Practical Self-sufficiency: The complete guide to sustainable living today

I bought this book a few months ago, and have read and re-read and now I am beginning to apply the information into my garden. Although there are many great reviews about this book on Amazon, and I don't want to go over information people have put, this book is without a shadow of a doubt the best, comprehensive book about gardening, growing produce, having and caring for livestoc and more available; and the quality of the book, the format, the pictures, and the sense of value of money is excellent.Where some gardening books require you to have to find the information within long-winded paragraphs, this book has a great amount of information without being too much and having unnecessary information; if you want to find something, you can go straight to the page and even the index has a good layout for easy navigation through the book.Although this bit is irrevelant, I had the pleasure in contacting Dick and Angel Strawbridge via the Escape to the Chateu, and they are very down-to-earth and family orientated. I know this book was written and published nearly ten years ago, the book and information has the sense of being humble, honest, supportive and kind without being arrogant, obnoxious and pompous. Its just a great, great book for anyone whether you are slightly or very interested in gardening and wanting to live a simple yet rich life of food, family, friend relationships, drinks and good times and to try and find an opportuntiy to relax and let the stresses of day-to-day life brings to be settled.

I was quite disappointed with this book.There’s no narrative or chat from the Strawbridges. It’s a standard DK styled how-to book with some pictures of Dick and James thrown in. It’s as if the book was already written and just needed some celebrity names to put on it.The projects aren’t realistic. Are you really likely to plant and manage a swathe of new woodland? Are you really going to make an enormous Anaerobic Digester which is “ideal for farms and waste-producing plants”? Build a full sized waterwheel to power your idyllic cottage and sell power back to the National Grid?There is some reasonable Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall type stuff here, keeping small livestock, vegetable growing, preserving, but the early River Cottage books do it better. There’s a lot of filler in this book and there’s no natural flow. It’s a very cold and unengaging read. Some of the advice is ridiculous (page 205 recommends you make a water divining rod to find springs and cut your water bills).The book passes the time if you want to dream about your future rural smallholding and acres, but it’s unlikely you’ll have the resources to attempt most of the projects in this book.

I absolutely love this book. Everything is clearly explained and illustrated. Written by two people who actually live the lifestyle and have done for a long time. Packed full of advice and tips for making it work as well as the basics for setting it all up in the first place.The book covers self-sufficiency for a variety of contexts, for example, the urban homeowner, the rural garden and for those with a small holding. As well as some of the more obvious things you might expect to find, such as keeping chickens or bees, foraging and growing your own fruit and veg, there are step by step guides to making alternative energy by converting waste anaerobically into biogas, making charcoal, building a hydraulic ram pump and building a solar shower to name a few. There are even instructions on building your own compost loo!The section on traditional knowledge encourages you to think about the skills many of us have lost due to the convenience of modern technology, such as preserving foods, brewing, wine making, crafting with wood, mending old clothes and making natural remedies.Whether you want to dip in and try out a few ideas or go the whole hog, this book is a great place to start.

A whistle stop tour of DIY self sufficiency. You only get the basics of information on each subject, but it’s enough. The book is published by DK so you know in advance that it will be a very good quality. Excellent colour through out. Great value for money, £8 less than the published price.

Excellent book, well presented, explained, and even has details drawings to illustrate. Arrived with a huge gash in the front cover, didn't return because it would just end up in a landfill.