Back to Basics

Anyone who wants to rediscover the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. The hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations in Back to Basics will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese.

More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers—even if you live in a city apartment, you will find your imagination sparked, and there's no reason why you can't, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug or make your own soap or a raised garden bed in a community space.