The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency

Some of this stuff I already knew & practice. 'Weekend' is a good term because it's full of all sorts of little things that you can accomplish in a day or 2.

I enjoyed reading through her list of small projects. I do find it a bit confusing to go back looking for a specific idea to try. I am already doing a lot of the things listed, and so am not trying to do each project in order it is listed. I am not just a beginner in this area, as I have been on the homestead path for more than 40 years. I also think it is important to note that some of the ideas listed are very climate-specific, and not every idea will work everywhere. For example, here in the high desert of Colorado, we can't just plant and wait for rain--it just doesn't happen. Also, the quick hoops are likely to be crushed in the first heavy snow fall, or to blow away in the first wind event. Believe me, I have seen both of those things happen to my efforts to extend the season. So study your own climate limitations. I do recommend Caleb Warnock's Backyard Winter Gardening, as well as both his Forgotten Skills books, especially for others in a high desert climate. But all in all, there are a lot of good things to learn here.

I love this book. It has chores for each month instead of heaping everything on you all at once.

I love this book! The cover and photos are excellent quality and sparked my interest from the start. The monthly divisions of the book make it easy to follow along with various projects throughout the year. And the author's style of writing is clear, concise, educational without being pedantic, and best of all, useful. You don't have to be a person who plans to drop off the grid and become totally self-sustaining to find terrific ideas in here. There are wonderful ideas for weekend gardeners, for instance, ranging from how to construct rain barrels for watering your plants to building an under-the-sink worm bin, which will produce just enough nutrients for feeding four or five houseplants in your apartment. See? You don't even have to have an actual yard to find great information here.Of course, if you do have a yard, and you love gardening, and you are thinking about keeping some chickens, say, and becoming a bit more self-reliant, well then you will get even more out of The Weekend Homesteader. But I read it just for the pleasure of learning some new things, and enjoying all the wonderful photographs and ideas shared within. I highly recommend the book to all gardeners...and wannabe gardeners...anywhere. And you wannabe homesteaders? What are you waiting for. Get it. You'll learn good stuff!

Fast shipping and just as described.

I've been reading the author's blog and buying (and using) her e-books for more than a year. I'm so glad to have all this knowledge compiled and printed and in my hands!Hess's book is comprehensive, helpful and inspiring, whether you're moving toward complete self-sufficiency or just want to improve and increase your tomato yield. Organized by month, each section contains season-appropriate projects, most of which can be accomplished in a weekend. I've adopted many of her methods, the most successful of which (for my purposes) has been the kill mulch. Faced with a very weedy asparagus bed and no idea what to do with it, her plan for smothering weeds with cardboard and compost worked like a charm.I've since gone on to expand my gardens from a small vegetable plot to a much larger one, with the addition of a separate herb bed, some blackberry bushes, three apple trees and a very large landscaped flower bed. Her techniques have been invaluable - and I've limited my use of them mainly to gardening.I highly recommend this book, and hope you enjoy Hess's writing as much as I have.

This worthless book starts out with the statement, ""Homesteading used to mean hacking a livelihood out of the wilderness... Homesteaders now live in high rises and suburban neighborhoods." What a statement to be made by a homeMAKER as the author surely must be. She obviously knows nothing about homesteading if she thinks gardening in your suburban back yard is "homesteading".This book is false advertising at it's best. I bought it thinking I could get a few extra tips for ACTUALLY homesteading on my property. If you're going to write a book about "Urban Homesteading", then at least title it appropriately.This book is chock full of worthless info like "share clotheslines with your neighbor", and "collect scraps from your neighbors to feed your chickens". Begging for food waste from your neighbor that lives 5 feet away from you is not homesteading....The beginning of the chapters are equally ridiculous. The goals, costs, time, difficulty and kid friendliness are absurd. I really love the comment about how tomatoes are really a "plant for intermediate gardeners". Really??I guess what I'm saying is if you think 5 years of growing some vegetables qualifies someone to write a book about growing difficult plants like tomatoes, then by all means snatch up this overpriced toilet paper.If you actually want to learn to farm, be self sufficient and(actually) home stead, buy a better book. Joel Salantin comes to mind. Or Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard (which the purchase of actually caused amazon to recommend this garbage). Those two are actual farmers with practical knowledge about living the life.In the end I would recommend a subscription to Sunset. Most of the stuff in this books seems like it was ripped off from Sunset anyway.Anna Hess, you should stop. Just stop... You are simply profiting off other peoples ignorance.

I found this book a great resource for anyone on the path to a more simple life and, most importantly, to being more self-sufficient. For me, especially with the chaotic pace of life these days, it provides a solid sense of comfort to know how to be a little less reliant on all the modern conveniences we have available. It is also very interesting and rewarding to learn all the homesteader tips noted in this book.I recommend this book--even for people such as myself who are definitely 'big city' people!

An easy baby step to Baby step into self sufficienCy. I like how it has a project per weekend, takes away the overwhelming grandness of stepping off the beaten path and lets you look at things one tiny task at a time

I was cursed with a technical, inquiring mind. So finding a well-written book that holds my interest, can be a challenge.Thank you, Anna.

Good

I was really looking forward to this book, I found a lot of great ideas and tips to adapt to where I live. A friend borrowed and said she enjoyed it too.