I've been reading a lot of books that have to do with homesteading, doing things by hand, gardening, foraging, and modern food supply - all in preparation for the day when I become a hermit living in the woods.
The Foxfire Series is a bunch of books collecting interviews with old folks in the Adirondacks back in the '70s or so, detailing a lot of things: how to make stuff, how to cook stuff, how to hunt stuff, how to not get eaten by bears. They're extremely entertaining and useful. I learned a couple styles of basket-weaving from the books, as well and how to make a foot-powered lathe.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (and family) is a very readable narration of her family's attempt at a year of ethical food consumption. They go from living in the desert where their water has to be shipped for miles and tap water will kill your fish, to a whole other state where they start a little garden. Suddenly they're raising turkeys and chickens and trying to figure out what to do with zucchini. The book also gives a good overview of the reasons behind this, and how destructive (and self-destructive) our current food production is.
The Omnivore's Dilemna by Michael Pollan goes more in-depth on American food production, from monoculture to Monsanto to, well, there really isn't much else in American food culture. Ever heard me go on about corn and biodiversity and monocultures? This is one of my big sources. Somehow it maintains a positive feeling towards megafarms and corporate farming despite detailing all the ways in which this system is failing.
Stalking The Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons was just utterly fantastic and totally fun to read. It's about the joy of food and what counts as food - finding food growing in ditches is presented as a totally reasonable idea which just happens to be AWESOME. If I recall correctly, this is where I learned about the awesomeness of stinging nettles.
Got questions, concerns, zombies at your door? Send me a message! I don't bite... unless you're marinated.
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