Comments on: Seeking the Old Ways: Sources for Homesteading Knowledge

By: Luke

Luke — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 13:04:32 +0000

I deeply empathise with this eloquent article. For anyone interested in traditional and practical holistic medicine and animal husbandry, I recommend reading Juliette de Bairacli Levy’s books. I think most of them are available to buy on Amazon.

By: Forrest G Adams

Forrest G Adams — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 17:05:48 +0000

I did the same. I own the Foxfire set already.

By: Luke Jones

Luke Jones — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 17:13:30 +0000

I relate to everything you wrote about the simultaneous despair and motivation of trying to learn how to do things the traditional way. It feels like my family and I are pushing uphill in every endeavor, and wouldn’t a seasoned mentor be able to cut my effort and mistake rate in half? We will keep pushing! And we teach as many as are willing to listen everything we have learned “the hard way.”

Thanks for writing.

By: Eileen C Millsap

Eileen C Millsap — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:53:32 +0000

Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I believe it is number 3 in the set.
A lot of old ways of living are described in this book.

By: lisa

lisa — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 22:23:04 +0000

This is basically how my husband, who is 67, grew up. They had an outhouse and used a garden hose to bathe when he was a child. We are not homesteading, but we have rebuilt his grandparents’ former home as a retreat home. He knows how it is done to raise your own meat and veggies and live off well water and a septic tank. Yes, they had electricity and eventually, indoor plumbing, but all fairly rudimentary and probably similar to what today’s more modern homesteader is aiming for. I’m amazed at his ingenuity and he is probably one of the last of a dying generation.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:27:35 +0000

Old age and bad health has forced me to move back into town, but even here, there are things to learn and do. I will never build a barn, but I discovered that the spruce in the backyard makes good tea.
I grew up carrying water from a well, carrying in wood, gathering eggs and drinking raw milk. I learned to cook on a woodstove, fish in the river and pick dock in the spring.
I wish you the best in learning and doing what you really want. At the end, you will have fond memories.

By: Lisa Denny

Lisa Denny — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:49:47 +0000

Enjoyed your article! I did a quick check and found Ellen Gray Massey’s book Bittersweet. The paperback version was around $8.