Futuresteading

by Jade Miles

Futuresteading is a practical and inspirational guide to living in a way that values a slower, simpler, steadier existence that is healthier for you, your home, and the environment.Whether you live in a city apartment, in the suburbs or on twenty acres, the principles of futuresteading offer easy-to-understand information and hands-on ideas. Learn to grow delicious food and medicinal plants; share rituals with loved ones through the seasons; feast on healthy home-cooked food for the family; nourish body and soul with outdoor expeditions and moments of rest; and create wonders with your hands.This welcoming handbook begins by showing how futuresteading works in an accessible and practical explainer, before venturing through six seasonal chapters - Awakening, Alive, High Heat, Harvest, The Turning, and Deep Chill - filled with inspiration for the garden, including making fences and wicking beds, along with 30+ rewarding recipes for slow, nourishing and easy meals.Grow, store, eat, preserve and share food that deepens the connections you have with your household, your soil, and those around you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Environment, Self Help, Sustainability, Cookbooks, Food

320 pages, Paperback

Published August 2, 2021

Reviews

[Carolyn Hastie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever I read a book about living sustainably and then read about the author eating meat I lose respect. To claim that there is sadness involved only makes it worse. You do not need to eat meat to live a healthy lifestyle. In fact, you will be much healthier without it. If sending animals you have raised to slaughter causes so much angst and distress then the simple answer is to not do it. There is also the danger that readers, who are unlikely to be raising their own animals to eat, do not get the message that the meat and dairy industries are terrible for the environment.

[Nez · Rating 1 out of 5]

For someone who wants to minimise and reduce waste, Jade Miles has produced a large book with a helluva lot of pages which say absolutely nothing. It’s kind of a ‘look at me - I’m so good’ kind of book, but not contributing anything except more hypocrisy. I call this ‘poo-brown environmentalism’. Let’s keep eating and doing the same things, but we’ll reuse a few jars and grow a few herbs along the way. 🙄

[Tamara Robson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some wonderfully useful parts of this book - particularly, the charts that go into detail about uses for plants & when to plant them - but so much of it is whimsical waxing poetic about what life looks like when you've got acres to live on and your work is creating life on that land.

I'm not sure how much applies beyond the handbuilt stick fences of the farm, but it was a beautiful book nonetheless. (2.5 stars)

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of this book but didn’t love a lot of the language used. I found a lot of it to be tone deaf, holier-than-thou and flat out crass in some ways. Not really a fan of the writing unfortunately. The author should consider where she is writing from (someone who has the luxury to work from home) instead of looking down on others for “prioritising career over creativity.” Sorry for trying to pay rent LMAO. Wish I could! Not to mention the gross ways she describes killing her lambs and chickens, OR the story she “looks on fondly” where she asks her dad to help her get some groceries for her (in her words) low income home with kids, and he tells her to walk into town and buy seeds. Your daughter is suffering with her children alone and you tell her to get lost and buy seeds instead? Such a weird story to look back on fondly but okay. I guess it runs in the family.

I do a lot of the things she does in this book when it comes to being resourceful and homesteading but she could afford to step down a few notches I think. Disappointed unfortunately.

[Merry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring, beautifully designed and containing a couple of good ideas and recipes, but overall a bit too much 'this is what we do' and too little 'this is how you adapt my ideas if you don't happen to live on an actual farm'.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots to unpack in this book. It's an all-in-together memoir, guide, inspirational tome with lots of beautiful photos. It's engaging, informative, daunting, too much info and inspo but limited in other ways by its scope of the author's realm all at the same time. That said, it's a very generous effort that offers enough takeaways to make reading it worthwhile.

[Emily Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all sorts of magic. Firstly, let's point out the obvious, it is a visually stunning book. From the photography to the folk art-esque collage style; very reminiscent of Eric Carle's Hungry Hungry Caterpillar (though it's very much a butterfly). This is a great book for a gift and would make any coffee table proud.

Now, to the guts of the book. Jade really made me think deeply about the planet - and my place in and on it. Even though environmentalism forms a large part of my life/identity (and occupies a lot of space in my mind) Jade got me thinking deeper. She also poses a really whimsical way to live - imbued with rituals and meaning and the good stuff. Beyond that theres a real practical Know-How that comes from her experience on Black Barn Farm and my green thumb loved thumbing through the pages on how to grow things (from hoop houses to crop rotation). The recipes are also simple and satisfying - the sweet chilli sauce is *insert chef's kiss noise*.

I can already see that Futuresteading is the sort of book I will pick up and go to, again and again, through the years, whether for reference or comfort. What a beautiful vision of tomorrow.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned about this book through a farmer in Vermont who hosted the authors who are from Australia. This is a large format book with beautiful photographs. It argues passionately for living lives with low consumption, and environmental awareness. Australia has suffered terribly from climate change. The writer's husband fought the bush fires several years ago. The family farm could have been one of the catastrophe's of that summer, but they survived.

