Beginner's Guide to Self Sufficiency Projects for the Home: Grow Edibles, Raise Animals, Live Off the Grid & DIY - Paperback
by Editors of Cool Springs Press (Author)
Build a self-sufficient life with these 40+ photo-illustrated projects for growing and preserving your own food, keeping animals, harnessing alternative energy, and more.
Learning to do more things yourself is healthy, rewarding, and fulfilling, and benefits the environment. Whether you live in the suburbs or have 80 acres in the mountains, this new and affordable edition adapted from the best-selling Step-by-Step Projects for Self-Sufficiency guides your way with clear plan drawings, precise instructions, and detailed photos. Beginner's Guide to Self-Sufficiency Projects for the Home is organized into the categories Chickens & Other Creatures, Nourishing Your Garden, Garden Projects, Food Preparation & Preservation, Homestead Amenities, and Outbuildings & Fences, with projects that include:- A portable chicken ark
- Two types of beehives
- Solar cookers
- Firewood storage
- A potato-growing box
- Hoophouses and greenhouses
- Raised planting beds
- Rain barrels
- A cider press
- Compost bins
- Drying racks
- And more
With these easy-to-follow projects, make progress, step by step, toward your goal of more independent living.
Author Biography
The Editors of Cool Springs Press have produced the highest quality DIY home improvement books for more than 30 years. In conjunction with the experts at BLACK+DECKER(TM), they have combined resources to create more than 200 home improvement titles that provide consumers and weekend DIYers with the information they need to get the job done right. Their books have set the standard for do-it-yourself publishing, featuring clear, professional photography and concise step-by-step instructions that get straight to the point. View our full catalog at quarto.com.
"A prudent person foresees danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. - Proverbs 27:12"
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