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| Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition (Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills) | 
 enlarge | Creator: Abigail R. Gehring
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.66
You Save: $9.29 (37%)
New (26) Used (7) from $15.66
Avg. Customer Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 10251
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.6 x 1
ISBN: 1602392331
Dewey Decimal Number: 640.973
EAN: 9781602392335
ASIN: 1602392331
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
"Voluntary simplicity" has become a catch phrase for what seems to be a yearning for a simpler, more self-sufficient and economical way of living in the late 20th century. This book, first published in 1981 and recently updated, was probably many folks' first in-depth exposure to the idea of a simpler life, making things by hand, and enjoying a stronger sense of control over personal budgets, home projects, and lifestyles. Hundreds of projects are listed, illustrated in step-by-step diagrams and instructions: growing and preserving your own food, converting trees to lumber and building a home from it, traditional crafts and homesteading skills, and having fun with recreational activities like camping, fishing, and folk dancing without spending a lot of money. This book will have you dreaming and planning from the first page! -- Mark A. Hetts
Product Description
Over 100,000 sold! Now newly revised and up to date, with over 2,000 color photographs and illustrations.
Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills—the kind employed by our forefathers—and adapt them for a better life in the twenty-first century need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. Countless readers have turned to Back to Basics for inspiration and instruction, escaping to an era before power saws and fast food restaurants and rediscovering the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle.
Now newly updated, the hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations in Back to Basics will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. The truly ambitious will find instructions on how to build a log cabin or an adobe brick homestead. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers—even if you live in a city apartment you will find your imagination sparked, and there's no reason why you can't, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. Complete with tips for old-fashioned fun (square dancing calls, homemade toys, and kayaking tips), this may be the most thorough book on voluntary simplicity available. 2,000 color photos, 200 b/w illustrations.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
A traditional skills primer. October 31, 1999
108 out of 111 found this review helpful
A primer on self-reliance and rural skills, this is a large-format book of 456 pages lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings, about half in full color. Here are 57 subjects, many with subsets, as in gardening, which includes information on soil, cultivation methods, making and using a greenhouse, and specific information on many veggies, herbs, fruits. Some presentations are simplistic, like telling you how to find and evaluate a farm or can produce in only four pages. Building and using a smokehouse gets one page. Using dairy products butters ten pages. Woodworking and furniture making nail down thirty pages. Build and decorate a house and the chairs, tables, beds to furnish it. Build a springhouse, a dam, a well, a water system. Grow vegetables, fruits, grains. Raise bees, fish, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, hogs, sheep, goats, cows, horses. Make cheese, maple syrup, beer, wine, bread, soap, candles, baskets. Cook with wood. Spin yarn, use natural dyes, make cloth, quilts, rugs, hammocks. Learn tanning and leather work, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, toolmaking. Celebrate harvest and holidays with traditional decorations, recipes, toys, games, dances. Learn camping, hiking, fishing, canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing. Whew! This book will keep you happily occupied for several decades.
Neat Book August 11, 2005
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
This was a really interesting book and I got a whole more than I expected. This book covers all kinds of traditional skills from chopping wood, building houses, plowing fields, food preparation, and so on. Just about anything you can imagine on everyday life skills from days long gone.
The bonus part to this was that it included a lot of modern day adaptations and applications for these skills. It could be a useful how-to manual for those that want to live a more simple life. It also includes a description of alternate eco-friendly fuel sources
back to basics February 16, 2000
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
i was given this book over 15 years ago. it has become my "bible" for basic skills. we refer to this book at least once a week for advice and instruction - and always manage to find what we're looking for! it does more than touch on subjects! you get in-depth instructions with pictures to guide you through such things as building a foundation and canning your own garden goods. my copy is well-worn from much use! i treasure this book and all the things i've learned from it. for those out there who wish to live more self-sufficiently, you must have this book.
 A great get-started book on many basic self-reliant skills. November 9, 1999
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
This book touches on so many practical skills, it's terrific! You'll learn everything from soap making to building your own rough-hewn cabin by hand -- and what to look for when picking the best site for your homestead. There's something for everyone.
Excellent book on country living! August 13, 2002
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I purchased several books on country living, this one is the best of the lot. I wanted a good reference book for a story I am writing. This book covers everything I was interested in, and more, providing me with a wealth of information and ideas. Along with being well written, the book is also filled with detailed illustrations and photos.
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