# Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills - Hardcover

by **Abigail Gehring** (Editor)

Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills--the kind employed by our forefathers--and adapt them for a better life in the twenty-first century need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. Countless readers have turned to _Back to Basics_ for inspiration and instruction, escaping to an era before power saws and fast food restaurants and rediscovering the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Now newly updated, the hundreds of projects, step-by-step sequences, photographs, charts, and illustrations in _Back to Basics_ will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. The truly ambitious will find instructions on how to build a log cabin or an adobe brick homestead. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers--even if you live in a city apartment you will find your imagination sparked, and there's no reason why you can't, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. Complete with tips for old-fashioned fun (square dancing calls, homemade toys, and kayaking tips), this may be the most thorough book on voluntary simplicity available.

**Number of Pages:** 456

**Dimensions:** 0.98 x 8.78 x 10.74 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** April 17, 2008

## Details

- **Price:** 24.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 24.95 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-23