Top 100 Recommended Reads on Independent Survival Strategies
In the modern world, there's a growing interest in self-sufficiency and home crafts. From winemaking to cheesemaking, blacksmithing to alternative energy, there's a wealth of knowledge available for those seeking a more hands-on approach to life. Here's a roundup of some of the most notable resources in various fields.
Food and Drink
The Home Winemakers Companion by Ed Halloran offers a comprehensive guide for those interested in making fruit wines. For cheese enthusiasts, Successful Cheesemaking: Step-by-Step Instructions and Photos for Making Nearly Every Type of Cheese by Merryl Winstein is an advanced resource, while How to Brew by John Palmer provides a basic introduction to homebrewing.
For those who prefer a more natural approach, Artisanal Small-Batch Brewing: Easy Homemade Wines, Beers, Meads and Ciders by Amber Shehan focuses on winemaking without additives, and The Joy of Home Winemaking by Terry Garey offers a less technical, conversational guide with hundreds of recipes. Artisan Cheese Making at Home by Mary Karlin is also suitable for beginners, despite its advanced recipes.
For those with a taste for the exotic, The Wildcrafted Cuisine by Pascal Baudar covers not only the preparation of wild foods but also their identification and range. The Forager's Pantry by Ellen Zachos and Incredible Wild Edibles by Sam Thayer are other generalist foraging books that provide valuable information on edible plants.
Crafts and Building
The Complete Modern Blacksmith covers everything you need to know to get started with home blacksmithing. Building a Homestead Root Cellar offers a step-by-step guide to designing and building your own root cellar of poured concrete. Building Small Barns, Sheds and Shelters is a basic guide to building homestead outbuildings.
For those interested in modern green building practices, The Natural Building Companion covers the construction of tight, energy-efficient, and beautiful homes. Polyface Designs: A Comprehensive Construction Guide for Scalable Farming Infrastructure covers the designs for farm buildings, chicken tractors, and pig-mobiles from Polyface Farm. Build Your Own Metal Working Shop from Scrap walks you through the complete process of building a metalworking shop from scratch, using only hand tools.
Preparedness and Survival
Rehydration Calculations Made Easy by Wanda Bailey Clark explains how to substitute dehydrated or freeze-dried food into recipes. The HAM Radio License Manual is a study guide specifically designed to help you study for the HAM radio test. The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications is a six-volume set that covers everything you could possibly want to know about HAM radio.
The LDS Preparedness Manual is a curated compilation of preparedness articles on just about every topic. Creating Your Off Grid Homestead covers the author's experience in setting up an off-grid homestead from scratch. The Do-able Off Grid Homestead offers practical advice on living off the grid on a tight budget.
Alternative Energy
Alternative Energy Secrets is a comprehensive guide to alternative energy technology. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation by Tradd Cotter is a comprehensive guide to growing mushrooms at home, regardless of the variety. The Wood Gasifier Builder's Bible: Off Grid Fuel for the Prepared Homestead covers the process of building a wood gasifier from start to finish.
Herbalism and Foraging
Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies is a guide for home gardeners looking to add herbal remedies to their garden plot. Backyard Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal is a beginner's guide to harvesting medicine from common backyard plants. The Herbal Apothecary: 100 Medicinal Herbs and How to Use Them covers the preparation and uses of 100 different herbs.
The Boreal Herbal by Beverley Gray is a good guide for wild foraged herbal remedies in northern climates. The Backyard Herbal Apothecary: Effective Medicinal Remedies Using Commonly Found Herbs & Plants is a well-written and accessible guide to using commonly available herbs to create specific herbal remedies. The Forager Chef's Book of Flora and Forage Harvest Feast by Marie Viljoan cover not only the preparation of foods but also their identification and range.
Brewing and Fermentation
Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff and John J. Palmer contains one recipe for every classic beer style. The Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher is an intermediate cheese-making book that focuses on traditional methods and wild cultures. The Wildcrafting Brewer combines foraging and brewing.
For those with an interest in ancient brewing techniques and recipes, Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created and Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing delve deep into the history of brewing, including techniques from thousands of years ago. Make Mead Like a Viking by Jereme Zimmerman teaches traditional mead making with minimal equipment and no additives.
Cooking and Preservation
A Year Without the Grocery Store: A Step by Step Guide to Acquiring, Organizing, and Cooking Food Storage is a beginner's guide to bulk food storage. Preserve It Naturally is the manual that comes with an Excaliber dehydrator, offering hundreds of recipes for preparing meals and snacks in a dehydrator. The Complete Dehydrator Cookbook by Carole Cancler has hundreds of recipes for preparing meals and snacks in a dehydrator.
The Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian is a popular beginner homebrewing book. The Razor Edge Book of Sharpening is a comprehensive guide to the art of knife sharpening. The Foragers Harvest by Sam Thayer is a generalist foraging book that covers plants with wide ranges and is applicable across most of the US.
Conclusion
Whether you're interested in winemaking, cheesemaking, blacksmithing, or alternative energy, there's a wealth of resources available to help you get started on your self-sufficiency journey. From beginner guides to advanced textbooks, there's something for everyone. Happy crafting!
