Country Skills is the complete, practical guide to living
off the land. Author Alison Candlin offers easy-to-follow advice about
planning, establishing, and maintaining a small-acre farm, an allotment,
or a backyard garden. She also includes essential tips on selecting,
housing, and looking after chickens, goats, pigs, bees, and other
animals, as well as expert advice on collecting and recycling water,
composting your left-over scraps, and generating energy for your own
home—saving you lots of money and reducing your carbon footprint.
Throughout
are step-by-step instructions and over 350 photographs and
illustrations to guide readers on planting, growing, harvesting,
preserving, and storing vegetables and fruit of all kinds, in all
seasons, in all parts of the country. Candlin also discusses building
and using greenhouses, rotating crops to replenish soil nutrients, and
installing proper drainage around your garden. Complete with a directory
of common pests and diseases that could plague your homegrown produce,
as well as useful information on how to harvest wild food, this book is
the essential manual on living a self-sufficient, greener, and healthier
lifestyle.