Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life Review

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(More customer reviews)While I applaud the authors move to a "simpler" lifestyle, I really had a difficult time wading through this book. Filled with clichés and writing that would better suited for an overly sentimental greeting card, the pace of the book really dragged. It seemed to me that the editing could have been tighter, as the timelines were hard to follow at points, even though I tried to cross reference with their website. (Is the greenhouse finished, or isn't it?) Do I really care about the fact that they like to run around naked and are experts on all things cappuccino? If they have traveled all over the planet before "going green", they have already left a rather large carbon footprint (now they plant trees to offset their carbon production).
I found some of their math to be either hard to believe or nothing to brag about. If they are consuming fair trade coffee, Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream and Stonyfield Farm yogurt, plus buying most of their grains and dried legumes in bulk (all of which are good products in general), how can they be producing 70% of their own food? Bragging about their "super efficient" Sunfrost refrigerator having a payback time of 50 years (initial cost vs energy savings) - wow - either they or the refrigerator could be dead long before then. This wasn't going to have me running out to buy that fridge.
I did like their lists of sources and resources throughout the book, a few of which I had not seen before. I think this book would be good for urban dwellers who are just starting out "going green", if you don't mind a lot of extra verbage. I was born and raised in the country, lived in the city and suburbs, and have finally moved back to the country. I know a lot of people who have done more with less, and they're not being featured in USA Today and praised up and down by other national organizations. The authors are good at publicizing what they do, which is certainly am important part of running a successful Bed & Breakfast, I was just hoping for a more "down-to-earth" story.


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In the '60s it was called the "back to the land" movement, and in Helen and Scott Nearings' day, it was "living the good life." Whatever the term, North Americans have always yearned for a simpler way. But how do you accomplish that today?Blending inspiration with practical how-to's, Rural Renaissance captures the American dream of country living for contemporary times. Journey with the authors and experience their lessons, laughter and love for the land as they trade the urban concrete maze for a five-acre organic farm and bed and breakfast in southwestern Wisconsin. Rural living today is a lot more than farming. It's about a creative, nature-based and more self-sufficient lifestyle that combines a love of squash, solar energy, skinny-dipping and serendipity . . .The many topics explored in Rural Renaissance include: "right livelihood" and the good life organic gardening and permaculture renewable energy and energy conservation wholesome organic food, safe water and a natural home simplicity, frugality and freedom green design and recycled materials community, friends and raising a family independence and interdependence wildlife conservation and land stewardship.An authentic tale of a couple whose pioneering spirit and connection to the land reaches out to both the local and global community to make their dream come true, Rural Renaissance will appeal to a wide range of Cultural Creatives, free agents, conservation entrepreneurs and both arm-chair and real-life homesteaders regardless of where they live.Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko are innkeepers, organic growers, copartners in a marketing consulting company, and have previously published books. John is also a photographer. Former advertising agency fast-trackers, they are nationally recognized for their contemporary approach to homesteading, conservation and more sustainable living. They share their farm with their son, two llamas, and a flock of free-range chickens. Rural Renaissance also offers a foreword by Bill McKibben.

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The Good Neighbor Guidebook for Colorado: Necessary Information and Good Advice for Living in and Enjoying Today's Colorado Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent book for anyone planning to move to, or already living in, Colorado. Though not a book that most people would sit down and read cover-to-cover, it provides a broad overview of issues that are important as a reference guide. It is divided into concise chapters and written in language that is technical but understandable. From legal issues such as land stewardship and basics of Colorado law to a tongue-in-cheek interview with "Colorado Red", the book provides us with useful information so that we can all be better neighbors.

