2017
36 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Steven Jones
236 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 4, 2017
Normally I wouldn't give a book with this many editing mistakes, some that obscured the meaning of passages, five stars, but this is the most engaging homesteading book I've read to date. I was skeptical of the claim "from scratch," but Jones delivers on his promise. He provides an introduction to a wide array of homesteading topics and also gives suggestions for more in-depth reading. Unlike other homesteading books where I might skim over the parts I don't plan to explore, like raising goats for milk, I read Jones' book cover to cover. To my knowledge there's no better brief introduction to homesteading than Jones' Homesteading from Scratch.
The one (major, I believe) topic that Jones didn't address, and nothing I've read so far has, is the change in diet that homesteading brings. I'm sure that healthy living is part of most homesteaders' motivation, but the elephant in the room is that most Americans are woefully obese and addicted to a high fat, high sugar, and high sodium diet. I can only speak for myself, but one of the biggest challenges of homesteading is coming home from a day of work and being disciplined enough to make a meal from scratch with fresh ingredients rather than ordering a pizza.
The one (major, I believe) topic that Jones didn't address, and nothing I've read so far has, is the change in diet that homesteading brings. I'm sure that healthy living is part of most homesteaders' motivation, but the elephant in the room is that most Americans are woefully obese and addicted to a high fat, high sugar, and high sodium diet. I can only speak for myself, but one of the biggest challenges of homesteading is coming home from a day of work and being disciplined enough to make a meal from scratch with fresh ingredients rather than ordering a pizza.
October 6, 2017
I loved this book, mainly coz I wrote it!
October 25, 2017
Quick read, but lots of great introductory info, some of which other homesteading books glanced over, particularly on the financial, business and planning side.
October 6, 2017
A wonderful introduction to Homesteading!! Inspirational and instructional - can't wait to implement everything!
October 18, 2016
So informative and engaging! I found myself daydreaming about the ideas presented in this book; Jones does a great job of making the romantic concept of homesteading accessible to those in all walks of life. He gives practical advice to those interested in the lifestyle and I found myself eager to learn things I never would have thought interesting (fermentation, for starters). Now excuse me while I Google garden plans and pictures of Angora rabbits!
December 1, 2023
"Homesteading From Scratch is for people who want to do things differently—the type of people who want to eat real food, grow herbs, make cheese, raise baby animals, hunt mushrooms, pick blackberries, unschool their children, can jelly, ferment kraut, farm organically, connect to nature, live intentionally, and more."
Steven Jones provided information on homesteading and what it takes to get started. As some of you know, I live on an acreage, and I raise goats. This book helped me to look into the planning stages of my area. I think it also puts into perspective things that can be done. There were a few things that I had not considered. I think it's a great place to start. Especially the finances part of the book.
If you need help getting started or want a plethora of resources, check out this book. There are websites, apps, and resources where you can gain more knowledge.
Steven Jones provided information on homesteading and what it takes to get started. As some of you know, I live on an acreage, and I raise goats. This book helped me to look into the planning stages of my area. I think it also puts into perspective things that can be done. There were a few things that I had not considered. I think it's a great place to start. Especially the finances part of the book.
If you need help getting started or want a plethora of resources, check out this book. There are websites, apps, and resources where you can gain more knowledge.
September 1, 2024
3.25/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Had a lot of good information about a variety of topics; what homesteading entails, gardening v. farming, keeping animals for food & other products, and how to get started on the entire homesteading process.
Lots of information repeated itself multiple times in a section.
I read this book to get information on gardening, tips / experience from owning chickens & bees, how to incorporate food from your garden into your everyday meals, and how to layout & plan for what homesteading would look like for me.
I got answers to some of my questions, but most were not. I do believe if you are planning on starting your own large farm for profit, this would be the book for you! However if you are just wanting to be more self-sufficient in your own home, you could find the information you'd want elsewhere.
Had a lot of good information about a variety of topics; what homesteading entails, gardening v. farming, keeping animals for food & other products, and how to get started on the entire homesteading process.
Lots of information repeated itself multiple times in a section.
I read this book to get information on gardening, tips / experience from owning chickens & bees, how to incorporate food from your garden into your everyday meals, and how to layout & plan for what homesteading would look like for me.
I got answers to some of my questions, but most were not. I do believe if you are planning on starting your own large farm for profit, this would be the book for you! However if you are just wanting to be more self-sufficient in your own home, you could find the information you'd want elsewhere.
October 4, 2021
This book is a good balance of barnhearty stories and how-to. Good to inspire the newby or aspiring homesteader or make the more experienced chuckle. I especially loved his description of eating homegrown eggs for the first time. I could 100% relate!
If I was going to write my own homesteading book it would be like this. Great information sandwiched between awesome full-color photos.
I do wish the photo captions said what breed(s) are in them. What if I want to grow that one too?
If I was going to write my own homesteading book it would be like this. Great information sandwiched between awesome full-color photos.
I do wish the photo captions said what breed(s) are in them. What if I want to grow that one too?
February 20, 2022
Decent book that lived up to its goals: a basic introduction for someone totally new to homesteads. Some of the information felt too basic (have bees and sell honey) and there’s wasn’t much information on how to actually homestead. The book felt more like a descriptive of list of what you could do with recommendations for other resources. It was comprehensive, though, and the direction to better resources cuts down on potential research time. The grammar errors were too noticeable for me.
September 27, 2022
Lots of useful ideas!
Great beginners guide to homesteading. But he never addressed what to do in cases where you don't have electricity. Natural disasters happen all the time. It is one of the reasons people homestead. I hope in another book he addresses that.
Excellent read. Definitely recommend.
Great beginners guide to homesteading. But he never addressed what to do in cases where you don't have electricity. Natural disasters happen all the time. It is one of the reasons people homestead. I hope in another book he addresses that.
Excellent read. Definitely recommend.
September 6, 2021
Made interesting points, but overall seemed to be trying to cover a bit too much ground. Very introductory--I knew almost everything already presented. Did have some interesting comments about farm planning, farming for calories vs. profit, and financial considerations.
3 stars.
3 stars.
November 4, 2017
More of an informative overview from an experienced homesteader than a “bible” with all you need to know, this book was interesting and had many color photos.
December 27, 2020
This is in extremely good book for people who have an interesting in homesteading but have never done it before I need to really learn the basics and what to expect.
May 31, 2021
Good introduction to homesteading that includes focus on homesteading as business.
November 30, 2022
Good basic, insightful and enjoyable book! Gets into the weeds that answer the questions you might be afraid to ask! Lol
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June 22, 2023A great overview- not a how to guide for any one specific topic, but makes everything seem approachable.
November 30, 2022
Helpful, covers topics of gardening, animal husbandry, canning, etc. crash course and easy to read I found the author quite endearing.
January 2, 2022
Such a helpful book with a lot of good valuable information on how to start a homestead for scratch. The planning section was really good and the parts about the different kinds of homesteads. The information on starting out small was helpful too along with which animals are the easiest to keep, raise etc.
I was surprised to see a chapter on homeschooling too but it was really good to have in it there too. I can’t imagine how much the children learn from being out and about on the homestead, learning valuable skills etc. Enriching their education even more and the skills they take with them later on in life.
I was surprised to see a chapter on homeschooling too but it was really good to have in it there too. I can’t imagine how much the children learn from being out and about on the homestead, learning valuable skills etc. Enriching their education even more and the skills they take with them later on in life.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews