# the owner-built homestead c1977



## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

Stumbled across this old book while at the op shops today (thrift store)

Some of you dinosaurs may have seen it in your travels.... Any thoughts??? After a quick go through it has a mass of crop information from livestock, trees/lumber to fruit and veggies, even greenhouses, fish and land management


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

I have not seem this before but it sounds very informative. Nice find.


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## topgun (Oct 2, 2013)

Online, some interesting old articles and stuff can be found here:

self-reliance | homesteading | canning | backwoods | magazine


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

I collect useful books like that. Old homesteading type books are usually excellent and filled with forgotten knowledge.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Could be filled with good info. Here it is on Amazon;
http://www.amazon.com/The-Owner-Built-Homestead-Barbara-Kern/dp/0684149222


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

I have gotten through roughly 2 chapters and the intro etc, so far its focus is balance and reason


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

Finished the book last night.... So here is a long winded review

The book was written in the mid 1970s so in theory some of the practices seem out of date... Yet the focus in science and studies range to early 1800s to 400 year old Chinese farming practices... 

As mentioned before its about balance, but it also about efficiency... On horsepower to man hours to get the job done

The focus is also small scale farming to be self sufficient....

The reason the book was printed was more than 90% of homesteads fail in their first year....

Land management seems a important part of the small scale farmers

Other things worth the book is workshop design and layout (a setup that needs our own personal touch) a great foundation

It makes for heavy reading, its not a light book with words and language.... 

So book rating... Author a 8\10 (their reason for taking the time to assemble this collection is amiable) some opinions expressed in this book is 90% hippie and 100% atheist, when opinions are added that's not often

The book itself.... With a lack of knowledge in small farming practices and without the ability to test any of the principles in this book... I can not give a honest review on the contents if they work or not, but all seem good and workable in theory....


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