Walkerland has compiled a collection of books for you to browse at your leisure. These are simple PDF’s, and there is no cost to access them. These old collections cover a wide range of topics; gardening, farming, natural health, crafts, recipes, woodworking and even home brewing.
As homesteaders, we are always looking for new or different ways to approach our daily tasks. As we seek healthier and simpler approaches, it seems that going back to our roots and learning how others before us managed these tasks, often helps us move forward in truly effective “old-new” ways.
There is a wealth of information buried in dusty old volumes and digitizing them so they can be shared and enjoyed around the world is a tremendous way to honor the authors that penned these volumes so many years ago. Some of these volumes would otherwise be lost. I appreciate the time and effort that groups such as Project Gutenberg have put into making these public domain books available to us. They have thousands of books available for reading on their site on countless subjects.
You can download any and all of the books on my list free of charge, click on the book title to access the PDF.
Free Gardening e-Books
Garden Design and Architects’ Gardens by W. Robinson
A New Orchard And Garden by Harward and Lawson
Wood and Garden: Notes and thoughts, practical and critical, of a working
Organic Gardener’s Composting by Steve Solomon
The Amateur Garden by George Washington Cable
Old-Time Gardens, Newly Set Forth by Alice Morse Earle
Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway by Steve Solomon
Garden-Craft Old and New by John Dando Sedding
Garden Ornaments by Mary Harrod Northend
Making a Garden of Perennials by W. C. Egan
The Field and Garden Vegetables of America by Fearing Burr
The English Husbandman by Gervase Markham
Sylva; Or, A Discourse of Forest Trees. Vol. 1 (of 2) by John Evelyn
Mushrooms: how to grow them by William Falconer
Free Wild Foods e-Books
Among the Mushrooms: A Guide For Beginners by Burgin and Dallas
Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms and How to Distinguish Them by Gibson
Student’s Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous by Thomas Taylor
Free Farming e-Books
Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low Rainfall by Widtsoe
The First Book of Farming by C. L. Goodrich
Our Farm of Four Acres and the Money we Made by it by Miss Coulton
Gardening Without Irrigation_ or without m – Steve Solomon
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 12, March 22, 1884 by Various
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. by Various
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 4, January 26, 1884 by Various
The Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56, No. 2, January 12, 1884 by Various
Garden and Forest Weekly, Volume 1 No. 1, February 29, 1888 by Various
The Mayflower, January, 1905 by Various
Free Natural Health / Botany e-Books
Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses by M. G. Kains
The Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper
Apis Mellifica; or, The Poison of the Honey-Bee, Considered as a Therapeutic
Allopathy and Homoeopathy Before the Judgment of Common Sense! by Frederick Hiller
Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie
Herbals, Their Origin and Evolution by Agnes Arber
New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz
The Old English Herbals by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde
Mother’s Remedies _ Over One Thousand Trie – Thomas Jefferson Ritter
Free Crafting e-Books
Soap-Making Manual by Edgar George Thomssen
The Handbook of Soap Manufacture by H. A. Appleton and W. H. Simmons
Things To Make by Archibald Williams
The Ladies’ Work-Book by Unknown
Vegetable Dyes: Being a Book of Recipes and Other Information Useful to the Dyer
Art in Needlework: A Book about Embroidery by Mary Buckle and Lewis F. Day
Corticelli Home Needlework 1898 by Nonotuck Silk Company
Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont
My Knitting Book by Miss Lambert
Hand-Loom Weaving: A Manual for School and Home by Mattie Phipps Todd
Free Animal Husbandry e-Books
Outlines of dairy bacteriology by E. G. Hastings and H. L. Russell
Hints on Dairying by T. D. Curtis
The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by George H. Dadd
The Pig: Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing by Sanders Spencer
Sheep, Swine, and Poultry by Robert Jennings
The Dollar Hen by Milo Hastings
Free Carpentry e-Books
Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
Wood-Block Printing by F. Morley Fletcher
A Course In Wood Turning by Archie Seldon Milton and Otto K. Wohlers
Wood-Carving: Design and Workmanship by George Jack
Mission Furniture: How to Make It, Part 1 by H. H. Windsor
Mission Furniture: How to Make It, Part 3 by H. H. Windsor
Carpentry for Boys by James Slough Zerbe
Woodwork Joints: How they are Set Out, How Made and Where Used. by William Fairham
Free Recipe e-Books
Science in the Kitchen by E. E. Kellogg
Fifty-Two Sunday Dinners: A Book of Recipes by Elizabeth O. Hiller
The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) by F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann
Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Home Made Candy Recipes by Hill and Parloa
The Cook and Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System
No Animal Food by Rupert H. Wheldon
The Italian Cook Book by Maria Gentile
Things Mother Used to Make by Lydia Maria Gurney
The Candy Maker’s Guide by Fletcher Manufacturing Company
Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit by Thomas
A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband with Bettina’s Best Recipes by LeCron et al.
The American Housewife by Anonymous
Dr. Allinson’s cookery book by T. R. Allinson
California Mexican-Spanish Cook Book: Selected Mexican and Spanish Recipes
The Laurel Health Cookery by Evora Bucknum Perkins
Practical Italian Recipes for American Kitchens by Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti
The Sure to Rise Cookery Book by T. J. Edmonds
The Bacillus of Long Life by Loudon M. Douglas
Woman’s Institute Library of Cookery
Making Fermented Pickles by Edwin Lefevre
Free Brewing & Beverage e-Books
A Treatise on the Brewing of Beer by E. Hughes
The London and Country Brewer by Anonymous
The American Practical Brewer and Tanner by Joseph Coppinger
Alcoholic Fermentation by Arthur Harden
The Cyder-Maker’s Instructor, Sweet-Maker’s Assistant, and Victualler’s
Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines by Henry Vizetelly
Dishes & Beverages of the Old South by Martha McCulloch-Williams
Thank you. Great info. Boy, I wish when we lived on the farm there had been computers etc. we barely had tv. Lol
We really are fortunate to have so many resources at our fingertips!