The Encyclopedia of Country Living: Book Review

The Encyclopedia of Country Living: Book Review

I don’t like to spend money on a book until I know it’s really, really good.

When I find a book that looks promising, I usually check it out from my local library first. Some books I have checked out numerous times, but I only add my very favorites to my collection!

The Encyclopedia of Country Living didn’t just get added to my collection; it has become my favorite reference book for all things homesteading, gardening, raising animals and living off the land.

This huge 922 page book by Carla Emery has some science, but is based more on the experience of the author and other contributors.

The book is just packed with practical, common-sense information, and below I am going to share a sneak peak on what you will find in The Encyclopedia of Country Living!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a puchase I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Some of the topics covered in the book include:

• Choosing land to homestead
• Emergency preparation
• Candle making
• Keeping a house warm in winter
• Making and managing money on a homestead
• Pollution in the air, water, cleaners and foods
• All about water
• All about soil
• Gardening basics
• Plant hardiness zones
• Seed saving
• Undercover gardening
• Dealing with weeds
• Garden pests
• Growing mushrooms
• Growing sprouts
• Growing and harvesting grains and grasses, including amaranth, bamboo, barley, buckwheat, corn, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, spelt, sugar cane, teff and wheat
• Baking bread
• Making crackers and pasta
• Growing every type of vegetable, from the common tomato and bush bean, to jicama, mizuna and tree onions, literally any vegetable crop you could think of!
• Vegetable dishes
• Pickles
• Canning
• Freezing food
• Drying food
• Growing and preserving herbs
• Spice mixes
• Candying or crystallizing herbs
• Herbal recipes and tinctures
• Growing cacao (chocolate), coffee and tea
• Making your own cosmetics
• Foraging for wild foods
• Planting and caring for trees
• Pruning
• Maple trees and maple syrup
• Nut trees and harvesting
• Tropical and subtropical fruit trees
• Temperate fruits
• Growing grapes
• Growing kiwis and passion fruit
• Growing all types of berries
• Heating with wood, managing trees and wood cookstoves
• Menu planning
• Different methods of food preservation, including drying, freezing, root cellars, canning, salting, sugaring and larding
• Making vinegar
• Heritage livestock breeds
• Livestock predators
• Building a barn
• Fencing, from electric fences to stone walls
• Feeding livestock
• Doctoring animals
• Butchering animals and cuts of meat
• Cooking and preserving meat
• Hunting
• Making gelatin
• Soap making
• Tanning hides
• Fish
• Chicken breeds
• Chick care
• Hatching eggs
• Chicken housing
• Chicken diseases and parasites
• Feeding chickens
• How to butcher a chicken
• How to clean and use feathers
• All about turkeys
• Raising ducks
• Geese
• Guineas
• Pheasants, partidges, quail and peafowl
• Pigeons and doves
• Keeping a dairy animal
• All about goats
• Beef, dairy cattle and oxen
• How to make cheese and butter
• Dairy recipes
• Beekeeping
• Honey recipes
• Rabbits
• Sheep
• Sheering and spinning wool
• Butchering a sheep
• Everything about pigs
• Pork recipes
• Rendering lard
• How to use antique cookbooks

This is a great reference book for anyone interested in gardening, raising animals, doing things from scratch and living off the land. It has earned a permanent place on my shelf!

-Kait