Resources for the beginner Self-Sufficient Homesteader!

Here are some of the best books to make it happen!

Oh my gosh! It is a cold day here, my friends! The temperature is lingering in the negative teens and snow continues to accumulate on the valley floor. Aside from making sure the animals are safe, warm, and have everything they need for the day, there really aren’t many outdoor chores I can tackle.

What does a homesteader/hobby farmer do on days such as this? There are obvious indoor chores like catching up on cleaning the house. (I guess there is no excuse to ignore the basket of unmatched socks I need to fold and put away.) Then there are things like working on the fiber we harvested earlier this fall and writing to all of you. This time of year though is perfect for planning out my goals. On a day like today when I want to be wrapped up in a blanket by the fire anyway, It seems like a great day to start some research.

Every year I try to grow a bit more and become a little more self-sufficient. This year for example I am hoping to make more money from my efforts here. I have sold produce and eggs in community farm co-ops before but this year I would like to add a booth to my local farmers’ markets. I need to create some new products and increase my fiber sales. I am also hoping to teach more classes, add some new subjects, and I am working on putting together an online class, right here, so you can all join me too. See? My goals are laid out but a key step to reaching them is research and planning!

A peek out back before the

snow started.

This always gets me thinking about how I started out. Completely clueless! Now while I grew up around farming I will admit I was young. I didn’t pay any attention to the amount of work required to make a farm (even a little one like mine) sustainable. Things I always thought were simple turned out to be more complex than I would have imagined. (like compost! Who knew there were so many rules!) I remember looking for affordable land, and the headache that was. I remember trying to figure out what animals to begin with. Oh, and don’t get me started on the days of research and back-breaking work to turn our alkaline soil into something that would grow produce instead of just sagebrush. I had to learn everything from scratch and it could be insanely overwhelming at times. I still have days when I ask myself, “What the heck were we thinking?” There was a lot of trial and error (still is), lots of failure, lots of wins, and I can still say that we enjoy it! Even on the days when we are thinking “why are we doing this again?” This got me thinking about you.

Are you here because you're interested in starting a homestead or hobby farm? Have you started but aren’t sure what to do next? Are you trying to grow? No really, I wanna know! leave your answer in the comments below.

Whatever your goals may be I thought it might be helpful to share some of my favorite books with you. Good resources can help guide you to your next step, help you manage your expectations, lay out reasonable goals, and prioritize them. This will greatly minimize your frustration and prevent you from throwing in the towel.

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Let’s dive right in with a few of my absolute favorites. Starting with The Backyard Homestead. This guide can teach you how to maximize your space and produce food for your whole family. Whether you have just a small backyard or acres of land ready to go. You will learn how to plan and pair crops to maximize the space, as well as the yield for each harvest. That’s only the beginning. I would recommend this book to everyone wanting to start a garden and possibly more.

Here we have 40 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead. This one walks you through all the steps required to complete a huge list of projects that can help you create a self-sufficient small homestead. From plants, to chickens, to coups and more, you will find it in here.

The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner was a great resource the first year. We still reference it from time to time. This planner helps you manage the tasks a homestead requires on a seasonal basis. What should you be doing in the fall and winter? This book will walk you through it.

Want everything in a nutshell? This book, Homesteading, walks you through just about everything you could want to try on a self-sufficient homestead. From growing produce to raising meat…even herbal medicine. It’s all here. This is a great place to start if you're still trying to decide what you’d like to do on your small farm or homestead.

Every homestead or small farm needs birds in my opinion. Even if you don’t use the eggs or want meat birds, chickens can be a valuable addition. Eggs are a great source of income. Chickens are fantastic to have around for pest control and weed management and, believe it or not, they make great pets. Backyard Chickens is a fantastic guide to raising healthy, happy, and friendly birds. I bought it when I received my first few chickens and I refer to it quite often.

Last but certainly not least we have, The Homestead Companion. A great resource for learning new skills to move toward that ultimate goal of being self-sufficient. Even if that isn’t your end goal the valuable skills taught in this book can be a huge help to attaining smaller goals. Definitely take a look inside this one.

These were some of the first books I started out with and loved enough to continue to use to this day. I hope they will help you as much as they have helped me.

Are there any books, websites, or blogs that have helped you? We’d love to hear about them. Add them in the comments below. Do you have specific questions or goals you need help with? I’d love to know! Reach out to us or leave a comment. You never know where the conversation might lead. In the meantime, I hope you are all staying warm.

Happy reading and planning!

Kelley