The Nourishing Homestead : : one Back-To-The Land Family's Plan for Cultivating Soil, Skills, and Spirit

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Nonfiction / Home & Garden / Sustainable Living / Hewitt, Ben, 363.583 He
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Home & Garden / Sustainable Living / Hewitt, Ben	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	363.583 He	4-week checkout	Due 04-23-2024

The evolution of our homestead -- Practice and philosophy -- Homestead design and layout -- Real food and deep nutrition -- Soil and gardens -- The nourished animal -- Animal slaughter and processing -- Infrastructure, skills, and tools -- Money and "stuff" -- Children on the homestead -- Conclusion : What the day holds.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Boring and Misleading submitted by sdunav on July 6, 2022, 12:19pm Why the heck is this book so positively reviewed (both here and elsewhere online)? I can't figure it out. It's boring and more than a little pedantic as a memoir, as much as I approve of author's urge to feel connected to the natural world. It isn't great as a "how to" manual; you'd be better off checking out the old Foxfire books by Eliot Wigginton. The section on "real food and deep nutrition" is appalling with the bit on phytic acids and an ode to Sally Fallon and the Weston A. Price Foundation's cherry-picked quackery. If you have diabetes or cavities, it's doubtless because you eat grains and legumes, not because of your genetics. Ugh.

I *love* back to land and nature memoirs. I have a whole bookshelf of them on Goodreads. I love foraging and I've made kombucha and I lacto-ferment vegetables and I'm sympathetic to folks who hunt for food. But as I read, I kept wondering if these homesteaders had health insurance. Maybe the author's books and articles provide enough income for that? It's a shame he doesn't mention that aspect of his lifestyle in the "money and stuff" chapter, but I guess that takes a certain amount of self-awareness and introspection this book just doesn't have.

In the end, though, it was the pedestrian writing and complete lack of humor that killed the story for me. I'll go re-read Louise Dickinson Rich, Sue Hubbell, Gary Paul Nabhan and so many others and return this to the library where another raw milk aficionado can check it out.

PS The photos are nice. Love the cows, chickens, and kids.