The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It

great book and resource for someone wanting to create a less dependent life for a sustainable future.

I regret buying this book. It reminds me of the picture books I used to read as a child, with the farm animals and the tractors, only, perhaps, this book has slightly more realistic drawings and smaller lettering.

The diagrams are large and pointless (more paintings than informative illustrations), the text is shallow and seems to be written for stupid people.

This is more a coffee-table book to show off to fellow "gardening enthusiasts" than an informative reference book for someone intent on living sustainably.

Disappointed.

Great book for learning the basics of farm life. If you are getting started into the subject of sustainable living this is the perfect reference guide for you. You may require a companion book for plants more native to your climate (this book's perspective is in the UK). Insightful pictures and well written commentary make this book excel.

I was surprised to discover it is written sort of like a textbook. The more I look through it the more I like it. It's very practical and informative.

This book is great for just flipping through, day-dreaming about owning your own farm some day. Even for the current non-farmer, this book provides some practical tips on things almost anyone can do to be more self-sufficient. This book would be especially great for those who are intensive gardeners. But mostly this book provides ideas about certain aspects of self-sufficiency that the reader can then take and mold to their particular situation.

I'd like to address one point that some other reviewers have made in criticism of this book, namely that Seymour doesn't go into enough detail. Well, this is a coffee-table book that covers a fairly wide range of material. As such it can't (and shouldn't) go into deep detail. What Seymour does is get your imagination going. If you want to seriously implement some of Seymour's ideas you'll need to supplement this book with others that deal with the particular topic you're working on. To criticize Seymour for not going into detail on things is, I think, unfair.

This book would make a great gift for anyone who is interested in the self-sufficient lifestyle. I love flipping through the book whenever I feel like daydreaming about the fun work I hope to do some day on my own farm.