Master Hundreds of Timeless Skills for Self-Sufficient Living
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills is the ultimate practical handbook for anyone who wants to live a simpler, more self-reliant life. Edited by homesteading expert Abigail Gehring, this comprehensive, full-color guide brings together hundreds of time-tested skills that were once common knowledge — and are more valuable than ever today.
Whether you dream of starting a homestead, becoming more self-sufficient, or simply learning practical skills that save money and connect you to the land, this book delivers clear, step-by-step instructions you can actually use. Learn how to:
- Grow and preserve your own food (gardening, canning, drying, cheese making, and more)
- Raise chickens, bees, and other small livestock
- Build shelters from scratch — including log cabins and adobe homes
- Generate energy from wood, water, wind, and sun
- Master traditional crafts like dyeing wool, soap making, basket weaving, and woodworking
- Create old-fashioned fun with square dancing, homemade toys, and outdoor skills
Organized into easy-to-follow sections on shelter, energy, raising and preserving food, home crafts, and recreation, this updated edition is packed with photographs, diagrams, charts, and illustrations that make every project approachable.
