Welcome to the Farm
How-to Wisdom from The Elliott Homestead
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $23.99
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
A fresh, new guide to the backyard lifestyle
The homesteading movement is continuing to grow, as more people are stepping up to have a hand in where their food comes from. Whether you want to dabble or immerse yourself completely in the do-it-yourself, back-to-basics lifestyle, Welcome to the Farm is a comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to growing the very best food right in your own backyard. Shaye Elliott takes readers on a journey that teaches them how to harvest baskets full of organic produce, milk a dairy cow (and make butter), plant a homestead orchard, can jams and jellies, and even raise chickens and bees. From her experience running The Elliott Homestead, Shaye provides all the how-to wisdom you need to know about:
• The benefits of a home garden
• The basics of seed starting
• Building your own greenhouse
• What belongs in the winter garden
• Canning, freezing, and dehydrating techniques and recipes
• The pros and cons of caged vs. free-change chickens
• Keeping a dairy cow and what to do with all the milk
• Raising animals for meat
• Making your own cider and wine
• And so much more!
Welcome to the Farm is aimed to serve homesteaders and urban-farmers alike, guiding them through the beginning stages of small-area farming and utilizing whatever amount of space they have available for optimal and delicious food production.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The latest book from Elliott, a homesteader, blogger, and author of two prior cookbooks, is a how-to manual for folks who wonder if life on the farm is for them. Elliott, a champion of the homesteading movement, appreciates the simpler way of life and longs for a return to traditions she saw on her own grandfather's farm. Elliott shares her enthusiasm for life on the farm with her husband and four homeschooled children, and readers get a day-to-day look at what is necessary to keep a farm ticking along. The book is filled with useful tips on how to save seeds, how to make herbal teas, and how to decide if dairy farming is the right choice for you. Some suggestions she offers are too simplistic, even for a basic book, such as a recommendation on how to use the summer's bounty of tomatoes: "Tuck sliced tomatoes into a sandwich." One look at the list of "basic equipment" needed to slaughter a pig (".22 rifle, sharp knife, rope, 55-gallon drum, bone saw") may sort the daydreamers from those meant to be farmers. The book includes some recipes with more general appeal, such as recipes for homemade chorizo, honey meringues (with honey from your own hive if you're lucky), and fruit wine. This is a book for the armchair wannabe farmer and for those seriously considering homesteading.
