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21st-Century Smallholder
21st-Century Smallholder
Oct 4, 2024 9:25 PM

Author:Paul Waddington

21st-Century Smallholder

Achieving genuine self-sufficiency of the kind described in John Seymour's classic guide is sadly beyond the vast reach of the urban majority today. Few have the space, and for those few there are comprehensive guidebooks. But where do the rest of us look for the answers to questions like how much effort does it really take to grow your own food? Is beekeeping difficult? Is solar power really worth the bother?

From a small terraced house in the middle of a big city, Paul Waddington has made it his business to find out, and while trying it himself, has created a practical and absorbing guidebook along the way. It includes easy-to-read lists, tables, personal anecdote, and stunning illustrations, and more importantly demystifies the subject with practical tips that get to the heart of the matter to show you how you can enjoy the fulfilling aspects of the smallholding life without the hassle and expense of 'going all the way'. If you want to go back to the land without leaving home, this is the perfect guide.

Reviews

Wittily written and very inspiring, full of sensible tips on everything from windowboxes to pickling your produce. It's a 21st-century version of John Seymour's Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency ...

—— Josh Lacey , Guardian, Gardening section

...a charmingly written, practical guide to setting up an urban smallholding, allowing readers to indulge Good Life fantasies, however small their balcony or window box.

—— The Times

A handbook packed full of green advice...Aesthetically pleasant guides to growing and raising your own food accompany serious food for thought on how you can, and why you should make a difference.

—— Tom Ireland , The Ecologist

Beautifully written and illustrated, the 21st Century Smallholder is the bible for today's Tom and Barbara Good and anyone else who wants to live the dream.

—— Rachel Savage , The Environment Magazine

If you have space for just a window-box, 21st Century Smallholder is for you. Subtitled "How to Go Back to the Land Without Leaving Home", it offers exactly what it says on the cover.

—— Edi Smockum , FT magazine

Packed with tips and easy to use, 21st Century Smallholder...will inspire you, whether you've a window box or an allotment.

—— Country Living

Paul's books will inspire even the most reluctant urban gardener.

—— Darina Allen , Irish Examiner

Packed with ideas, it's a book we should all read, and if we each follow just a fraction of Mr Waddington's advice, we'll be doing something positive to protect the environment.

—— Nottingham Evening Post

This is a terrific book for anyone who has toyed with any aspect of going back to the land...He is endlessly positive, but realistic too.

—— Kent on Sunday

A wonderful book- [which] bears favourable comparison with Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man.

—— Sunday Telegraph

James Watson-is one of the greatest living biologists- [His] new book is an important event, for he is a scintillating writer

—— John Cornwell , The Sunday Times

James Watson has been an eyewitness to each revolution in molecular biology, from the double helix to the genome. He sees further and clearer than anybody else in the field. Give this fabulously good book to anybody who wants to understand what all the excitement is about

—— Matt Ridley

Gabriel Weston's story succeeds better than any I have known...more riveting and thought-provoking than any fiction

—— The Lady, Susan Hill

Glinting like a tray of instruments, her prose is satisfyingly precise

—— Victoria Segal , The Guardian

A curiously thrilling read, written with an elegance heightened by its clarity and economy

—— Elizabeth Day , Observer

A valuable and unflinching account, since it so clearly tells the truth

—— Christopher Hart , The Sunday Times

This book is mesmerising

—— William Leith , Scotsman

Her description of the struggle to remain individual and hence moral is her real achievement. This, to me, is what female writing has to do, and she does it with style and humour and beauty

—— Rachel Cusk

This much appreciated book should be a must-read for everyone who likes to travel, and should be translated into the languages of the world's tourism champions. It should also be a must-read for politicians and decision makers in development agencies to finally understand that tourism has lost the 'virginity' of a harmless leisure sector to develop into a dangerous global driving force which needs to be regulated and restricted.

—— Contours magazine
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