Required Books
We highly recommend that you get them asap. Most of them can be found used for very little money. If you can’t afford them right now, let us know, and we can figure something out. You will get reading assignments from many of these books before the apprenticeship commences.
If you want to find these books locally, more power to you! If you want to buy them online, we participate in an associate program with Amazon.com, and when you click on the links below, we benefit. The money that we make from this program goes into a fund to help us continue to offer free information to everyone.
Required for the Apprenticeship and for the Earthskills Program
The Organic Gardener’s Handbook by Frank Tozer
If you are going to have one gardening book, I recommend this one.
The Real Goods Independent Builder by Sam Clark
The book that can help you build a house, or something else. This is not a “natural building” book. Rather, it’s about building with wood and materials that we have access to here. Wood is the most abundant natural building material we have in the southern mountains.
The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach by Ben Falk
Currently my favorite permaculture book. Ben is very smart. The content is relatively relevant to the southern Appalachians, even though he lives in Vermont. Please read chapter 1 before arriving.
Botany in a Day by Thomas J. Eipel
Awesome book that breaks down botany into a graspable science. It will take you more than a day to read. We will assign readings as we go.
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
A book about developing yourself into one who dares greatly. There are sections on shame, vulnerability, and much more. Changes most peoples’ lives.
Required for the Apprenticeship, but not the Earthskills Program
Non-violent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
A critical part of our being here together is communication. This is a small, sweet, and intense book that lays out a very effective strategy that we utilize here a lot. Please read the whole thing (if possible before apprenticeship commences).
Soulcraft by Bill Plotkin
A guidebook to the stages of being human, and how to work on becoming a more mature one.
The Transformational Power of Fasting: The Way to Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional Rejuvenation by Steven Harrod Buhner
A very thorough and insightful book on fasting. It covers the history and physiological processes of fasting, plus provides step by step guidance and support.
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
If you haven’t already discovered the beautiful, nature-based poetry of Mary Oliver, you’re in for a treat. She writes about life through the lens of her connection with the natural world and her place in it.
Bird Song: 250 North American Birds in Song by Les Beletsky
During your apprenticeship you will learn to identify birds simply by hearing their songs! This beautiful book will help. It’s got profiles of 250 bird songs, with images as well as recordings of their songs.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
I know it sounds cheesy, but this book is truly deep and amazing. It can transform deep habits that are impairing you from reaching your full potential in relationships with others, relationship with self, and relationship to your true potential
Highly Recommended (Not Required) Books
The Intelligent Gardener by Steve Solomon
Really entertaining gardening book that goes deeply into soil science, and especially soil remineralization. I love it.
Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford
My very favorite applied Permaculture book. I especially recommend the chapter on guilds.
Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier
Fabulous book with tons of tempting plants. Eric will be going over many of these species during his lecture on the subject, but I highly recommend having the book for reference.
Rodale’s Garden Answers: Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs
Awesome for troubleshooting in the garden.
Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb
The book to use when identifying flowering plants in the field in this area.
If you purchase this book, read over pages x through xix in the introduction to begin.
Other books that we think are awesome, but in no way require
General
Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
Country Women by Jeanne Tetrault and Sherry Thomas
Building
Building Green by Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan
The Barefoot Architect: a handbook for green building by Johan van Lengen
Alternative House Building by Mike McClintock
Gardening
Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
Growing More Vegetables Than You Could Ever Imagine in Less Space Than You Thought Possible
by John Jeavons
The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe
Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden by Gilbert Wilson
The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for Home and Market Gardener by Eliot Coleman
Plants
The Illustrated Book of Trees by William Carey Grimm
Wildflower and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachians by Timothy Spira
Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by “Wildman” Steve Brill
Botanica North America by Marjorie Harris
The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer
Nature’s Garden by Samuel Thayer
Tools and Such
Seasons of America’s Past by Eric Sloane
An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward
The Ax Book: The Lore and Science of the Woodcutter by Dudley Cook
Butchering and Food Preservation
The River Cottage Cookbook by the Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall
Putting Food By by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg and Beatrice Vaughan
Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
Pickled, Potted and Canned: The Story of Food Preserving by Sue Shephard
The Ethical Meat Handbook by Meredith Leigh
Animal Husbandry
Chicken Tractors by Andy Lee
Goat Husbandry by David Mackenzie
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery
Keeping a Family Cow by Joann S. Grohman
Primitive Skills
Primitive Living, Self Sufficiency, and Survival Skills by Thomas J. Eipel
Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger
Buckskin: The Ancient Art of Braintanning by Steven Edholm and Tamara Wilder
Survival Skills of Native California by Paul Campbell
Permaculture
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway
Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture by Sepp Holzer
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
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