Books

Am almost finished reading and highlighting and post-it noting "Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada". It is by Lone Pine Publishing. It's expensive, $30. But well worth it, in my opinion.

I recommend this book for every Canadian SHTF Preparedness Library.

Thanks,
I love books on edible and medicinal plants, I will look it up and see if it is the same one as I have, if not, I will order it as well.
Cheers ~ED

The Airtight Woodstove Cookbook (c1981) Dale Y Darling
Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning:Traditional Techniques (c2007) The Gardners and Farmers of Terre Vivante

I admit, my SHTF library runs to the food end of things. My reading for fun library is heavy into SciFi, so its less usefull here... or at least it better be. If I find myself gleaning space opera for survival tips, the world's offically gone to hell in a handbasket.

Now a request for a recommendation. I'm having no luck finding a good book dealing with field sanitation, especially with medium to long term solutions. "Don't poop near the water and bury it when you're done" is fine for a few days, but it gets awkward after a while. So, I'm looking for books on outhouses, septic fields, low volume waste processing, the works. Does anyone have any suggestions?

hey, Aphrael

I don't know about books, but have you googled Composting Toilets?

Some are even manufactured in Canada. Home Depot sells a selection of composting toilets, but they are kind of expensive.
But I guess it would be better than being up to your a** in uncontained poo. 😳 😆

I'll give them a look, thanks for the idea!

I am reading a good book called "The Electrical Life of Michael Faraday" by Alan Hirshfeld.

Here's a quote from the dust jacket:

"Michael Faraday's research created the world as we know it: his experiments with copper disks evolved into the generators that power our computers, and his wire-encased iron rings led to the transformers that safely allow electricity into our homes. Einstein praised his theories on space, force and light as the "greatest alteration ... in our conception of the structure of reality since the foundation of theoretical physics by Newton."

The Electric Life of Michael Faraday traces the life of a poor tradesman who, through sheer gumption and well-timed luck, rose through the ranks of the scientific elite to become the most influential experimentalist of our time."

I haven't got to the part about the Faraday Cage, yet, but as a prepper that is my reason for having such an interest. Got the book at Munro's for 5.99

There's an interesting youtube video about home composting toilets http://www.youtube.com/user/peakmoment#p/u/29/tdN_3x8VNCY the best part is that it's extremely affordable to build. It's on the Peak Moment youtube channel which has lots of interesting videos about sustainable living and they have also touched on food storage briefly.

Foxglove

This week's books are "The Pocket Prepper" by Bernie Carr and Evan Wondolowski, and a fictional read "The Jakarta Pandemic" by Stephen Konkoly.

I wish I had my 'off the grid' books unpacked, there are some chapters on outhouses and the like...I will post the book titles as soon as I am able.

I just read Yann Martel, life of pi. If i ever complain about my life, all just think of that pour kid in a boat at sea with a bangel tiger.

This isn't a book, but an article from 'Common Ground', a free health magazine that can be picked up at The Vitamin Shop or Lifestyles Market. It usually contains political and/or environmental articles, too. David Suzuki has a regular column. Anyway, the Sep 2011 issue has an article about the International Hearings on 9/11 in Toronto Sep 8 to 11. They have a website:

http://torontohearings.org

Okay, this isn't a book, either.
Just watched "Inside Job", a documentary, narrated by Matt Damon, about the global meltdown. I liked it, gives a good overview of all that I've read in bits and pieces over the years.
Here's some info about the movie at the Internet Movie Data Base site.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/

Inside Job is an excellent doc!! So is Tapped ...

Just finished reading Deep Winter... great s.h.t.f book on life in Washington State after the Big One ...

Earlier Aphrael wrote:

"Now a request for a recommendation. I'm having no luck finding a good book dealing with field sanitation, especially with medium to long term solutions. "Don't poop near the water and bury it when you're done" is fine for a few days, but it gets awkward after a while. So, I'm looking for books on outhouses, septic fields, low volume waste processing, the works. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

I was cruising around the survival sites, came across this on composting human manure:

http://weblife.org/humanure/index.html

You can download a pdf file or order the book.

Through our unpacking I have finally come across a couple of my homesteading/self-sustaining books. I am big on pictorials when it comes to d.i.y, when it comes to most projects, I have a strong desire to know what something should look like at the end.

The Self-Sufficiency Specialist (Essential Guide to Designing and Planning Off-Grid Self Reliance) by A & G Bridgewater.

Not a huge volume, but touches on the basics of everything to get you started from off-grid water/recycling water, gardening, insulation, solar to keeping basic livestock, food storage, drying food, preserving and making beer and wine, soap and candles. Not comprehensive but enough basics to give you a better understanding, many things are adaptable to different lifestyles whether in the country or in town.

The Self Sufficient Lifestyle and How to Live It by John Seymour with Will Sutherland.

Much more comprehensive and probably geared a more to country living but plenty of great ideas for the lifestyle in town or city too. The list is long but here goes:
Gardening: for everything from urban gardens through to a 5 acre farm, gardening section is quite large and very helpful and includes a large index on vegetables fruits and herbs, year round cultivation, to the edible part of plants.
Food from Animals : Everything from basic livestock, care ( and cuts) through to rabbits, bees and honey.
Food from the Fields: Clearing, woodlands,preparing land, sowing,harvesting, cereals / grains, oil crops,root crops, grass/hay ( really helps to have a farm for this chapter 😉 )
Food from the Wild: Game, fish and sea foods, plants, nuts and berries, mushrooms...
Dairy: Everything dairy from caring for cows/shelter to making butter, cream and cheese.
In the Kitchen : North facing storage, storing, breads, preserving, freezing, canning, pickling, jams and syrups, meats fish and veg.
Brewing and Wine-Making: as it sounds and includes ciders and vinegar.
Energy and Waste: Dry Toilet, Managing Waste, Energy, solar, wind, fuel from waste.
Crafts and Skills: Great section for learning new skills. Buildings, knots and rope work, basketry, pottery, spinning wool, dyeing and weaving, bricks and tiles, stone, metal, thatching, wood-working, household items, making a pond to farm fish, etc etc... ( Some basic how-to's to introduce you to it and you can seek further resources for more in-depth.)

No one book can be everything but this one sure tried and has done a pretty good job, great graphics for the diy. I considered this a general education on a broad range of self sufficiency and though an apartment dweller, I found many things I could adapt to my current circumstances. Learning additional skills can never be a waste! As I unpack more books, I will post more titles.