This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see FCC disclosure for full information. Thank you for supporting this site!
These days, there are an impressive number of beginning homesteader books to choose from, so when Rockridge Press sent me a copy of Lisa Lombardo's new The Beginner's Guide to Backyard Homesteading, I wondered: Will this book stand out from the crowd? After reading it, I have to say, "Yes!"
How so? Well, for one thing, Lombardo isn't one to meander. She offers succinct, practical advice, backed up by her years as a homesteader. She gets right to the point and uses checklists, charts, and even maps to help readers learn the information quickly. Secondly, I think Lombardo does a terrific job making this book a guide to creating a custom homestead that will truly work for your space and personality.
She begins the book by encouraging readers to come up with a homestead plan (much like a business plan, even for those who don't want to make money homesteading) and in each section of the book, she helps readers look at the feasibility of their plans: Are they going to work on your property? Are you actually going to be able to do the work in the amount of time you think you will? How much will it all cost? The Beginner's Guide to Backyard Homesteading is a book for people of action, and Lombardo does an admirable job helping readers create a practical homestead.
The book begins with the basics: Mapping out your backyard, understanding your soil and gardening zone, and creating a homestead plan. (If you want to be more organized, you're going to love all the templates Lombardo includes for tracking everything from animals to gardening expenses!) Then the book dives right into creating your homestead garden, covering all the basics, including crop rotation, succession planting, building raised beds, and selecting vegetables and herbs. Then comes coverage on fruits and nuts, as well as a more surprising chapter on growing grains and livestock feed (not a topic typically covered in books for suburban homesteaders). Next, Lombardo dives into raising poultry (mostly chickens), beekeeping, dairy animals (mostly goats), and meat animals (briefly covering critters like rabbits, pigs, and goats). These chapters do a good job of helping readers to understand what kind of yields to expect, how much the animals cost to raise, and how to prepare your homestead for them. The last chapter in the book covers extending your growing season, preserving food, running a homestead side business, and re-assessing your homestead. Lombardo caps off the book with a few recipes.
This is definitely a book to have if you need help organizing or just have little to no idea where to start in creating your homestead. I recommend it! To learn more, check out Lisa Lombardo's website.
Giveaway Time!
Lisa Lombardo and Rockridge Press also want to give away one copy of The Beginner's Guide to Backyard Homesteading to this blog's readers! This giveaway is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years old or older. We are doing this old school: To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling me one thing about your homesteading goals. The giveaway begins August 27th, 2020 and ends September 6th, 2020. If the winner does not reply to my email within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!
Images reprinted with permission from The Beginner's Guide to Backyard Homesteading.
Thanks for sharing your review of my book, Kristina!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a review of my book, Kristina!
ReplyDeleteOne of my many goals is to add meat rabbits and then quail. I am currently working on better seed germinating and saving seeds (saved a lot this year!)
ReplyDeletewe recently bought my husbands childhood ranch about 40ish acres. it hasn't been taken care of in a few years, his parents getting up there in years and really didn't want to farm anymore, so we are not quite starting from scratch but close enough. got our work cut out for us. got chickens going and a small garden. next is planting the fields for rotation pasture grazing for animals.looking so forward to the life coming back to the ranch. :)
ReplyDeleteMy first homesteading goal is to build a chicken coop and a storage shed. It's possible that they may be a combination building at the onset. Thanks for being online!
ReplyDeleteEspecially after, or during, this pandemic, I have realized how important it is to have a small garden! We have tried a few things over the years and have some tomatoes growing in pots on the porch and chickens in the back yard, but we need to work on at least a small garden.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is a chicken coop and run that I will enjoy viewing and listening to from my back porch.
ReplyDeleteMy “homesteading” goal is to make my garden more productive next year. I had some beautiful plants, but they just didn’t garner a high yield for the amount of water and time spent.
ReplyDeletecreate more permaculture and get some chickens and or rabbits
ReplyDeleteI need to work on my garden, amending my soil (all clay here) and better companion planting.
ReplyDeleteWe are in East Texas and the dirt has a lot of sand so my first thing is to research what I can grow easily in sandy soil conditions! I also want to raise a few egg laying hens and grow organics that they can also enjoy eating! What goes in must come out so the eggs will be even happier if what they eat is happy! Thank you for so many wonderful recipes and ideas and freebies and encouragement! The year of the rona needs more of this blog and less fear!
ReplyDeleteoh I'm also a library director and ordering this book for our library as so many home farmers live here! If I win this contest, this copy will be mine for at home! :) LOL
ReplyDelete