Winter Reading on the Homestead

Can we admit it? Very few of us were raised on  a farm. If you were, what a blessing! So many of the struggles and failures that we’re experiencing, you might not have had to go through because you learned these things in your youth.

The rest of us are soaking up the knowledge. Like a sponge. And winter is the best time to do that for, as you know, it’s when things slow down a bit.

I don’t know about you, but I have a book wish list a mile long. I am constantly checking out whether the resources I’m interested in gleaning from are available at the library, and searching for new ways to get my hands on good materials.

It’s all for the sake of my continuing Homesteaducation.

Most recently, I was tipped off to Kindle Unlimited. As you may remember, I was late coming to the digital reading game. I love the whole experience of a beautiful book. But it turns out, I also like money in my pocket. Or rather having the money that would be spent on the books to use for implementing the exciting ideas I found in them.

One way I keep that money in my pocket, while still continuing my Homesteaducation,  is to preview books as much as possible before I buy them. Sorry to say it, but some books are one time reads. The information gleaned from them can be compiled by taking a few notes. When I find my note-taking is filling up page after page, then I know it’s a book that I need for my personal library. I save a TON of money on books this way.

And that’s where Kindle Unlimited comes into play. It’s kind of like a digital library lending system. For a subscription fee of about $10 a month, you get to rent up to 10 books. For an unlimited time. While the digital library my library goes through is free, there are very (VERY) few selections and you only have 3 weeks to read the book.

The selection with Kindle Unlimited, however, is AMAZING! I don’t know about you, but we’re certainly going to be getting our money’s worth out of it! And the more you read, the more valuable it can be for you. It’s $10 a month that is definitely worth working into the budget in my opinion.

I thought I would make a new monthly feature and highlight a handful of books that we could be reading during the long winter evenings and review a book I read last month.

   

Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard

 

Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance

 

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game

 

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening

Herbal Soap Making: A Simple guide to making Herbal Soaps that Cleanse the Pours and Nurtures the Body

Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use

I’m currently reading Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs and furiously taking notes all the while. Which indicates it’s a “must-have” for my Homestead Library Bookshelf. It truly is a beginner’s guide. It’s easy to read, incredibly thorough, and lays medicinal herbs and their preparation out so simply there’s no way you will close the cover and not feel empowered to grow and make your own herbal medicine. It might well be the best book I’ve read to date on the subject.

What do you do to learn more about homesteading, gardening, etc..?