If you want to build a straw bale house, read this book.
597783
If you THINK you want to build a straw bale house then read "The Straw Bale House"; it has nice pictures and will convince you to build.  When it comes time to build your straw bale house read this book.  Straw bale design and building methods are improving with each new straw  bale house built so read the latest information available.  This book gives  you all the facts you need about straw bale houses.  We are currently  building a straw bale house in Arizona, and used this book to do it.  They  just make it sound so easy.  Matts is an extreme character, but he knows  how to build a straw bale house, and he can show you how to do it too.
4842683
I have used to this book to build corral fencing, rail fencing, and electrical fencing. I found this book invaluable in planning and building all these fences. For wooden fences it has practical and good ideas about layout, wood, and setting and preserving posts. The chapter on wire fencing is invaluable and saved us a lot of work especially for the electrical fencing we installed.

The text and instructions are clear and the illustrations are very helpful. This book has a permanent place on my bookshelf.
3281638
You'd think a "not so big" house would be not so expensive, but this book isn't about building small, budget-conscious homes. It's really directed at the group of wealthy people who usually build 3,000+ square foot homes. The author shows these people how they can build a home with more character and better materials by forgoing rooms like the much-unused dining rooms of yesteryear, large foyers and hallways and creating floor plans where rooms open to each other and their characters are determined by the placement of furniture. It's good advice for anyone building a home, no matter what his or her budget may be. Just don't be fooled by the photos if what you really can afford is something under $250,000. You aren't likely to be able to build one of these homes for that. (...)
494885
As a student of Natural Building and Baubiologie, I have been waiting impatiently for this book to be completed. It is very well written and illustrated, and Robert and Paula's passion and knowledge clearly shine through. If you are interested in creating a healthy home, you owe it to yourself to peruse this book, experience an Econest workshop, and consider building a Light Straw Clay structure.
3845346
If you're planning to buy a lake house, build a hunting camp or move out past the suburbs to have room to garden, raise livestock and live the rural life, I strongly suggest you get this book before you buy the property. If you already have a place in the country, this book can help you solve many problems about gardening, food preservation, when to plant what, and managing livestock, and give helpful hints for different types of activities that'll enrich the lives of you and your family. Do you want to build a firepit, create a place to play horseshoes, know how to remove ticks or care for your chimney? You'll find the answers in this book. Mashburn has plenty of tips and tactics to make rural living more fun and less work. If you've always dreamed about moving to the country, you'll really enjoy this book also, whether you move or don't move past the asphalt.
3596440
Great book with lots of helpful details.  This is our first straw bale garden attempt and this book was invaluable!
1687330
If you think you're interested in Cob building...and you only buy one book about it...this is the book you want. Hands on, no baloney, get down in the mud and build a house. Becky Bee writes a wonderfully concise and detailed guide on how to bring your 'dream' house to fruition. It's an artistic 'how to' that doesn't step on your creativity...just tells you how to get the danged thing out of your imagination and into the real world.
BTW...if you don't have a lot of friends you might be in trouble cuz this is a labor intensive way to build a house. I saw one up in Sonora, California that was just sooooo cool.
Thanks Becky...I think you're the best!!
2626699
I really enjoyed reading this book and the author's main point: livestock owners should seek to grow the highest quality hay AND he explains what that quality IS and how to get it. There was a good bit of scientific explanation on why plants need the fertilizers they do and the nutritional benefits to livestock that are provided and it was easy to understand (ex: Calcium is needed for the cell membrane function etc) He also explained how to check the sugar levels, the simple equipment needed, and what was most desirable. This book is best for someone who already knows the ins and outs of crop farming.
4202860
If you want to learn about and how to build a house out of earthbags then you found the right book.  I have a piece of property in the north woods of Wisconsin, and I was looking into building a cabin.  I looked at all the traditional ways to do it.  By accident I was looking at my fav site and it featured  a how to on earthbag building.  I was intrigued. It was a great intro but it didn't really answer my questions.  So while browsing my other fav site (amazon) I found this book.  After reading it cover to cover, it opened my eyes to the possibilities of building my dream cabin without spending a ton of money nor would I have to worry about chopping a bunch of trees to make a log cabin.  If you plan on doing this, make a lot of friends and invite them over to help. Trust me it will cut down on the costs that way too.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do this.
The pro is also a con with this book.  It gives you a lot of info on how to do this, but it leaves it open in a way that invites you to experiment with the designs.

