January 2012 Reading List
The Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants
by the Department of the Army
I pick this book up and peruse the different plants again and again so that I will remember them if I’m ever in a survival situation. It seems unlikely, but hey, you never know.
I was already pretty familiar with the edible wild plants in the Northern part of the USA, from the Rockies to New England. This book gives a good overview of the most common of those plants. It also gives the most common edible wild plants from all over the world. I find this information interesting, but I’m not a big traveler so I probably won’t need that info. But it’s nice to know, just in case I win a trip to Mumbai and the plane crashes in the desert on the way there. Weirder things could happen.
Although this book lists the most common edibles, I wanted a more in depth book. So I ordered Peterson’s Guide to Edible Wild Plants and Peterson’s Guide to Wild Medicinal Plants. They should arrive pretty soon, so I’ll let you know what I think when I get a chance to read them.
What I really want is a copy of a book that my Dad has. It is some type of survival guide that tells you how to hunt, trap, fish, build shelters, forage for wild plants, etc. I don’t remember the title, but I do remember sitting for hours as a kid pouring over the pages of that book. Hiking in the woods gave me the opportunity to try out some of that info. Those were the days! I had 400 acres to roam with a variety of ecosystems to explore. I sure do miss my Grandpa’s farm. But, I digress… I found a book online called the SAS Survival Guide and I ordered that one too. Hopefully it will be as good as the book my Dad has. More on that later.
The Joy of Hobby Farming (Grow Food, Raise Animals, and Enjoy a Sustainable Life)
by Michael and Audrey Levatino
I haven’t read this from cover to cover…I’ve picked it up and perused the contents and read the sections on animals. In general it looks like a decent overview of running a small farming business, from finding your potential property and buying the necessary equipment to raising flowers and veggies for the farmers market. They also take a very brief look at raising animals on your hobby farm. I am hoping to actually sit down and read the whole book this month and will give a full report then.
Magazines
My magazine list may sound kind of wacky, with some liberal leaning to pretty libertarian/conservative publications on my end table right now. I currently subscribe to Organic Gardening, Mother Earth News and Backwoods Home Magazine…and I enjoy all of them.
Organic Gardening
Sifting through the Feb/March issue, I see at least 2 or 3 articles that beckon me to stop writing and start reading…A Tale of Two Food Deserts, Cabbage & Company, and Earthworm Economics. There is also a seed starting how to article and plenty of yummy looking recipes. I hope to get to that later today.
Mother Earth News
The Dec/Jan issue has been here for a while now and I really liked the articles on How to Afford Better Food, Measure Your Energy Costs and Add Up the Savings, and 13 Homemade Cleaning Recipes. There’s some info I’ve read before, but it’s good to be reminded of things that have settled into the recesses of the brain. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the issue soon.
Backwoods Home
…is always a great read, even though I don’t necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in the editorials. It does get me to thinking, however, and that is usually a good thing! There is an opinion piece about Ron Paul for President, and it’s interesting…but I would like to see them list a few more of Ron Paul’s stances on issues. I like some of his opinions, but there is such a dichotomy there, that I have trouble deciding whether or not I like the idea of him as president. Anyway, the how-to articles are what I really look for and this issue does not disappoint. I especially liked the articles on the 7 core areas of preparedness. raising rabbits (which I did for several years), making homemade pasta (always better when home made), and bartering.
So this is the list of what I am planning to read, or finish reading this month. Other things may pop up along the road and I’ll let you know if they are noteworthy.
Happy reading!
