Recommended Reading

Wellness and Nutrition

Wellness & Nutrition

The following are several of the books we've read since 2011 as we started our journey with the farm. Enjoy!

The Real Food Diet Cookbook combines the power of advanced nutrition with delicious real recipes for losing weight, feeling great, and transforming your health! This cookbook contains recipes with three things in mind: you love food, you're busy, and you want to look and feel better	Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.
The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet brings us of the plan that allowed him to overcome obesity, poor health, and bad habits, and presents success stories from others whose lives he's touched	This is a modern medicine making book and formulary with its roots in original herbalism designed for every medicinal herb gardener to cultivate the full potential of the plant-human relationship.
Typical books about preserving garden produce nearly always assume that modern "kitchen gardeners" will boil or freeze their vegetables and fruits. Yet here is a book that goes back to the future—celebrating traditional but little-known French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor and nutrition	Many great recipes are included for Health & Beauty. We also have recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, and smoothies
For thousands of years, humans have enjoyed the distinctive flavors and nutrition resulting from the transformative power of microscopic bacteria and fungi. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods is the first cookbook to widely explore the culinary magic of fermentation	The dehydrator is an incredibly useful tool for long-term food storage and making the most of your garden harvest
In this book, you'll find a luxurious array of over 400 Eco-friendly recipes for skin care and hair care such as Exotic Patchouli Massage Oil, Zesty Banana-Lemon Foot Cream and Jasmine Bath Bombs filled with breathtaking fragrances and soothing, rich organic ingredients satisfying you head to toe.	Crafting fantastic salves and balms is extremely simple when you follow Bullington's step-by-step formulas and proven techniques. Now luxury products can be yours for little money and little effort
Making natural liquid soap at home is a sure-fire way to save your family money	Bath salts are perfect for adding luxury and fragrance to everyday baths.
Nature has blessed us with a vast array of organic and healthy exfoliating substances. We need not resort to commercial body scrubs that contain dangerous chemicals which can damage the skin in the long run	Here is the latest buzz on some of Mother Nature's most perfect remedies! Bee products are nutritional and medicinal powerhouses having antiseptic, antimicrobial, and immune-boosting properties
	Brew a Fragrant “Cuppa” Straight From Your Own Garden! Growing your own herbal teas can be just as therapeutic as drinking them. The tea garden is a sensory delight, producing colors, aromas, and flavors to enjoy throughout the seasons
	In Making Homemade Wine, author Robert Cluett takes the mystery out of winemaking. Using his simple nine-step process, you'll learn how to make superb-tasting wines right in your own home
This book will take you through the DIY protein bar process, allowing you to experiment with different recipes and understand why you may want to try your hand at making protein bars as well.	In The Autoimmune Solution, Dr. Amy Myers, a renowned leader in functional medicine, offers her medically proven approach to prevent a wide range of inflammatory-related symptoms and diseases, including allergies, obesity, asthma, cardiovascular disease, fibromyalgia, lupus, IBS, chronic headaches, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
The creator of the 100 Days of Real Food blog draws from her hugely popular website to offer simple, affordable, family-friendly recipes and practical advice for eliminating processed foods from your family's diet	The definitive A-Z reference guide to essential aromatherapy oils. Aromatherapy expert Julia Lawless shares her extensive knowledge in this detailed and systematic survey of more than 190 essential aromatherapy oils
Renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar provides 175 proven therapies and herbal remedies that are easy to prepare and safe enough for children.	Fully revised for the first time since 1997, this A-Z guide includes brand-new treatments, the latest scientific studies, and wisdom from today’s cutting-edge research in the field of naturopathy
This long-awaited book by Donald Yance--one of the nation's most respected herbalists--is a major contribution to the literature of natural healing and cancer	#1 BEST SELLER IN HERBAL MEDICINE - WHY HERBS IN OUR DIET…? THE BENEFITS OF HERBS ARE ENDLESS. IN FACT, HERBS ARE MEDICINES IN SMALLER DOSAGES
This book will guide you through the step-by-step process of learning about and growing your own healing herbs, starting with the basics of what each herb can do and proceeding to show you everything you need to cultivate them yourself	Your teeth can heal naturally because they were never designed to decay in the first place
Craft a soothing aloe lotion after an encounter with poison ivy, make a dandelion-burdock tincture to fix sluggish digestion, and brew up some lavender-lemon balm tea to ease a stressful day	A practical 14 day diet plan with 30 raw energy recipes from leading health coach and seminar leader, Jason Vale - aka The Juice Master.
In this Storey BASICS® guide to holistic beauty, Rosemary Gladstar shares more than 30 simple recipes for cleansers, moisturizers, and creams comprised of essential oils and herbs	With in-depth profiles of 22 medicinal herbs, preparation instructions, and dosage guidelines, you’ll discover how you can use astragalus to regenerate your body’s immune system, bilberry to ease eye problems, and milk thistle to rebuild damaged liver cells
Simple stretches you can do anywhere-at your desk, on your couch, or even in your car!	In this informative guide, renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar profiles 21 herbs proven to be effective at soothing common ailments like insomnia, panic attacks, skin conditions, and migraines
The ancient Chinese and Egyptian technique of Reflexology looks to the interior mechanisms of your body in order to bring healing and wellness.	Lose up to 7lbs in 7 days with The Juice Master Jason Vale's ultra-fast 1-week super juice cleanse.
It is the first comprehensive medical review of sodium bicarbonate, which is an essential medicinal for every emergency room, intensive care ward, dental office, clinic and home medicine cabinet.	Restorative Yoga for Life teaches you how to practice restorative yoga--a form of yoga that focuses on physical and mental relaxation through poses aided by props
For years, sodium bicarbonate has been used on a daily basis as part of a number of hospital treatments, but most people remain unaware of its full therapeutic potential.	Dr. Walker focuses your full attention on this forgotten part of the body. He will lead you on a tour of each vital organ of your body explaining how it is affected by the condition of the large intestine, the colon
This cookbook and guide on nutrition provides a wealth of information on the importance of nutrients and enzymes in relation to our health	As a Man Thinketh is James Allen's third book, first published in 1903. In it, he details how man is the creator and shaper of his destiny by the thoughts which he thinks. He rises and falls in exact accordance with the character of the thoughts which he entertains
The Detox Miracle Sourcebook shows you how to use raw foods and herbs as of the primary means of detoxification, healing, and ultimate regeneration of weak or diseased cells	Dr. Walker explains how the lack or deficiency of certain elements, such as vital organic minerals and salts, and consequently of vitamins, from our customary diet is the primary cause of nearly every sickness and disease.
The latest recipe book from star of the inspiring weight loss documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; contains 101 delicious juice recipes (with 101 pictures) to optimize your health, help you slim down, and satisfy your taste buds

