The complete book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour

John Seymour is the god-father of self-sufficiency and wrote, amongst other books, this 'bible' to living off the land.

First published in 1976, this fantastic book explains everything you need to know about smallholding in a clear, precise way. It is also superbly illustrated with countless line drawings. Seymour writes in a simple, accessible way which allows you to grasp a subject instantly - I skinned my first rabbit, knife in one hand and this book propped open next to me without any problems at all! Without any romanticism of country life, he makes you want to go outside and start growing.

Topics range from clearing land to making cider, crop rotation to basketry. Main subsections are The way to self-sufficiency, Food from the fields, Food from animals, Food from the garden, Food from the wild, Natural energy, Crafts and skills. Everyone who has a plot of land, no matter how tiny, should own this book!

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The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins

In this brilliant book, Jenkins explains - in his own direct, inimitable style - what's wrong with flushing away our excrement with clean drinking water and the pollution problem this is causing the world.

This book tells you why, where and how to compost your humanure; the science behind it; and exposes the lies behind the myths about this important subject. Jenkins has been humanure composting on his smallholding in the US for ever, so has years and years of hands-on experience. This book is absolutely PACKED with information and encouragement, detailed data and reasoned argument.

We have made our own sawdust toilet since buying this book, and can verify that it works better than a normal loo (see pic).

"There are almost seven billion defecating people on planet Earth, but few who have any clue about how to constructively handle the burgeoning mountain of human crap. "The Humanure Handbook, Third edition", will amuse you, educate you, and possibly offend you, but it will certainly pertain to you - unless, of course, your bowels never move. This new edition of The Humanure Handbook is: the tenth anniversary edition; richly illustrated; perfect for reading while sitting on the 'throne'; revised, improved, and updated; and there are 256 pages of crap."

If you're thinking of starting out with a simple bucket toilet like the one we made, or if the thought of the whole thing puts you off your breakfast - them you MUST buy this book! A global success; this book should be read by everyone on the planet!

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Earth user's guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow

This book is an excellent resource for permaculture beginners. It is clearly written and contains really good illustrations by Rob Allsop, often information is laid out in tables to make it easier to understand.

Morrow makes it easy to understand the principles behind permaculture and how to put them into practice; in the built and natural environment. It covers everything you would expect of a permaculture manual and will leave you fully equipped to design your own permaculture plot (if you live in the Northern hemisphere, remember that when she says 'North', you need to think 'South'!)

Although Morrow slips in one or two unsubstantiated claims, this doesn't detract from the overall practical merit of the book, it's a must for beginners and I still dip into it regularly!

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Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman

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Starting with Bees by Gordon Peter

I bough this book for Ian last Christmas in the hope that finding out about bees and beekeeping would rid him of his unease about having our own hives. And it worked! We now have a hive (on loan) which Ian has been getting cleaned up and in tip-top condition for next May(ish) when we hope to take delivery of a swarm from a friend's hive down the road.

This book has all you need to know for your first forrays into bee keeping; hive behaviour, equipment, diseases, maintenance, honey collection, etc. etc. Plenty of photos (black and white) and drawings.

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The Sustainable Vegetable Garden by John Jeavons and Carol Cox

The subtitle of this book is "A backyard guide to healthy soil and higher yields". It's a delightful book, the result of over 20 years of the authors' own experience, and the experience of thousands of growers worldwide.

The book explains food-growing from a biointensive point of view (maximising the yield from the space) and covers the growing of calorie crops (grains, beans) as well as fruits, nuts, flowers, herbs and fibre crops. Biointensive food raising is basically starting with a deeply prepared bed where the area is closely planted to produce up to four times more produce than an equivalent shallow bed planted in rows, which ultimately means less work for the gardener.

The book covers planning, preparing, compost, seedlings, planting, companion plants, garden health and seeds, amongst other things. It has loads of good line drawing by Sue Ellen Parkinson, and has plenty of in-depth technical information valuable to the experienced gardener whilst still being accessible for complete beginners. It's well laid out and has tables to explain the more complicated information. Excellent!

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The Ornamental Kitchen Garden by Geoff Hamilton

Hamilton was Britain's best-loved TV gardener, who sadly died in 1996. He championed 'organic' gardening long before it became popular to do so and his passionate enthusiasm, as well as an ability to convince you that anything was achievable in the garden, got many a non-gardener outside to have a go!

In this book (just one of the many wonderful books he wrote), Hamilton encourages you to stop hiding a few rows of carrots behind the shed and to appreciate fruit and veg as a beautiful and intrinsic part of any garden. He advocates mixing up your plants, herbs and veg to achieve a well-balanced, healthy and productive space with interesting designs and layouts. He explores designs for different-sized gardens plus formal/informal types and explains how to do the hard lanscapings (laying paths, patios, making ponds, fountains, arbours, cold frames) as well as integrating your fruit and veg into a colourful and beautiful garden.

The book includes a section with month-by-month jobs-to-do; A-Z chapters on decorative plants, herbs, fruit and vegetables; pruning, pest control.

Colour and black & white photos and drawings. A joy to read!

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