Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

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Giveaway: 6 Of My Favorite Homesteading Books

Earlier this week the Facebook page for this blog hit 20,000 followers. I remember when my Facebook page hit 1,000 followers and I was blown away. We had a giveaway to celebrate!

Now, at 20,000, I have to admit the feeling is a bit different. I’m thrilled and humbled and flattered by the milestone, but it’s not just my page anymore. This group that’s grown up – of gardeners, cooks, homesteaders, thoughtful spenders, green-living advocates – it’s a critical mass of people who give and take with each other and with me. It’s community.

I’m honored to step back and see how this community has grown in the just-under-three years since I started this blog. Back then I thought maybe people in my hometown would like to know when to plant their fall cabbages (hint: July). Now, people on my Facebook page answer other people’s gardening questions. Everyone is just happy to pitch in with what knowledge they have. It’s kinda amazing to be a part of, honestly.

I try not to let this blog become a shrine to self indulgent navel-gazing, but regular readers may have gathered that 2012 was a rough damn year for me personally and 2013 has mostly been about recovering from 2012. Through up moments and down, writing here – about my garden and my homekeeping and the constant exuberant cycles of life and growth and rest – has been a comfort and a challenge and a joy.

Periodically, readers email me, or comment that my posts have inspired them or motivated them or taught them a new skill. But I know that sharing what little I’ve learned in the many years I’ve gardened inspires me, and teaches me, and encourages my own habit of continued (some might say compulsive) learning. And as often as I teach, I am the student, learning from our community and being inspired by it. So it is a two way street, and I thank you so much for being part of it.

Thank you for reading, for taking the time to like and share, and for commenting. Thank you for being a member of this community.

The Giveaway!

Just over two years ago, I hosted a giveaway for hitting those first 1,000 Facebook likes. Now I think it’s time to do it again.

So, here’s the deal: I’m feeling mellow, I’m feeling contemplative, I’m feeling winter coming on. I would love to give someone a suite of my favorite kitchen, home and garden books to get them through the off season. Just add coffee, and you’ll have my favorite way to spend a quiet afternoon.

And so I’m giving away a collection of a few of my favorite books. These are reads I simply adore, books that cycle onto my bedside table frequently:

  1. An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. A beautiful ode to simple and frugal cooking as a way of life.
  2. Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz. Last time I had a Facebook page celebration I gave away Sandor Katz’s first book, Wild Fermentation. Giving away his follow-up work, an even more comprehensive look at fermentation of all kinds, just seems appropriate for this follow-up Facebook milestone giveaway.
  3. Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Ed Smith. This is my favorite beginner’s gardening book. It has all the basics of vegetable gardening explained in an accessible way and is useful to gardeners in nearly every climate.
  4. All About Braising by Molly Stevens. This is possibly (probably) the best cookbook in the entire world. Stevens is a gifted cookbook author, and inspires and educates through her writing. Every recipe can be counted on to turn out deliciously.
  5. Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom. This book is the best source for know-how for people who want both happy hens and thriving gardens.
  6. The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. This book is a tome, a legend, a doorstop sized work that manages to be as engaging and funny as it is comprehensive. No small feat. A deserved classic.

In celebration of the 20,000 Facebook Like milestone, one lucky winner will receive one shiny new copy of each of these books – essentially a productive homekeeping mini-library delivered right to your door. I’m self-sponsoring this giveaway just to say thank you, so this is just between me and y’all.

To enter to win this collection of books:

If you haven’t already, like the NWEdible Facebook page and leave a comment here on this blog post letting me know you’ve done so. If you already follow NWEdible on Facebook, just tell me that. If you have a conscientious objection to Facebook, let me know what it is and we’ll call that good enough. I hate giveaways that exclude people because they aren’t into whatever social media thing is being pushed.

It’s not a condition of entry or anything, but I would sure love it if you guys would remember that my bread and butter is the sharing you do of my blog posts and Facebook page. Please – like, share, comment and let your friends know about about my blog and my Facebook page.

So, one comment and you’re entered. One entry per person, US residents only please. Any funny business with multiple entries and I disqualify ya. Sorry to my international readers; it’s not you, it’s shipping rates. Contest open until Thursday, October 3rd, 8 PM PDT. Winner will be drawn randomly and contacted via email to coordinate delivery of prize. Good luck and thank you all for reading!

This contest is now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who entered!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Good morning – thanks for the opportunity 🙂 I have been following you on Facebook, as well, for a long time.

  2. I found your site this spring when I was looking for pectin-free jam recipes. I’ve been a follower ever since – counting Face Book. The new name you gave your chickens for eating your blueberries earlier this summer had me laughing all day. Thanks!

  3. Have enjoyed your blog for a few months now, and know I will keep an eye on your FB page as well, since your posts are both an inspiration and a great resource for simple, doable ideas and solutions.

  5. I like you! 🙂

    Thank you for being a great writer and facilitator of homesteading and green-living conversations and dreams.

