Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A few good books...

winter2010-11 085

I just wanted to mention a few books that I have really enjoyed reading in the past few weeks. Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes is an interesting book about families who try and make their living mostly from things they make and grow rather that buying everything they need. It was pretty inspiring. I am motivated to be better at reusing, re purposing and making things I need. I am hoping to learn a lot more about gardening and hopefully get better at it. The snails have ruined my garden the last few years. I think how awful it would be to rely fully on our garden and then starve because of those tiny, slimy little fellows. I have tried many different ways of getting rid of them, the drowning in beer method(they just drank the beer and crawled out), the egg shells, the copper tape, pennies, green non-toxic slug goo,sneaking out in the middle of the night with a flashlight and throwing them out by hand.If I am missing something, please do tell.
The other book Make Your Place by Raleigh Briggs is a beautiful hand illustrated book with helpful hints on everything from making your own homemade cleaners and shampoo, to gardening tips. The book itself is visually lovely as well, it is hand written and filled with drawings and looks like a personal journal. I really treasure it. It was a gift for Christmas and I haven't yet made any of the tinctures, soaps or cleaners, but I look forward to it.
It is a great little handy reference for any one who is interested in being more domestically sustainable.

3 comments:

Mama Gone Green said...

Thanks for the recommendations. I just added them to my goodreads list!

Mama Ash Grove said...

Oh I have "Make Your Place" and totally love it!

Liz said...

I have both those books, and I agree! Both great books. I especially love the "Make your Place" book. The handmade quality it has is so special.