The book contains more than advice and descriptions of her farm, but recipes, and instructions of how to construct various things that they have found indispensable on the farm. There is a recipe for apple cider vinegar. Apple cider donuts are mentioned but no recipe so I will have to find one to myself.

[Ruby Doomsday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely inspiring read.. and I liked it a lot as an urban dweller as I wasn’t left out!
I liked the rituals and linking to the seasons and could feel the influence of Sasha Sagan’s ‘For small creatures such as we’.
I picked it up as I am planning a small edible garden.. and there were some great tips and ideas.. but it really made me want to walk around my suburb a while lot more. I just upped this to 5 stars while writing this review :)

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Jade’s podcast so was keen to read her book. It often didn’t apply to someone without an enormous property, with occasional application of guilt. I would have preferred story of seasons on her farm with some footnotes at the back or links for recipes - not a how-to, but a “how I do”.

Nonetheless I see the intention behind the book and liked to regardless. There were still takeaways and inspirations for those without property- you just need to search.

[Patricia Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book informative… helpful for those that live in residential areas or rent with other ways they can live this lifestyle without necessarily having a large farm/garden etc

The audible version also refers to the website for certain things but when I went to look for them I couldn’t find anything

[Heather Peske · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a bit overly peachy and could use a better editor (how many times can we use the word "sustainable"?) I enjoyed the photos and the text. My daughter bought it for me after hearing the author speak as an evening speaker at her camp: "Mama, it's your three favorite things: plants, cooking, and reading!" Indeed.

[Alyson Maier · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book with many practical hints and tips for living more sustainably. SPoken from heartfelt experience, the author draws on her real-life family experiences and links them to the importance of connection with mother Earth.

[Nicole Volz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. It’s not powerful. Just kind of mundane. None of the recipes jump out at me. And her thoughts on climate change and global warming littered in the book make her seem like an indoctrinated poster girl for Bill Gates

[Carmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative in parts and picked up a few good ideas. Given that she’s using Fowlers jars for preserving, it would have been good if she’d mentioned a little about the Fowlers method of preserving- that doesn’t involve boiling as does water bathing.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasingly accessible book with plenty of practical ideas to inspire and uplift. Love the living simply and joyously philosophy and will incorporate many of the ideas into my suburban patch.

[Bridget Dansie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good uplifting read with loads of practical ideas to take away.

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as audiobook

[Niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay so i didn't fully read each page oops but i looked at everything and read all the parts that were interesting/applicable to me.
insightful!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough but more geared for Australia - climate and culture.

[Mel Sweeney (mels.bookshelf_) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! My husband and I grow a lot of our own food and make a conscious effort to live slowly and mindfully, so this book really spoke to my soul. I listened to it as an audiobook via bolinda/borrow box, and then immediately purchased a physical copy after I had finished. I know I am going to be re-reading and dog earring this book for years to come.
I found this guide so practical! It has inspired us to strip back our ‘busy-ness’, spend more time in the garden, and become more generous with sharing our abundance to create community and connection.

The blurb describes this wholesome book perfectly!
“Futuresteading is a practical and inspirational guide to living in a way that values tomorrow: a slower, simpler, steadier existence that is healthier for you, your home, and the environment… Learn to grow delicious food and medicinal plants; share rituals with loved ones through the seasons; feast on healthy home-cooked food for the family; nourish body and soul with outdoor expeditions and moments of rest; and create wonders with your hands.”
Doesn’t that just sound like the most magical life?!

If you grow your own produce, want to reduce your waste, or are passionate about living a slower and more mindful life… then read this book! Its like a warm cup of tea x

[Smitchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Futuresteading is about treating your corner of the world, no matter how large or small, with the mindset of giving a better planet to the next generation of people and animals.

This gorgeously photographed book will be a major motivator for anyone wanting some guidance for making changes in their life or looking for a less consumerist, more seasonal way of living.
Moving through the six seasons (yes, 6) of the year, Jade Miles takes us through the jobs, rituals, feasts and routines that mark her days. While Jade and her family are on property she is keen to emphasise that anyone, whether in a city apartment or living on acreage, can make small changes to their life so that their lifestyle is more aligned to their mindset of looking after the future.

[Jennie Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book but like others did think twice about the environmental impact of producing such a large photo-filled epistle. Hopefully, readers will take on lots of the suggestions and ideas in this book to balance out the cost to our environment. Plenty to read and enjoy, as a coffee table style book, but just as much a book full of inspiration to get you well on the road to sustainability. I get what other people are saying about eating meat but this is a journey that many people including myself have only just started. After 72 years as a meat and dairy eater, it is not something that you can just 'switch off' - there are stages to go through to change a lifestyle.