  6. I liked your Facebook page–I was surprised I hadn’t already done it. Thanks for the book tips, too.

  8. I’ve been following your blog for a while now. And now I’ve liked your Facebook page, as well. I love. Love. LOVE. it! Your writing style is so stinking funny, in addition to being wonderfully informative, that I laugh out loud quite often, while reading. Thanks for sharing your wealth of accumulated knowledge, and for the laughs 😉

  9. I just shared your FB site with my friends and promoted your blog too. I was reading your email blast this morning and realized that all too often I’ve totally appreciated your words – an absolute highlight of my daily design/culture/art/sustainability email reading fun coffee time…which is full of fabulous content, yet yours always rises to the top – and then fail to commend you for them, or a the very least tell you how much joy I get from reading your thoughtful commentary.

    I posted some of your ode to fall the other day on FB and I received some lovely responses. Your words inspire and delight folks from all over. I’m on Orcas Island and I had friends and family from as far as Atlanta thanking me for sharing what you wrote. Thank you Erica for taking the time to do this. It’s a labor of love and we all appreciate it.

  10. Congratulations! I recently found your blog at a great moment in my life when I’ve just move to 4.5 acres in the country. Thanks for all the inspiration! -Stacy

  12. I have been following you on facebook. I see that you have Carla Emery’s book in the stack. That is the most AWESOME book. I have one of her original’s (Haha, made out of contruction paper). LOVE IT, would love to give one to my daughter……

  14. I’ve already been a follower of your blog and on FB. Thanks for the chance and for all that I’ve learned from you!

  15. You have remained one of my very favorite blogs for a long time now. Thank you for everything you do. I’ve been a fan of yours on facebook for ages.

  16. I’m already a follower! These books look amazing. If I don’t win, I’m definitely going to have to check the library!

  18. I’ve been following you for about a year now on FB 🙂 What a great assortment of books! Sure hope I win. Thanks for a great giveaway opportunity!

  22. I have been liking your Facebook page for a long time now! Thank you for all of your great inspiring ideas and stories!!!
    Thank you for this great opportunity to win some great prizes as well!!!

  23. I have been following you on facebook for a while – I began reading your blog in February 2012 with your post on how to render tallow from marrow bones!

  24. I have followed you for a long time on FB and your blog. Not brown-nosing or anything, but I think you’re pretty great. 🙂

  29. WoW… those are a great collection of books. 2 of them are on my “list” of books to check out already! I’m already a follower of FB. I found you through a Friend in the midwest who shared your stuff on FB.

  31. I’d liked your page several months ago and always smile when a post pops up on my FB feed. (And being a book junkie, I smiled broadly when I saw this contest!)

  32. Hi, Erica! Been following you for quite a while now 🙂 This summer I have been loving your garden planner pages I bought last year (although I sucked at remembering to do harvest yields and dates – something to strive for next year!) Those are great books you are offering – if I win I will get to pass on the joy to someone else, too, because I already have the Vegetable Gardeners Bible 🙂 Thank you for being you!

  34. I’ve been a follower on FB for a long while and have share many of your posts on my page 🙂 Keep up the good work. What a wonderful giveaway! Good luck to the winner and enjoy!

  37. I already follow you on Facebook. Your website and FB page have made me a better gardener and steward of my home. Congratulations on hitting 20K!
    ~Mrs. Figgy

  39. Been following you on facebook for quite awhile now and your blogs keep me inspired to work in my garden although this year has been a real struggle. Hoping for some good winter reading while I plant my fall winter garden.

  40. What a wonderful stack of books! I’ve struggled past my conscientious objection to Facebook & liked your page some time ago. Thanks for this opportunity.

  42. Wow! I’ve liked your page on FB for quite a while, plus I follow you on RSS (at work, when I’m not supposed to be using FB). I’m a BIG fan! I live in the California Bay Area and am friends with the folks over at Dog Island, plus I have my own blog and FB page: Urban Homestead Bytes, although I don’t write on it quite as much as I should.

    Pick me! Pick me!

  43. I already follow you on Facebook, and I have enjoyed your blog for awhile now from the “other coast.” Congrats on your accomplishment!

  45. hello! I recently discovered your blog when I was researching “hugelkultur”. I’ve since liked you on FB and enjoy seeing your posts, even if they make me feel like a slacker! 🙂

  46. I love the idea of reading some of these books. I just bought 2.5 acres, includes the house and some trees. The rest is pasture, yard and wet lands.

    We are putting in our first plot this weekend so I can understand gardening better.

    I grew sunflowers, rosemary and lavender this summer. It was fun.

  47. I love your blog, follow you on Facebook, and would adore winning these books! Have been longing to read at least a few of them for quite awhile now, but our library doesn’t carry them and the budget is tough on new books. So glad that you’re doing well enough to hit 20,000 likes! Wow!!

  48. Congratulations! I “liked” your facebook page quite a while back, and share your info with friends. The book giveaway looks awesome!

  49. I’d liked your page several months ago and appreciate your page and posts.
    I’d LOVE to have those books, several I really want to read.