The journey toward self-sufficiency is loaded with opportunities for learning – whether you’re raising animals for the first time, figuring out how to grow all the vegetables you need for a year, or deciding whether to install solar panels.
But self-sufficiency doesn’t have to mean going it alone. Over the course of the last year, I have met and connected with thousands of other homesteaders, gardeners, and folks dedicated to sustainable living over social media. This community tends to be incredibly supportive, which is refreshing when it comes to social media. They also love learning from each other.
In that spirit, and in collaboration with some excellent partners, I am incredibly excited to invite you to join our Homesteaders’ Book Club! This virtual book club is hosted through a Facebook Group and invites those who are interested in self-sufficiency – no matter where they are on the journey – to join in reading a related book during each season of the year.
Each season’s read is sponsored by a partnering publisher, some of whom I’ve met through my great relationship with Mother Earth News. The summer 2018 book group was sponsored by Chelsea Green Publishing and we focused on frugal living. We read The Art of Frugal Hedonism and book group members were immediately taken by the creative and alternative ideas contained within its pages.
There are so many great homesteading books out there – here’s your chance to read them along with others and discuss what you are learning in a supportive online environment!
Fall 2018 Homesteaders’ Book Club
This Fall, we’re focusing on our book group on the journey toward self-sufficiency – what is it like to become a homesteader and what are the different paths that people take? In partnership with Storey Publishing, we’re choosing between three exciting books that are part memoir, part how-to:
Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich
One-Woman Farm: My Life Shared with Sheep, Pigs, Chickens, Goats, and a Fine Fiddle by Jenna Woginrich
The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living by Wendy Jehanara Tremayne
You can read quick summaries of these books on The Happy Hive’s Blog. We invite book club members to vote on the book we’ll read together, and our publisher partner sends a free copy to one lucky book club member! We start reading in October.
Come Learn with Us!
To join the Homesteaders’ Book Club, simply request membership in the Facebook Group. From there, look for the pinned announcement to vote on our current book, and keep in touch to join future reading adventures!
Once we choose the book, you just need to get your hands on a copy (unless you’re our prize winner!) and start reading. During the designated reading month, we’ll post regular discussion prompts so that you can engage with other interested readers and meet people from around the world who share similar interests.
Hope to see you soon, and best wishes on your journey to self-sufficiency!
Carrie Williams Howe is an educational leader by day and an aspiring homesteader by night and weekend. Based in Vermont, she blogs about her family’s homesteading adventures atThe Happy Hive. Connect with her onFacebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
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