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The West is changing, and these days natives and newcomers alike need a lot of basic information to cope with issues that arise from increasing population and changing land-use regulations on both the local and federal levels."The Good Neighbor Guidebook for Colorado" is the essential resource for anyone living in Colorado today. The advice contained in this indispensable guide could save you thousands of dollars and years of heartache. The authors organized the book into six sections that include: land stewardship; basics of Colorado law; working with local governments; issues of recreation, public lands, and tribal lands; protecting our western heritage; and avoiding and resolving problems.In Colorado, at the dawn of the 21st century, the trend seems to be away from traditional, strong, relationship-based communities toward pseudo-communities that often are a collection of short-term alliances to fight common enemies. The re-establishment of strong neighbor relationships, with appreciation not only for shared values but for diverse opinions, can reverse this unfortunate trend. "The Good Neighbor Guidebook for Colorado" offers every citizen the tools to build better communities.

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Homesteading in the 21st Century: How One Family Created a More Sustainable, Self-Sufficient, and Satisfying Life Review

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(More customer reviews)George and Jane are back! Nash's classics "Renovating Old Houses" and"Wooden Fences", with photos by Jane, are standards in every do-it-yourselfer's library. Now these long-time homesteaders offer a how-we-did-it manual on backyard farming - everything from a small flock of hens to market-size production of eggs, veggies, cider, and other home-grown foodstuffs. It's a fun, colorful adventure, as George and Jane narrate their successes, lucky breaks, and disasters over decades of building their hillside farm; the message is that any newbie, with even the smallest backyard - or front porch - can reap the pleasures of self-reliance. This book is infused with humor, know-how, and love. Grab it and start digging!


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Not since Thoreau made his home in the woods at Walden Pond has the notion of self-sufficiency held more universal appeal. There's no question we're going through some tough economic times, but this book offers an alternative. It's a guide for anyone who imagines a better life—from struggling families tired of energy dependency to dreamers who always wished they could live off the land someday. This ultimate DIY guide holds to the premise that anyone can homestead, and raise at least a portion of their food themselves—even if they live in the city. This book is absolutely brimming with ideas on how to take control of your life by degrees—whether that means keeping chickens, growing a garden, or brewing your own beer.

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Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is written as if Steve Solomon is the grandfatherly type telling those who know nothing of gardening what's what. Initially, I was a bit put-off by this tone, but the author has earned a right to that tone and his opinions. I quickly became very interested in what he has to say, in that he rejects many ideas and fads on intensive, hyper dense garden production. Steve Solomon has been around long enough to have tried some of the high density, intensive gardening ideas and found them wanting.
I had to really chuckle when I read his rudimentary back to basics tool list consisting of a shovel, a bow rake, a hoe and a file to keep them sharp and useful. A simple wheelbarrow, buckets, knife and stone fill out his recomendations. He's so very right when he suggests that it doesn't take an armada of gadgets and do-hickies and specialty tools to make a very sucessful garden. And his comments on using some commonly sold garden gadgets make for humorous images for those who have suffered too short handles, stooped backs and the associated aches and pains. Many folks pondering the latest garden knick-knack catalog could do well to remember Solomon's basic tools will get the job done advice. Admittedly, he does sound like what MY grandfather would've said in the tool chapter. ("Put down that dreambook, pick up that hoe, and get to doing something useful." ... )
What I particularly thought useful was the idea of returning to planting based on choosing plant spacing not for intensity of harvest if thoroughly irrigated, but rather choosing less dense spacing based on potential for drought. In the drought chapter, Solomon makes the case that earlier gardeners more concerned with crop survival than sheer bulk of harvest knew to choose spacing that allows for stronger, more durable plants that better survive droughts. There's a lot more to it than that. I'm oversimplifying his points to make a point, and that is that there is something useful in this book for everyone; from those who've never dug their hands in dirt to those who think that they have a "better way".
I'm currently recommending this book as a good solid intro to veggie gardening that will produce the produce for those interested in delving beyond the picture books. Frankly, I've got lots of gardening and permaculture books and yet this was the first that I've seen fit to review, as I think it bears some recommendation to a wider audience.

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The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering.

Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.

Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies — working an average of two hours a day during the growing season.

Steve Solomon is a well-known west coast gardener and author of five previous books, including Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades which has appeared in five editions.

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