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..?
I think I’ve had all the books on homesteading in our library system home at least once. Now a days, I mostly learn from people like you (so thank you again for sharing your journey). I soak up everything I can from blogs and podcasts as long as I don’t have to pay for it because money is more than tight. And then I browse on amazon and dream of all the books that I would love to someday have on my shelf. Every now and then I find a book I must own NOW, Noah Sander’s born again dirt was such a book. I also love reading through John Seymour’s complete book of self-sufficiency, which I got in ’09 I think.
On a similar note: would you ever consider doing or do you know of a good Bible study on the topic of homesteading, stewardship, etc.?
check out amazons free book section alot of times its romance novels and what not but every once in a while the have good stuff that you can download
I check out books from the library, but also purchased many books on gardening, chickens, nutritional health, etc. I just added the chicken gardening book to my wish list. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m really looking forward to reading that one too! I remember I checked my library for it and they didn’t have it so I’m very glad for the chance to read it without paying full price if it’s a bust (which I doubt, but still 🙂 )
I just found the book on my library site! I didn’t even think to look there. I snagged it and am so excited to be able to read it for free 🙂