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.

Abigail R. Gehring is a freelance writer and editor who grew up in Vermont. From childhood she has been fascinated with simple living, participating in barn-raisings, home canning, and enjoying countless hours of natural crafts. She lives in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Distributor: W. W. Norton
Publication Date: 04-08-2008
Pages: 464
Measurements: 9in X 11in