Thanks so much to all of you that came out to ODU's Sustainable Living Fair. In spite of the weather, turn out was high and the seats were full at my Homesteading lecture. I was so excited to see the crowd grow and so many of you that couldn't get a seat standing (for over an hour!) to hear what I had to say about the importance of the informal economy and "keeping it real."
As I said on Saturday, all these trappings around us, whether it is the ability to grab your breakfast, lunch and dinner without leaving your car, or the instant access that we have to one another via our phones and the internet, aren't quite real. In my estimation, the real things are the ones that you can grasp regardless of whether the economy fails us or whether or not your power is operational.
While I am very thankful for the advances in modern culture (I wouldn't be sitting here writing to all of you if it wasn't for these manifestations of human intelligence!) I think that it is crucial for all of us to picture a world where none of these things exist. Get in touch with what is real, build your self esteem and sense of security, pay homage to the ancestors before you that did it the hard way and try your hand at going forwards by going backwards.
To help you on this journey I have, as promised, listed below the books on my shelf that I could not live without. Tomorrow I will post other books that I really wouldn't want to do without, but that are of a more inspirational or motivational nature.
The Virginia Beach Public Library System has been wonderful about getting many of these books on their shelves. It is an easy process to go to your city's library and make a formal request for them. Then you will be sharing these ideas with so many others. One movie that I neglected to mention, but that is important for us all to view is "Farmageddon." It is available through the VBPLS and while it does not give tips on sustainable living, it does tell the plight of many citizens that are merely trying to keep it real. Check it out, see what you think.
INFORMATIVE/ TEACHING BOOKS WITHOUT WHICH I CANNOT LIVE!
The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It
John Seymour
The Permaculture Handbook
Peter Bane
Nourishing Traditions
Sally Fallon
Prescription for Nutritional Healing
Phyllis Balch
The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable (also available for dog and cat)
Juliette de Bairacli Levy (The Gypsy Book!)
The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable Based Soaps
Susan Miller Cavitch
Home Cheesemaking
Ricki Carrol
Whole Foods for the Whole Family
La Leche League Intl
Gaia's Garden~A guide to Home Scale Permaculture
Toby Hemenway
Foraging!
Vicki Shufer
American Wood Heat Cookery
Margaret Byrd Adams
Home Grown Whole Grains
Sara Pitzer
The Mushroom Cultivator
Paul Stamets
The New Age Herbalist
Richard Mabey
