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Publisher: New Society Publishers
Pub. Date: 2018-08-17
ISBN: 9780865718937
Format: Paperback - 224 pages
Size: 7.5" x 9" (w x h)
BISAC: HOUSE & HOME / Sustainable Living

The Frugal Homesteader

Living the Good Life on Less

“Practical advice . . . from the farm field to foraging in the forest . . . a must-have for anyone looking to transition from homeowner to homesteader.”—Scott Mann, host of The Permaculture Podcast

Build your homesteading dreams with all the affordable DIY innovations, tips, and stories you need to successfully launch you on a path to self-sufficiency. Raise and grow your own food, connect with nature, and consume less while producing more! The Frugal Homesteader is a fun, inspirational, and educational guide filled with a lifetime of learning that comes along with becoming a homesteader. Following dozens of successful families who have been motivated to make do, make new, and make more while saving money and living off the land, this book covers such topics as:

  • Outfitting your garden
  • Equipping your barn and outbuildings
  • Protecting and providing for your animals
  • Harvesting rainwater
  • Heating with wood
  • Foraging
  • Producing more of what you need to thrive in harder times.

Whether you’re just starting out and looking for new, sustainable, and affordable ideas, approaches, and techniques, or you’re a small-scale farmer in regenerative agriculture, The Frugal Homesteader is the DIY manual to help you succeed.

“This book is worth its weight in gold . . . an account of direct lived experience: jam-packed with tips and tricks from doing the homestead life each and every day.”—Ben Falk, homesteader and author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead

“This is a rich bounty of ideas that will be equally usefully to old hands and shiny new start-ups alike, whether on rural acreage or urban lot.”—Jenni Blackmore, author of The Food Lover’s Garden

About the Author

John Moody is a homesteader and farmer, and is founder of Whole Life Services and CEO of Steader, an online video-based learning platform that brings the best practitioners to guide and inspire those who find the joy in raising and growing their own food. John speaks and presents at homesteading conferences and events and is a contributor to numerous magazines, journals, and websites. John, his wife, and their five children live, farm, and homestead on 35 acres in Kentucky.


"If anyone has put in his 10,000 hours and 10 years of experience, it's John Moody and family. That you and I get to glean from his experience and wisdom is a rare treat, a true honor."
Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm, from the Foreword

"This book is worth its weight in gold — actually, after a handful of years it's likely to be worth more. Unlike so many books this is an account of direct lived experience: jam-packed with tips and tricks from doing the homestead life each and every day. This would have saved me a lot of time if I had read it at the outset of my land endeavors. The resourcefulness shown in this work is impressive and though the warmer climate doesn't always apply to my locale directly, nearly all of the content is applicable to my situation with minor adjustments. Much of it is simply brilliant and makes me think of a variety of opportunities and approaches for adjusting my own system 15 years in."
Ben Falk, homesteader and author, The Resilient Farm and Homestead

"The Frugal Homesteader is a great resource for every homestead, proving that "affordable" doesn't mean "junk". Even as an experienced homesteader, John's storytelling pulled me in and kept me turning pages. He shares not only the great project results, but common pitfalls and problems to avoid."
Laurie Neverman, creator, Common Sense Home

"Just when I thought I had it all figured out, John Moody's book comes along. Wow! Suddenly it's time for a major re-fit. Not only is The Frugal Homesteader packed with well-thought-out innovations, it re-invents the word "frugal" to encompass the term "eco-friendly". This is a rich bounty of ideas that will be equally usefully to old hands and shiny new start-ups alike, whether on rural acreage or urban lot. It's written with an easy-to-read passion for the Earth and I totally love how this book rejects consumerism's need for new in favor of intelligent re-use and re-purposing. Delighted to have The Frugal Homesteader on my shelf! Thank you, John."
Jenni Blackmore, author, The Food Lover's Garden and Permaculture for the Rest of Us

"I've been waiting for someone to produce a book that was worth my full endorsement and I've found it. Full of UN-common sense and overflowing with wit, wisdom and wonderful advice, The Frugal Homesteader is definitely going at the top of the list of "must own and read" books for all of my clients."
Nick Ferguson, sustainable agriculture designer, consultant, and educator; and founder, Homegrown Liberty

"In this hands-on book, John Moody gives readers the gift of practical advice they can use from the farm field to foraging in the forest. The result is a must-have for anyone looking to transition from homeowner to homesteader."
Scott Mann, host, The Permaculture Podcast

"John Moody turned "a run-down, rock-solid-clay, no-top-soil, 35 acres" into a productive, ecologically vibrant homestead. The Frugal Homesteader is chock-full of practical advice for doing the same, together with warnings about "gotchas" potentially disastrous for the unsuspecting beginner". Frugal" to this author means more than saving money by, for example, utilizing salvageable resources otherwise going extravagantly to waste. He considers as well frugality of time and effort, with strategies that meet several needs in the same project — for example, managing pigs and chickens to forage natural feeds while making homestead-scale quantities of compost."
Harvey Ussery, author, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock and themodernhomestead.us


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