The Have-More Plan

Originally published in 1945, this falls somewhere between suburban commuter utopia and back-to-the-land - an odd relic of a time when people could seriously plan on a daily commute from a small farm to a city job and back. Still, it contains a remarkable amount of basic homesteading information.

Underground Houses

Another classic earth-sheltered house book. Covers a lot of practical details left out of others.

Goodbye to the Flush Toilet

If you're using the usual approach to your waste products, you're wasting water and soil nutrients as well. There are plenty of safe, tested alternatives. Here's an introduction to most of them.

The Foxfire Book

This and its many sequels (I've seen ten volumes so far) may be the best resource on Earth for hardcore homesteading in the temperate parts of North America. Assembled by Wigginton, a public school teacher in dirt-poor Rabun Gap, GA, and a couple of generations of his students, these books are crammed with articles and essays about the skills of getting by, Appalachian style. Build a log cabin, weave a basket, butcher a hog, make a wagon, tan a hide, hammer red-hot iron into something useful...take your pick (or do them all), the details are here.

The Foxfire Book 2

The Foxfire Book 3

The Foxfire Book 4

The Foxfire Book 5

The Foxfire Book 6

The Foxfire Book 7

The Foxfire Book 8

The Foxfire Book 9

The Foxfire Book 10

The Foxfire Book 11

The Foxfire Book 12

Foxfire Boxed Sets

Books 1, 2 & 3 in a boxed set

Books 4, 5 & 6 in a boxed set