Sufficient-Self Preparedness Library

[FarmerDenise]

The Backyard Homestead, Storey Publishing
Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!

Has lots of detailed info.

 

[mlynd]

Self sufficient life and how to live it

 

[Dunkopf]

I went back and began to read the string by a young man with a wife and special needs son today. He opened his string by asking for guidance in beginning his journey toward preparation for his family in the event of disaster/social disruption. He did this in the face of sincere skepticism by his wife, for whom he obviously is very devoted.

While we all have been working on these issues for years and have come to this BB to share those ideas with each other and in particular those like this young man, it appears to me that it might be a good idea to start a book title library (with links if possible.)

I say this because of the advice of a number of folks that was given to this young man. Books such as edible plant identification, survival skills, (and the list goes on).

My guess is that often, many of us have books we have either collected or read or borrowed (and hopefully returned to the owner) on the very subjects that folks new to this endeavor would benefit from having/seeing.

To that end I would like to ask the collective body of SSF to begin submitting their suggestions as to books that particularly pertain to this art and to which a person new to our way of thinking would MOST BENEFIT in your opinion.

Books that come to the top of my head are such as:
Storey's Country Wisdom and Knowledge
Back to Basics
The SAS handbook
The US Army Survival Handbook
Food Plants of the World
American Farming Techniques
Where there is no Doctor
Where there is no Dentist
Edible Plants of North America (Sorry Neko-Chan I don't know much about Tasmania)
The Barefoot Doctors Handbook (Chinese medicine)

My list can go on and on. The point is that many of you have knowledge gained from a variety of book sources that if shared will benefit the entire group.

A list of useful periodicals would also be good here... Backwoods Home Journal, The Mother Earth News, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, etc.

This list is or will be by no means all inclusive or exhaustive but if everyone mentions just a few titles, imagine how big a library we can assemble for the betterment of all?

Hopefully, by assembling this library, and possibly uploading/downloading as many of the books as are possible, the library will become a resource for not only the new among us but those who want a new skill or idea to help their efforts.

We all want to be ready. Now is the time. Here is one of my most favorite philosophical statements:

"Remember. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark"

All the best
Trim sends

That's a good idea.

 

[Sunny]

Grow It
By Richard Langer

Its a older book. But it tells you how many seeds you will need to make certain size rows. And tells you how many bushels that amount will get you.. Havent read the whole book. But it appears to be a good one to have. It also has a section on livestock and chickens. But disapointed that it doesnt have a section about rabbits. Oh well have other books for that one.

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Stillroom Cookery
By. Grace Firth

Appears to be a good book. But havent been able to get my hands on a copy.

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I will probably think of more later..
Some that I was going to mention have already been said.

 

[Boogity]

Icu4dzs, do you plan to compile these suggested books into a concise catalog? It would be nice if we could have a PDF file ready for folks to download from the boards here. A categorized list would be a great tool.

Here's a short list.

Putting Food By
ISBN-10: 0452296226
By Ruth Hertzberg, Janet Greene, Beatrice Vaughan

Stocking Up
ISBN-10: 0671693956
By Carol Hupping

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
ISBN-10: 9781882424580
By Suzanne Ashworth

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
ISBN-10: 9780882663913
John J. Mettler

The Trapper's Bible: Traps, Snares & Pathguards
ISBN-10: 0873644069
Dale Martin

Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness
ISBN-10: 0967877776
John McPherson

The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
ISBN-10: 0976626608
Samuel Thayer

 

[lighthawk]

Dare to Prepare!
Written by Holly Drennan Deyo
A very comprehensive publication with information on everything from how to get started, basic food storage tecniques and shelf life to surviving floods, hurricanes, nuclear disasters, tornadoes, extreme heat-extreme cold. There is even a chapter on Bio-warfare decontamination.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Icu4dzs, do you plan to compile these suggested books into a concise catalog? It would be nice if we could have a PDF file ready for folks to download from the boards here. A categorized list would be a great tool.

Boogity et. al.
Great List, thanks, shipmate!
To be succinct, I am probably NOT the most talented at that but if we can get a good enough list and hopefully enough links to the sources, it would be "do-able". Unfortunately, I don't know how to generate a .PDF file so I'll defer to folks with superior knowledge and experience on something of that nature.

Anybody else out there want to help with something like that?
Just holler!
Best
Trim sends

 

[k0xxx]

I can write pdf files. It's an older version of Adobe Acrobat, but the files are readable by the current version of the reader (9.x).

Icu4dzs, If you would like to compile the list and then e-mail it to me as a Word or Text file, I'll be happy to create the pdf and share it with the group.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I can write pdf files. It's an older version of Adobe Acrobat, but the files are readable by the current version of the reader (9.x).

Icu4dzs, If you would like to compile the list and then e-mail it to me as a Word or Text file, I'll be happy to create the pdf and share it with the group.

Let's see what books we get on this string. Maybe we can do it from right here. Everyone has different ideas as to which books would be best; some are new, some are old. Perhaps we could get a short report from the individuals who recommend them as to why they recommend it. Everyone has different perspectives.

The ones I like are ones that have lots of "HOW TO DO...." in them. I don't know how to do a lot of things and that is why I want books so I can learn if I need to do something that I don't know how to do. The other point is that as I continue to get older those "HOW TO..."skills may deteriorate (no doubt) in my head but they remain stable in a good book.
Some skills just don't change. Some improve with newer technological perspectives but the basic skill has to be learned first.

Currently, I have become VERY interested in a guy named Joel Salatin who discusses "sustainable farming" by managing the land in a very intelligent way, despite the argument he gets from 'experts' on his techniques.
I'm just keeping a list based on what books folks mention here. Then we have to find where to get these books on line if possible...or in hard copy.

To me, hard copy is really hard to beat. Takes up space and all but really doesn't require any energy to use...other than the old fashioned "elbow grease"! Maybe we could assemble the books on a CD or DVD and distribute them to everyone who wants them. That technology is easy to use and as long as we don't "sell" them, there should be no issue with private profit motive...I hope.

 

[moolie]

I have a few more good ones in my Girl Guides stash but I'm too lazy to go down to the basement to look up the exact titles:

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables
Mike Bubel, Nancy Bubel

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
John Seymour

Organic Kitchen Garden
Juliet Roberts

Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times
Jim W. Wilson, Walter Chandoha

Back to Basics
(Readers Digest Book)

Preserving food without freezing or canning : traditional techniques using salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, drying, cold storage, and lactic fermentation