Where to Start

Start Here Page

Homesteading on Small Acreage

DIY Backyard Aquaponics

DIY Backyard Beekeeper

DIY Backyard Chickens

Homesteading Essentials

Edible Gardening

Permaculture

Wellness & Nutrition

Real Food Recipes & Tips

Real Solutions for Wellness

Wellness Essentials

Sponsors and Such

Homesteading on Small Acreage

Homesteading

Part inspirational story of Bea Johnson (the “Priestess of Waste-Free Living”) and how she transformed her family’s life for the better by reducing their waste to an astonishing one liter per year; part practical, step-by-step guide that gives readers tools and tips to diminish their footprint and simplify their lives	An insider's guide to market gardening and farming for those in the business of growing and selling food, flowers, herbs, or plants. Market Farming Success identifies the key areas that usually trip up beginners―and shows how to avoid those obstacles
The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's)	Master grower Eliot Coleman continues to present the simplest and most sustainable ways of growing top-quality organic vegetables
The Permaculture Chicken Incubation Handbook walks beginners through perfecting the incubating and hatching process so they can enjoy the exhilaration of the hatch without the angst of dead chicks	Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable.
"Permaculture Two" delves deeper into the concept of "consciously designed agricultural systems." Author, Bill Mollison	Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre
Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than two hundred families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments	Once a fringe topic, permaculture is moving to the mainstream as gardeners who are ready to take their organic gardening to the next level are discovering the wisdom of a simple system that emphasizes the idea that by taking care of the earth, the earth takes care of you
Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.	Jessi Bloom and Dave Boehnlein, two dynamic leaders in the permaculture community, offer authoritative, in-depth, hands-on advice that shares a holistic approach to sustainable living
Keyline pattern cultivation enables the rapid flood irrigation of undulating land without terracing. Incidental results are the healing of soil erosion, bio-adsorption of salinity and the long term storage of atmospheric carbon in the soil as humus.	Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens
The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition	Learn everything you need to know to become a backyard egg and meat producer in 30 minutes or less!

