This page will show you This page is going to show you how anyone can live 100% off the grid with just 1/4 acre of land.
This page will also show you exact step by step instructions on how to create all your own electricity, drinking and bathing water, etc.
Ron and johanna are what some people call modern day pioneers. Ever since the late 1970s they've been surviving and thriving off-the-grid.
If you want to follow in their footsteps everything you need is found inside the backyard. This unique off-grid living book written by ron and johanna will show you the challenges as well as the great rewards this lifestyle has to offer. Youll learn from their mistakes and get the complete blueprints for their best diy projects refined over decades that will help you become a homesteader. Even if you dont plan on cutting cords with society just yet the backyard can teach you how to cut costs and make money out of a tiny piece of land even in the city.
It applies the zero waste philosophy on a small individual scale prioritizing a production cycle with little waste and a positive environmental impact.
Larger acreages often come with water rights to streams creeks and ponds. Diverting this water taking care not to disrupt naturally occurring environmental processes can water your garden with untreated clean h2o.
Sustainable jungle acknowledges the bunurong boonwurrung people as the traditional owners of this country pays tribute to all aboriginal and torres strait islander people in this land and gives respect to the elders past present and emerging.
When i heard that ron melchiore and his wife had written the backyard i knew i had to get myself a copy. Ive read about them before and i always wanted to follow in their footsteps to live a free independent back to the roots life.
There are few living people whom i look to for advice because for me the person giving it has to practice what they preach. Ron melchiore is one of them as hes been living a life ever since the late 1970s. In that time a powerline has never been connected to any of the homesteads hes built and lived in.
The self sufficient backyard has 265 pages in letter format 8. 5 x 11. 0 in so its a pretty large book with a legible font making it easy to read even for seniors like me. The paper quality is ok but it could be improved somewhat.
Another thing i like about this book is that it has step by step color pictures for all the projects inside. The self sufficient backyard really looks like an in-depth book with lots of instructions along the way. You can actually see that it was written by someone whos done these projects many times before.
I could immediately tell that the backyard leaned more towards the precise and practical way although it did have some background stories about ron and johanna and how they started out in this kind of self-sustained living cut away from society. But that makes it a very pleasant read.
With the self sufficient backyard ron and johanna created a blueprint for anyone who wants to follow in their footsteps into a self-reliant and independent life.
With the plan in place ron goes on to show the reader how to grow year-round food using just a little over 1000 feet of the property. The following chapters go into great detail on how to turn this simple paper sketch into rock-solid reality and reap the benefits that come along with that.
The self sufficient backyard is the most extensive guide ive seen on living off-the-grid and making a good living out of it. If you want to cut cords with modern society and go your own way this is the book for you. If you want to build some projects on your property that will make you a little more this is also a book for you.
This is by far the best guide to ive ever came across. I recommend the self sufficient backyard to anyone who wants to be more self-reliant and independent. There has never been a better time in history to have this book on your bookshelf and start these awesome diy projects from the comfort of your own home.
If the rest of the book continues as the first 25 has been the book is a very valuable guide to anyone contemplating a return to homesteading in my opinion. I would point out that the authors are no newbies to homesteading. They have established three separate homesteads. The first one was on a rural plot in main. The second was in the province of saskatchewan canada and their third and presumably their last is in nova scotia. In each case they started from scratch. The first homestead was started when ron melchiore was single. The second and third homesteads were when the couple were married.
Hello chicken lady. It is people like you that keep us going. Johanna and i thank you for the wonderful feedback on our book. We are so pleased you found the book useful and entertaining as well. We wish you the best. Stay safe ron.
I have often stated that my knowledge of , is limited to dont stick a screwdriver in an outlet to see if it is hot. Oh and , is nothing to fool with if you dont know what you are doing.
That said with rons explanation of how to set up a solar system and the drawbacks and problems of a wind system with which he has first hand experience i feel that following his detailed description i just might be able to ask intelligent questions and follow what the electrician was telling me about setting up a solar system that would actually work.
