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Self-Sufficient Living
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Learn how to manage a homestead, survive off the grid, grow and preserve your own food, and more!
Updated March 13, 2025
RPL Staff
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The self-sufficient life and how to live it : the complete back-to-basics guide
Seymour, John
Paper Book
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It teaches the skills needed to live independently in harmony with the land--from harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, to preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more. This is the...
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Essential home skills handbook : everything you need to know as a new homeowner
Peterson, Chris
Paper Book
BLACK+DECKER Essential Home Skills Handbookoffers 100+ beginner-friendly solutions for common household headaches, with achievable DIY projects and full-color step photos and illustrations. Whether you're moving from an apartment to yourfirst homeor...
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Build your own farm tools
Volk, Josh
Paper Book
Josh Volk, author of the best-selling Compact Farms, offers small-scale farmers an in-depth guide to building customized equipment that will save time and money and introduce much-needed efficiencies to their operations. Volk begins with the basics, such as...
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Home ec for everyone : practical life skills in 118 projects
Bowers, Sharon
Paper Book
Did you remember your scissors? Discover the tremendous pleasure of learning how to do it yourself how to cook, sew, clean, and more, the way it used to be taught in Home Ec class. With illustrated step by step instructions, plus relevant charts, lists, and handy graphics, Home Ec...
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Modern mending : how to minimize waste and maximize style
Lewis-Fitzgerald, Erin
Paper Book
Creatively mend and customize your old clothes to revitalize your outfits and save the planet Bring new life to your old clothes and fabrics with this fun, easy-to-follow guide to modern mending. Across the globe, we send tonnes of clothing to landfill each year. In...
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Shop class for everyone : practical life skills in 83 projects
Bowers, Sharon
Paper Book
Did you remember your goggles? There used to be a time when pretty much every high school offered Shop class, where students learned to use a circular saw or rewire a busted lamp- all while discovering the satisfaction of being self-reliant and doing it yourself. Shop Class for...
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Grow food for free
Richards, Huw
Ebook
Zero cost, low effort and a long-term solution to your fresh produce needs! Grow your own food in your home garden, acreage or container, and look forward to a bountiful harvest year-round. You can plant fruit and veggies at home without spending a penny, and Huw Richard's...
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The layered edible garden : a beginner's guide to creating a productive food garden layer by layer
Chung, Christina (Horticulturist)
Paper Book
Design, plant, and tend a self-sustaining, high-yielding food garden that saves space by growing plants the way nature intended--in layers. Say goodbye to long, straight rows of vegetable plants lined up and waiting for attacks from pests and diseases, and say hello to...
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The year-round vegetable gardener : how to grow your own food 365 days a year no matter where you live
Jabbour, Niki.
Paper Book
Stretch the gardening season with intensive planting techniques, cold-weather care tips, and vegetable varieties picked for flavor and growing success. Even in winter's coldest months you can harvest fresh, delicious produce. Drawing on insights gained from...
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To boldly grow : finding joy, adventure, and dinner in your own backyard
Haspel, Tamar
Paper Book
When Journalist and self-proclaimed 'crappy gardener' Tamar Haspel and her husband move from Manhattan to two acres on Cape Cod, they decide to adopt a more active approach to their diet: raising chickens, growing tomatoes, even foraging for mushrooms and hunting their own meat. Filled with...
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Attainable sustainable : the lost art of self-reliant living
Bordessa, Kris
Paper Book
Packed with delicious recipes, natural remedies, gardening tips, crafts, and more, this indispensable lifestyle reference from the popular blogger makes earth-friendly living fun. Whether you live in a city, suburb, or the country, this essential guide for the backyard...
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Gardening for everyone : growing vegetables, herbs, and more at home
Watkins, Julia
Paper Book
A guide to creating and growing a backyard garden simply and sustainably--from planning to planting to harvest, with profiles of essential vegetables and herbs, ecological tips, and fun and creative projects Growing food in your backyard (or even on a porch or windowsill!)...
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The healing garden : cultivating & handcrafting herbal remedies
Blankespoor, Juliet
Paper Book
A comprehensive and lushly photographed guide to growing and using healing plants, including recipes, from the founder of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine This is the ultimate reference for anyone looking to bring the beauty and therapeutic properties...
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The bushcraft essentials field guide : the basics you need to pack, know, and do to survive in the wild
Canterbury, Dave
Paper Book
Learn everything you need to know about outdoor survival so you can make it through any situation from top bushcraft expert and New York Times bestselling author Dave Canterbury. For years, Dave Canterbury has been teaching outdoor enthusiasts how to survive in the wild,...
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DIY hydroponic gardens : how to design and build an inexpensive system for growing plants in water
Baras, Tyler
Paper Book
With practical information aimed at home DIYers, author Tyler Baras (Farmer Tyler to his fans) shows exactly how to build, plant, and maintain over a dozen unique hydroponic systems, some costing just a few dollars to make. No soil? No sunlight? No problem. A...
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The essential book of homesteading : the ultimate guide to sustainable living
English, Ashley
Paper Book
All the information you need to homestead--gathered in one ultimate, essential book! In barnyards and backyards, on rooftops and in alleyways, a movement is happening--the modern homesteading movement. Whether it's turning a lawn into a vegetable...
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