Recommended Reading

Wellness and Nutrition

The Real Food Diet Cookbook combines the power of advanced nutrition with delicious real recipes for losing weight, feeling great, and transforming your health! This cookbook contains recipes with three things in mind: you love food, you're busy, and you want to look and feel better

Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.

The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet brings us of the plan that allowed him to overcome obesity, poor health, and bad habits, and presents success stories from others whose lives he's touched

This is a modern medicine making book and formulary with its roots in original herbalism designed for every medicinal herb gardener to cultivate the full potential of the plant-human relationship.

Many great recipes are included for Health & Beauty. We also have recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, and smoothies

The dehydrator is an incredibly useful tool for long-term food storage and making the most of your garden harvest

In this book, you'll find a luxurious array of over 400 Eco-friendly recipes for skin care and hair care such as Exotic Patchouli Massage Oil, Zesty Banana-Lemon Foot Cream and Jasmine Bath Bombs filled with breathtaking fragrances and soothing, rich organic ingredients satisfying you head to toe.

Crafting fantastic salves and balms is extremely simple when you follow Bullington's step-by-step formulas and proven techniques. Now luxury products can be yours for little money and little effort

Making natural liquid soap at home is a sure-fire way to save your family money

Bath salts are perfect for adding luxury and fragrance to everyday baths.

Nature has blessed us with a vast array of organic and healthy exfoliating substances. We need not resort to commercial body scrubs that contain dangerous chemicals which can damage the skin in the long run

Here is the latest buzz on some of Mother Nature's most perfect remedies! Bee products are nutritional and medicinal powerhouses having antiseptic, antimicrobial, and immune-boosting properties

Brew a Fragrant “Cuppa” Straight From Your Own Garden! Growing your own herbal teas can be just as therapeutic as drinking them. The tea garden is a sensory delight, producing colors, aromas, and flavors to enjoy throughout the seasons

In Making Homemade Wine, author Robert Cluett takes the mystery out of winemaking. Using his simple nine-step process, you'll learn how to make superb-tasting wines right in your own home

This book will take you through the DIY protein bar process, allowing you to experiment with different recipes and understand why you may want to try your hand at making protein bars as well.

The creator of the 100 Days of Real Food blog draws from her hugely popular website to offer simple, affordable, family-friendly recipes and practical advice for eliminating processed foods from your family's diet

The definitive A-Z reference guide to essential aromatherapy oils. Aromatherapy expert Julia Lawless shares her extensive knowledge in this detailed and systematic survey of more than 190 essential aromatherapy oils

Renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar provides 175 proven therapies and herbal remedies that are easy to prepare and safe enough for children.

Fully revised for the first time since 1997, this A-Z guide includes brand-new treatments, the latest scientific studies, and wisdom from today’s cutting-edge research in the field of naturopathy

This long-awaited book by Donald Yance--one of the nation's most respected herbalists--is a major contribution to the literature of natural healing and cancer

#1 BEST SELLER IN HERBAL MEDICINE - WHY HERBS IN OUR DIET…? THE BENEFITS OF HERBS ARE ENDLESS. IN FACT, HERBS ARE MEDICINES IN SMALLER DOSAGES

This book will guide you through the step-by-step process of learning about and growing your own healing herbs, starting with the basics of what each herb can do and proceeding to show you everything you need to cultivate them yourself

Your teeth can heal naturally because they were never designed to decay in the first place

Craft a soothing aloe lotion after an encounter with poison ivy, make a dandelion-burdock tincture to fix sluggish digestion, and brew up some lavender-lemon balm tea to ease a stressful day

A practical 14 day diet plan with 30 raw energy recipes from leading health coach and seminar leader, Jason Vale - aka The Juice Master.

