Sallygardens Smallholding

Best Sustainable Living Christmas Book Selection

Much of our knowledge at Sallygardens has been gleaned from a range of most excellent books and since many folk are considering what gifts to give loved ones for Christmas this time of year I've compiled a list of top favourites. This is a chance to give a gift that can really make a positive lifestyle difference.

Top of the list for anybody remotely interested in living sustainably, whether living in a rural or urban environment is the now legendary eco  bible The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour. This book is fantastic and covers a huge range of topics. It's detailed enough to get you started on most things but such a delightfully presented book it makes a wonderful coffee table book too. Five years down the line I still dip into it and find new ideas. Everything from vegetable gardening, to rearing pigs to making your own wine.

A great practical, no nonsense easy to understand gardening book is Organic Gardening by Geoff Hamilton, it's ideal for either total beginners or seasoned growers. The layout is crisp (although ours is very muddy from repeated use!) and attractive, the information is to the point. It's a great reference book for anything and everything you might want to consider growing in your veg garden, the organic way.

A brilliant way to investigate how all these eco conscious living ideas can be incorporated into everyday life is to get your hands on a copy of the Earthcare Manual, a book based on the theory of permaculture. It's full of practical information on how to achieve sustainable living not just in the garden, but in your home, work and right across the board. It will change the way you think about consumerism and the use of materials.

Now you have the veggies growing and your lifestyle in tune with the environment a great cook book for utilising those crops is the infamous River Cottage Cookbook. It's full of delicious recipies, tips on gardening and rearing livestock.

With the environment in mind ... you could probably borrow these books from your local library, but if you're planning on buying these as gifts you could check with like minded neighbours to make sure you don't buy the same book, instead plan to buy the range between you and then swap when needed. Any purchased via these links will mean I get a few percent towards a gift token. Happy shopping.

The Most Eco Conscious Chistmas Presents Ever, Probably

If you are looking for a sustainable and environmentally friendly Christmas present look no further! The Sallygardens ebooklets are lovingly written in a bid to share what we have learned during our four years of smallholding in Ireland. They are designed to offer all the information you need to get going on a range of topics ; Rearing Weaners for the Table, Growing Vegetables for Beginners, Making Country Wines, A Beginners Guide to Keeping Chickens and Keeping Goats.

They contain all the information that we wish was handed to us on a plate, but instead spent hours, days and months researching the ins and outs of the various activities we wanted to undertake at Sallygardens. They make a lovely thoughtful gift for anybody who has an interest in practical sustainable living and are very reasonably priced. The ebooklets are emailed to you as an attachment, so there are no postage charges and no envelopes used. The recipient can view the document on their computer or choose to print it out. Perhaps if you are buying it as a gift you could bind it nicely and give it a personal touch.

Click on the Paypal Store on the top right hand column of this web page to order an ebooklet from Sallygardens.