The book behind most of these projects
The Self-Sufficient Backyard — Ron and Johanna Melchiore. 265 pages, letter size, large print.
Who wrote it
A couple who have lived off the grid since the late 1970s and built three homesteads — first in northern Saskatchewan, where the nearest pharmacy was a hundred miles away by plane, and now in Nova Scotia. Both are in their sixties and designed their latest place to need less work, not more.
What it covers
- A plan for a quarter acre — the authors put the food needs of one person at about 1,020 square feet, and the layout scales down to a small yard
- Water: rain collection and filtering, dug and drilled wells, hand pumps, hot water without the grid
- Food storage: several kinds of root cellar, from a full walk-in down to a barrel or a trash can
- Preserving vegetables, fruit, meat and eggs without electricity; saving seed
- A year-round greenhouse, cold frames, microgreens indoors in winter
- Chickens and bees
- A chapter on gardening that does not wreck your back — raised designs, less bending
- Around a hundred small money-saving tips scattered through the book
What it is not
It is not a book of engineering drawings. One reader put it well: it does not go into minute detail on every single thing — it gives you the methods the authors tried, with the pros and cons of each, so you know what to build and what to research further.
If you want exact cut lists and dimensions for one specific structure, buy a plan for that structure instead. If you want the whole picture of a small self-sufficient lot from people who have actually lived it for forty years, this is that book.
What the deal includes
- The printed book, plus a digital copy
- Three digital bonuses: an aquaponics guide, a collection of 1900s DIY projects, and a guide to free land in the US
- A 60-day money-back guarantee from the seller
Affiliate link — we earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. We recommend it because the projects on this site come from the same methods; we have not been paid to say anything in particular about it.