In this Storey BASICS® guide to holistic beauty, Rosemary Gladstar shares more than 30 simple recipes for cleansers, moisturizers, and creams comprised of essential oils and herbs

With in-depth profiles of 22 medicinal herbs, preparation instructions, and dosage guidelines, you’ll discover how you can use astragalus to regenerate your body’s immune system, bilberry to ease eye problems, and milk thistle to rebuild damaged liver cells

Simple stretches you can do anywhere-at your desk, on your couch, or even in your car!

In this informative guide, renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar profiles 21 herbs proven to be effective at soothing common ailments like insomnia, panic attacks, skin conditions, and migraines

The ancient Chinese and Egyptian technique of Reflexology looks to the interior mechanisms of your body in order to bring healing and wellness.

Lose up to 7lbs in 7 days with The Juice Master Jason Vale's ultra-fast 1-week super juice cleanse.

It is the first comprehensive medical review of sodium bicarbonate, which is an essential medicinal for every emergency room, intensive care ward, dental office, clinic and home medicine cabinet.

Restorative Yoga for Life teaches you how to practice restorative yoga--a form of yoga that focuses on physical and mental relaxation through poses aided by props

For years, sodium bicarbonate has been used on a daily basis as part of a number of hospital treatments, but most people remain unaware of its full therapeutic potential.

Dr. Walker focuses your full attention on this forgotten part of the body. He will lead you on a tour of each vital organ of your body explaining how it is affected by the condition of the large intestine, the colon

This cookbook and guide on nutrition provides a wealth of information on the importance of nutrients and enzymes in relation to our health

As a Man Thinketh is James Allen's third book, first published in 1903. In it, he details how man is the creator and shaper of his destiny by the thoughts which he thinks. He rises and falls in exact accordance with the character of the thoughts which he entertains

The Detox Miracle Sourcebook shows you how to use raw foods and herbs as of the primary means of detoxification, healing, and ultimate regeneration of weak or diseased cells

Dr. Walker explains how the lack or deficiency of certain elements, such as vital organic minerals and salts, and consequently of vitamins, from our customary diet is the primary cause of nearly every sickness and disease.

The latest recipe book from star of the inspiring weight loss documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; contains 101 delicious juice recipes (with 101 pictures) to optimize your health, help you slim down, and satisfy your taste buds

Follow Us

Where to Start

Sponsors and Such

Homesteading on Small Acreage

An insider's guide to market gardening and farming for those in the business of growing and selling food, flowers, herbs, or plants. Market Farming Success identifies the key areas that usually trip up beginners―and shows how to avoid those obstacles

The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's)

Master grower Eliot Coleman continues to present the simplest and most sustainable ways of growing top-quality organic vegetables

The Permaculture Chicken Incubation Handbook walks beginners through perfecting the incubating and hatching process so they can enjoy the exhilaration of the hatch without the angst of dead chicks

Author Ben Hartman and other young farmers are increasingly finding that incorporating the best new ideas from business into their farming can drastically cut their wastes and increase their profits, making their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable.

"Permaculture Two" delves deeper into the concept of "consciously designed agricultural systems." Author, Bill Mollison

Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family’s food on just a quarter acre

Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than two hundred families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments

Once a fringe topic, permaculture is moving to the mainstream as gardeners who are ready to take their organic gardening to the next level are discovering the wisdom of a simple system that emphasizes the idea that by taking care of the earth, the earth takes care of you

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.

Jessi Bloom and Dave Boehnlein, two dynamic leaders in the permaculture community, offer authoritative, in-depth, hands-on advice that shares a holistic approach to sustainable living

Keyline pattern cultivation enables the rapid flood irrigation of undulating land without terracing. Incidental results are the healing of soil erosion, bio-adsorption of salinity and the long term storage of atmospheric carbon in the soil as humus.

Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens

The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition

Learn everything you need to know to become a backyard egg and meat producer in 30 minutes or less!