Weekend Homesteader: April: Weekend Homesteader, #1

By Anna Hess

Twelve months to self-sufficiency!

This fully updated second edition of the popular Weekend Homesteader series includes exciting, short projects that you can use to dip your toes into the vast ocean of homesteading without getting overwhelmed. If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp lawn in suburbia, or a high rise.

The April volume includes the following projects:

* Find room to homestead
* Survey your site
* Plan your summer garden
* Start a no-till garden with a kill mulch

The second edition has been revised and expanded to match the paperback, with extra photos and feedback from weekend homesteaders just like you, plus permaculture-related avenues for the more advanced homesteader to explore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wetknee Books
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781502220578

Book preview

Acknowledgements

This book–and the homestead it is based on–wouldn't exist without the help of dozens of friends, family members, and strangers.  If I thanked everyone who helped, the acknowledgements section would be as long as the book, so please don't think I've forgotten you if you don't see your name listed here.

My parents Adrianne and Errol Hess made it easy to steal their back-to-the-land dream and turn it into my own.  More recently, Daddy talked me into accepting Skyhorse's kind offer to publish this book on paper, while Mom spent hours poring over every word to make the rough draft a little less rough.  (Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.)

My brother Joey Hess has provided technical support for my family for decades.  He helped me build the blog that later grew into this book, and gave me a free website until I was able to pay my own way.

My sister Maggie Hess recorded our childhood so vividly in her poetry that I was able to stick to writing about plants.  She kindly allowed me to reprint one of her poems in the rain barrel chapter.

Two friends gave me pro bono advice that was essential to the new paperback version of this book.  Seth Johnson helped draft a contract that was in both my and Skyhorse's best interests, while Heather Weidner read the second draft and talked me into removing the preachy bits.  Meanwhile, Jennifer McCartney at Skyhorse Publishing allayed my fears about print publication (and worked hard to craft a beautiful book).

My husband Mark Hamilton took many of the photos in this book, split an excessive amount of firewood so that I could write in front of flickering flames, and kept the farm running while my brain was deeply engrossed in the manuscript.  He reminds me every day that I live in paradise.

Every one of our blog readers had a hand in this book.  They asked great questions, shared their experiences, and connected us to a larger homesteading community.  Some even contributed photos and advice that you'll see on these pages.  But I have to thank two readers specifically: Everett Sizemore at www.livingasimplelife.com helped us reach a wider audience, and Darren Collins at www.green-change.com came up with the idea of a book for Weekend Homesteaders.  I hope you'll join this community of readers by visiting us at www.waldeneffect.org.

Finally, our farm has supported every step along our homesteading path, both literally and figuratively.  Despite being clearcut and eroded by previous owners, she decided to take a chance on us.  She has been bountiful and beautiful and has provided everything we really need.

Introduction

Do you dream of growing your own food, spending your days tending a flock of chickens and a big garden?  Do you yearn for land, or perhaps for a homestead in the city?