Get the Offline ArchiveFree lifetime updates

Agriculture & Animal Husbandry

3 min read

For growing food and keeping animals, salvage a broad homesteading reference such as The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, an intensive vegetable manual such as The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman, the Storey’s Guide for each livestock species you will keep, Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth for saving seed, and a basic soil science textbook. Together they cover crops, animals, seed and the soil under both.

Part of Tier 2: Books That Save Lives This Year

A harvest depends on soil, seed, season and skill, and each is written down in a different kind of book. Livestock add feeding, housing, breeding and health to the list.

One Broad Book, Then Specialists

  • The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Carla Emery). A one-book homesteading reference covering gardening, animal husbandry, food preservation, soap making and many other skills.
  • The New Organic Grower (Eliot Coleman). Intensive small-scale vegetable production: bed preparation, crop rotation, season extension and harvest.
  • Storey’s Guide to Raising (chickens, goats, pigs, cattle). The series covers each common species: breeding, feeding, housing, health and butchering. Take the guide for the animals you will actually keep.
  • Seed to Seed (Suzanne Ashworth). The standard on isolation distances, pollination, seed processing and storage for common vegetables.
  • A soil science textbook. Any introductory text. Understanding pH, nutrient cycles and soil biology is the difference between productive gardens and crop failure.

Method: Choosing For Your Situation

Step 1: Start with the broad reference. It answers the most questions per kilogram.

Step 2: Add the book for your first crop and your first animal. Do not collect every species guide.

Step 3: Add seed saving early. Saved seed is what makes next year’s crop independent of salvage.

Step 4: Check climate fit. Dates, varieties and pest advice are regional.

Common Mistakes

  • Collecting guides for animals you cannot house or feed.
  • Ignoring soil. Poor soil defeats good technique.
  • Planting hybrid seed and expecting to save it. See Seeds & Preserved Food.

Safety

Livestock and farm chemicals injure and infect

Kicks, bites and crushing injuries are common around large animals, and some animal diseases pass to people, especially through raw milk, carcasses and wounds. Salvaged pesticides and fertilisers can poison people and water supplies; read the label and keep them away from food and wells.

What’s Next