Where to start your homestead? How do you begin? Farm books can be a good resource for where to start, and all along the way. Here are some of the farm books in our library that we’ve found most helpful.
(click on link to see the book)
All purpose starter books for the homestead:
Reader’s Digest Back to Basics
Joel Salatin You Can Farm
Soils:
Albert Bates The Biochar Solution
Paul Taylor & Hugh McLaughlin The Biochar Revolution
Jeff Fry Biochar for Home Gardeners (Kindle e-book)
Vegetable Production:
Eliot Coleman Four Season Harvest
The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Manual of Tools and Techniques
Suzanne Ashworth Seed to Seed
Andrea Wulf Founding Gardeners
See also Reader’s Digest Back to Basics
Cows:
Pat Coleby Natural Cattle Care
Hubert Karreman Four Seasons Organic Cow Care
Phillip Hasheider The Family Cow Handbook
Joel Salatin Salad Bar Beef
See also Reader’s Digest Back to Basics
Goats:
Pat Coleby Natural Goat Care
Belanger & Bredesen Storey’s Guide to Raising Goats
Chickens:
Joel Salatin Pastured Poultry Profits
Harvey Ussery The Small-Scale Chicken Flock: An all natural approach to raising chickens and fowl
Sheep:
Pat Coleby Natural Sheep Care
Butchering:
Brian Polcyn & Michael Ruhlman Charcuterie
John Mettler Jr. Basic Butchering
Adam Danforth & Joel Salatin Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, and Pork
See also Reader’s Digest Back to Basics