If you are looking for a way to build with out hurting the world around you, and you want something that can withstand an earthquake, blizzard, and most anything else mother nature can throw at you.  This is the book that can help you build it.
1392759
The one straw revolution is writen by a man by the name Masanobu Fukuoka a japaneese philosopher and farmer who mainly farmed rice and grains , in this book he not only introduces us to his knowledge on natural farming and do-nothing farming methods (a predeccesor to permaculture) which can also be applied on a small scale domestic herb or veg garden , he also shares his philosphies of the natural world and gives practical input to some of the problems our food indutry is still facing today , i personally think the world could be alot happier if everybody read this book ,i would recommend this book to anybody wanting to learn about organic gardening and its tasty benefits , anybody looking to live  healthier lifestyle or the common activist .i would esspecially recommend it to anybody who owns a large farm property and wants to learn about self-sustainability
4822792
terrific advice here from a writer who knows how to build structure.
She compares it to building a house, from the ground up.
It's a great visual
1370371
This is a great book with great illustrations. Just by thumbing through this book, you can get a lot out of it.  The illustrations provided say a lot. The text provided is straight forward, easy to read and understand. I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially those who wish to design, build or have a house built. Even if you are not a green kind of person, this book has a variety of construction methods that really make sense for energy efficiency.
4358701
This is a good book on straw bale.  It is quite realistic and written by somebody who obviously has a great deal of experience.  Alas, it was realistic enough to talk me out of straw bale building.  Well worth reading to assess if straw bale is right for you.  Not a rose coloured glasses view on straw bale.
2515592
I first stumbled on this wonderful book in our local library. Read it cover to cover in two weeks and unfortunatly had to return it but, it is on my birthday wish list. This is the most informative book on the subject I have read to date. Mr Mitchell did an excellent job in the chapters covering the details of modular log home construction. Many of which I plan to use in the very near future.
2461326
This book starts with selecting property for building a home and continues through construction to maintenance and entertainment.  It contains much detailed knowledge and each subject is well explained.  Graphics and illustrations are good and well formed.  I would recommend this book for any home builder, farmer, do-it-yourselfer or alternative urbanite.
1144368
This book could be quite useful. I plan to take elements from several of the plans for my future goat shed. As we live in Florida
modifications are needed because of the semi-tropical tropical climate and the possibility of a hurricane.
4208789
Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini

Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini is a book of recipes, projects and skills for a self-sufficient life.  If you have spent your life eating out of the grocery store but have been hearing scary news articles or just want to know how to grow your own then this is the book for you.  This book will walk you through making raised garden beds. Then this book gives you recipes for using your homegrown produce.  It tells of the easiest to grow.  It tells which grow best, which grow in cool weather, and which in warm.  Or if you don't want to know how to grow your own but just want to know which pretty flower or weeds in your yard are edible this is the book for you.  It gives tips on living off the land no matter where your land is even in the city.  Now don't however think that you can with the knowledge in this book you could go off grid.  This would be the first book to read--not the last.  There are a few easy crafts that one can make on the cheap for gifts or making your own glasses from wine and beer bottles.  If you remember real homemade sour kraut that grandma made and want to know how to make it yourself then reading this book can tell you.  There is DIY projects like making your own home made paper stationary or other paper products out of your grocery sacks or other paper products.  Maybe you don't recycle but would like to be part of the reuse or up-use population.  Want to eat pickled eggs but paying $6.00 for a small jar of them is too much?  This book can walk you through making your own.  Want to throw a party but have no keg to serve beverages? Make one from a watermelon.  Been reading the health news about the benefits of using caste iron but everything sticks?  This book tells you how to season it so that sticking is no longer a problem and no worries about the Teflon health scares either.

 If I were a beginner just wanting to learn some of the basics for starting to live simply this is the best first book to read.  It neither talks over your head nor makes you feel like you are reading a 6 year old primer.  It has looks of pictures and drawings where needed also.  It has simple party suggestions as well as making garden beds and as I mentioned earlier making glasses out of beer bottles (this sounded trickier than I wanted to try).  What to do with the mushrooms you just found-are they poisonous? how to cook? what do they taste like?  Do you have 1 1/2 # of almonds and want to know how to make milk out of them?  Oh the list goes on and on.

 I would suggest this book for anyone wanting to learn how to live more simply and safely.  2 thumbs up for easy to read and understand.
 I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.