Are You Homesteading, Enjoy DIY or Love the Wilderness?

Plant on right is crocosmia, loved by hummingbirds! 

Then here's a book for you!

Whether you're a homesteader, prepper, wilderness-lover or somewhere in between, I heartily recommend this terrific read: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey.

With a glowing Forward by Nick Offerman--actor from the TV show "Parks and Recreation"--this inspiring, enthralling story follows a seemingly average Joe, Dick Proenneke, who spent a year alone in the high country of Southern Alaska. 

In 1968, Proenneke crafted his own log cabin with only hand tools, using wood from spruce logs he cut and processed himself. He also lived off the land, fishing,  hunting and foraging, and improvised his way through the rigors of an Alaskan winter. 

A keen observer of the wildlife around him, he communed with the squirrels and blue jays, even a weasel who set up housekeeping in his woodshed. He tracked caribou, Dall sheep, brown bear and even wolverines simply for the joy of watching them in their natural habitat--often starting work around his homestead at dawn, then spending the afternoon taking six-ten mile hikes. 

The book is filled with his own photography, showing his rough-hewn homestead, and capturing the majesty of the lake and mountain landscape surrounding him.  

He tends to gloss over difficulties, like his near escape from a bear attack. I also wonder how a guy from Iowa learned all his self-sufficiency skills, like building with logs and butchering game and a hundred other DIY work-arounds. Nor does he include how he came to live on this property, since he didn't mention buying it: Was the land a gift? Did he do a homestead claim? Did he get permission from the land owner to build on the property and live there, just for a lark?    

None of that seems to matter, though; his experiences in simple living were so extraordinary. I had to continually remind myself that this was a modern memoir, not a 19th-century pioneer story! 

His intriguing and thought-provoking statements about modern life will likely have you pondering some big questions: the beauty and harmony of being close to nature, your own place in the world, and how you might live more simply. I hope you'll take a look at this amazing book!

For more homestead-related book recommendations...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter.

The Resilient Gardener: Food production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times by Carol Deppe.

You can find more of my favorite resources in the back of my free gardening guide, Little Farm in the Garden!