My Top 10 Favorite Homesteading Books

It’s Top Ten Tuesday!  So, here we have, in no particular order, my 10 favorite must have homesteading books!

1. Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World *affiliate* by Joel Salatin.  If you are beginning to question the sustainability of our food system, this is the place to start.  Aside from that, Joel is genuinely a great writer and this book is entertaining!
2. The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre!*affiliate* and while I’m at it, there is a second book that expands on the livestock section of The Backyard Homestead, called The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals *affiliate* which I also found to be very helpful when we were first starting out and overwhelmed with choices!  I’m counting them as one because they go hand in hand for me!
3. All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space *affiliate* by Mel Bartholomew.  This is my first choice for a gardening method!
4. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An all-natural approach to raising chickens and other fowl for home and market growers *affiliate* by Harvey Ussery  This book is a must-have for the poultry flock raiser!  I am still learning from this book, and I refer to it frequently!
5. You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise *affiliate* is another great, inspirational book by Joel Salatin. If you are wanting to take your homestead or farm to the next level, read this! 
6. The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book: Secrets of the Famous Year-Round Mulch Method  *affiliate* by Ruth Stout.  This is an oldie, but a goodie!  You will probably have to buy a used copy, but you might be lucky and find this in your local library!  I found my copy at a general store, and I it is quite possible that I jumped up and down, paid and stashed it in my car before the owner could change her mind!
7. Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses *affiliate* by Ricki Carroll.  I think the name says it all on this one!
8. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle *affiliate* by Barbara Kingsolver chronicles a family’s challenge to eat only local food for a year.  It was a great read and really made me rethink my grocery shopping practices.
9. The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It *affiliate* by John Seymour.  This one is full of self-sufficiency ideas.  It’s a great book with a little information on a lot of topics.  Don’t buy this expecting to become an expert on anything, but it gives a great overview, that may help you discover your interests.  
10. Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health *affiliate* by Les Crowder.  Whether you keep bees in Top-Bar or Langstroth hives, or just want to learn more about them, this is by far the most readable and enjoyable of the beekeeping books I’ve read!

So there you have it.  These are the ones that I refer back to time and again.  The next book that I’m anxiously waiting to be released is Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens…Naturally *affiliate* by Lisa Steele of the Fresh Eggs Daily Blog.  I’m sure that one will be a winner, as she has great information on her blog!  UPDATE:  It’s out and it’s a winner!  

Do you have any of these on your shelf?  What’s your favorite homesteading book?