Resources

Here’s a list of books and websites I’ve enjoyed and found helpful. The book links will take to you the Amazon site. A percentage of any profits made from affiliate commissions and any other donations or advertising on this site will be donated to Growing Home, an organization here in Chicago that trains people who have barriers to employment (homelessness, previous incarceration, previous substance abuse problems) how to farm. They also help with basic life skills training and GED preparation classes. It’s a really great organization that I try to donate to every year whether it’s just by making a monetary donation or buying their produce at the farmer’s markets.

 

Slow Food is a great organization that has local branches all over the world. They also publish a number of guidebooks highlighting restaurants, markets and bars that fit in with their philosophy of preserving food heritage and culture.

I’m absolutely in love with this book right now. It makes me excited for the day we get out of the condo and actually have a place to have a garden. This book covers everything you need to know about starting your own urban homestead. Even though a lot of things in here are geared more towards house dwellers there are plenty of tips for the condo/ apartment folks too. From gardening, to raising chickens, to making hooch it’s an indispensable handbook for the road of self-sufficiency.

Better Basics For The Home is a fantastic reference book for anyone who’s looking to detox their homes. It has recipes for non-toxic homemade cleaning and beauty products as well as pages and pages of tips and information about just how toxic some of the things we use in our home are.

The Balanced Plate is something I picked up recently. As a cookbook it’s okay. It’s mostly vegetarian/ vegan recipes and honestly some of the things are just too complicated and require too many specialty ingredients. But if you are at all interested in learning about macrobiotics, ayurveda and why you should make the switch to organic food it’s a great book. She has lots of information packed in to the first 150 pages. One great thing about the cookbook part though is that there are gluten-free and also low-glycemic recipes. An interesting read.

A handy book for those weekends you feel like going on a little adventure. It’s well organized and gives you detailed information on what to expect as far as terrain and difficulty. It also points out which trails you can bring your dog along on and which ones are not dog friendly. Not all the hikes are out in the country wither, there are a couple right here in the city for those who don’t have a car or don’t feel like driving anywhere.