Back to Basics by Abigail Gehring

The Ultimate Hands-On Guide to Self-Sufficient, Traditional Living

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, edited by homesteading expert Abigail Gehring, is the comprehensive, full-color reference that has helped hundreds of thousands of readers rediscover the practical skills of earlier generations.

Whether you’re starting a homestead, embracing a simpler lifestyle, or simply want to learn time-tested skills that promote independence and sustainability, this book delivers clear, actionable guidance across every essential area of self-sufficient living.

Inside you’ll find hundreds of projects and step-by-step instructions for:

• Growing and preserving your own food (gardening, canning, drying, cheese-making, and more)
• Raising chickens, bees, and other small livestock
• Building with traditional methods — including log cabins and adobe construction
• Generating energy from wood, water, wind, and sun
• Mastering crafts such as dyeing wool, soap-making, basket weaving, and hand-tool woodworking
• Creating old-fashioned recreation and family fun

Organized into practical sections on shelter, energy, raising and preserving food, home crafts, and recreation, this updated edition is packed with photographs, diagrams, charts, and illustrations that make every skill approachable for beginners and experienced homesteaders alike