He even talks about what to do with excreta on your off-the-grid farmstead. I had always thought human excreta was only something used in very poor third world countries as fertilizer but ron explains in detail how he uses that to fertilize his plants.
That is some of the good. Now to the bad. Wading through all the b. S. That seems to be necessary to sell something on line one finds out that to get a hard copy of the book in ones hands and i would only recommend a hard copy electronic media holds no charms for me it is going to cost you 46. 00 to get this publication in your hot little hands.
While it is a trifle on the pricey side it is a limited edition book. Its appeal is not mass market. There is no sex in the book and limited violence as ron describes the best way to kill chickens for the dinner pot. As a printing company owner i can assure you without fear of contradiction that the cost of printing and bindery a run of 500 books is very expensive. For not much more in terms of total dollars a printing run of 5000 books is not a whole lot more. However for the small time self-publisher the total cost between 500 and 5000 is significant. So while you may blanch at the cost of 46. 00 for a book that sunset publishing would sell for 19. 95 remember that sunset publishing owns the printing press and the bindery so they are buying wholesale ron and his wife were basically buying printing and bindery at retail and then trying to break even hoping to sell enough books that they had to pre-buy to cover their costs. I can assure you that the printer did not let the books go out the door until he had payment in full for the run. So the price is not excessive realizing how much it costs to print a short run of a professionally done book and i can state with certainty that this book was professionally done from careful proofreading to clear typesetting printing and bindery.
My main problem is that the agency they are using to process the electronic currency is clickbank and i have had nothing but trouble with purchases through clickbank and have vowed not to purchase anything that is sold through that particular clearing house. If this were listed on amazon i would have already sent in my order. Your experience may be different but i see enough complaints on this list to suspect that i am not the only one with clickbank problems.
Bottom line for its contents if you have even the slightest idea that you will be doing the following installing a well or water line growing vegetables sprouts herbs installing a solarwindmill system storing fuel both diesel and gasoline raising chickens clearing land preparing wood for winter use building a cabin on isolated land living in or moving to a remote location this is a must-have book.
Hello left coast chuck. A sincere thank you to you and others who have made such nice comments about our book. Johanna and i are certainly happy that you found the information of value. We tend to put our heart and soul into everything we do and one never knows how something like our book is received by readers until we hear back from them so we are truly grateful for your time. In regards to the price of the product that is set by the publisher. There should be plenty of books available on amazon. The only thing is with the clickbank deal a person gets 3 additional ebooks for the purchase price of our book. So its a better bargain if the ebook topics are of interest. And im happy to see your public service announcement. A screwdriver is not the appropriate tool to check for live outlets. All the best chuck. Stay safe. Ron.
In your first sentence you state ron melchiore and his wife. They co-authored the book i think johann deserves the recognition of being noted here as more than just rons wife.
Just completed the self sufficient backyard. As a retired editor reading usually just drives me crazy but this book delighted me. If there was a wasted word in those 265 pages i failed to find it. Well organized easy to read and precise in its detail. This book covers it all. Having a history of flirting with living off-grid and building with no help i feel qualified to say this book is spot on. Living off-grid is no picnic. It is a tough way to live but barring serious accidents it is a most rewarding life game. Why call it a game because living that way is not a necessity in most of north america and basically you are doing it for the sheer challenge. If you are doing it or are going to do it or do parts of it this is the book to have in hand.
Old wild lady. Wow you sure made our night. In honesty johanna and i both wrote and edited the book. I like to joke that between the 2 of us we make one good writer. We are so pleased that you found the book not only informative but well written. We give everything we do our level best so its most gratifying that you and others feel the book is worthy of your time and hard earned money. Thank you so much for your feedback stay well.
Hello sharon thank you very much for your interest in our book. The gardening principals are universal regardless of where one lives. Weve had to adapt measures in order to successfully garden in colder climates. You are fortunate enough to have a much longer growing season. Gardens require planting a seed water nutrition and cultivation no matter where one lives. Keep in mind our book deals with far more topics and matter than just gardening. Water solar electric chickens food preservation theres a lot of information. We wish you the best. Stay safe ron.
