Welcome to the Farm

Elliott started looking for farm animals before she even had a farm. When she and her husband decided to make their dream a reality, they went whole hog, with sometimes hilarious results. Here is the story of their farm and how they created it, along with instructions for anyone who might like to follow in their footsteps. From planting and harvesting a garden, canning and preserving, keeping bees, starting an orchard, and raising and butchering animals. I have to admit I skipped the animal part ( I don’t like to eat anything with a face), but the rest of the book is just gorgeous, photos, drawings and information to bring your own dream to life

My Hope Was To Marry A Cowboy And Move To A Big Ol’ Fancy Ranch

WELCOME TO THE FARM is based on the lessons-learned of the author, over many years. She freely admits that some things she had to learn the hard way. It some cases, it took her a lot of failures before she got it right: "I had to learn, experience, and fail at multiple times before I knew enough to document the success."

This book is the summary of what the author learned. She wants the reader to benefit from her mistakes: "Use the guidelines, wisdom, and encouragement that fill these pages to build your own farm,"

For example, she thought it would be nice to have her chickens having free rein over the property. Well, she learned something about chickens--the hard way: "At that moment, I hated chickens, especially free-range ones. Who would ever invite such destructive creatures onto their property?"

The author also admits that life on the farm can be a tough life: "The reality is that this lifestyle can also be painstakingly tedious and difficult. . . Farm life isn’t clean, organized, or easy."

I found it fun to look at the various chapters, and skip around to those that interested me most. I'm pretty sure I won't be raising chickens anytime soon, but I was very interested in her composting tips--especially the " Lazy Man’s Compost" method. It's simple, and involves "picking a spot on your property and piling all your garden waste, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, yard waste, and animal manure/ bedding there."

I also found the chapter and tips on "Seed Saving" really great. I like saving seeds, and the author explains how to do it for each type of vegetable. For peas and beans, "Choose some of the best pods to leave on the plant after harvesting the rest. Allow the pods to dry on the plant before snipping them off, breaking open the dried pod, and picking the seeds out."

My favorite chapter of all is the BEEHIVE chapter. I had no idea the subject was so complicated. There is also a great illustration of the construction of a beehive. There is a LOT to it! One fun tip the author mentions is how to acclimatize the queen bee to their colleagues. She suggests using a mini-marshmallow to let the colony slowly get used to the queen. "By the time she eats through that marshmallow (two to three days), the others bees will have accepted her presence, and she will release herself from the cage. Some people prefer to manually release the queen two to three days after hiving the bees, but I like the marshmallow method."

There is also a neat contraption called the "queen excluder. "This is a thin, metal sheet that fits right over the top of your brood box. It is filled with holes big enough for most of the bees to fit through, but not the big ol’ queen."

I also learned why beekeepers have a "smoker" nearby. The smoke masks the pheromone from the "guard bees," so that nobody knows the hive is "under attack." After all, "Ain’t nobody wants to get stung by bees!"

There are tons of practical tips in this book. I haven't mentioned the preserving chapters or the great recipes. The author concludes with tips on building relationships in your community: "Start enjoying fellowship. This means inviting others over for supper and sharing the joys of your harvest!"

What a great idea, and a fitting conclusion of this book.

Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

Shaye has a website and Facebook page that I enjoy reading. We have a lot in common and I have learned so many homesteading ideas to make my life easier from her sites that are very helpful. The same with this book, it is filled with more information just like her sites. I have read the book twice and use it as a reference book. Highly recommend this book.

Welcome to the Farm is a comprehensive guide to homesteading. Elliott covers everything a homesteader will need to know and provides great tips based on real life experiences. The topics covered are vast including but not limited to types of gardens, seeds, harvesting, preservation methods, livestock care, and of course recipes. Even if homesteading is only a dream, readers can live out their fantasies thanks to the beautiful photos of farm life provided by Elliott.

A well written, easily understood tutorial on gardening and farming. Would be a great resource for anyone starting out, or thinking of, gardening.

I loved this book! It makes me want to convince my husband to go out and buy a farm. I grew up on a semi-farm with parents who grew up on diary farms so I was excited to receive this book. I love the story so much.

Nonfiction
Adult
This isn’t the first book on homesteading I’ve reviewed, but it’s certainly one of the best. Shaye Elliott began sharing her farmgirl dream in 2010 via a blog, and has created a compilation that is beautifully illustrated with full-colour photos and hand-drawn art. It’s also comprehensive and well organised, complete with a well done table of contents and an absolutely excellent index. Elliott opens with an introduction that explains how she, the granddaughter of an orchardist, managed to convince her non-farmer husband to move across the country and take up farming. She then gets down to business, starting with gardening, focusing primarily on how to build a potager or kitchen garden that will fully meet your family’s needs. She covers starting from seed, progressive planting and what to grow at what times of year, and of course how to preserve the bounty. She then moves to livestock, increasing in size from chickens and rabbits to goats and cows. She covers care for each animal, as well as how to make the most of your choices, from eggs and tasty chicken to the benefits of raw milk and how to make yoghurt and cheese. There’s a chapter on beekeeping that I found quite interesting, and the chapter on butchering was quite revealing. She doesn’t shy from the gory bits! The section “How to Butcher a Chicken” is a thorough introduction to butchering basics, and a bit tough to read, but it prepares you for her discussion of lambs, rabbits, and pigs. And while she is matter-of-fact and thorough, Elliott quickly admits butchering is not pleasant, and to this day she is honest in stating it’s not easy to butcher a lamb, ever. Raising meat isn’t for everyone, she notes, but in addition to increasing your appreciation for where meat comes from, as with growing your vegetables it means you know exactly what has gone into the food on your table. Each section includes helpful tips, a discussion of supplies or tools, methods, and the like. Elliott shares her mistakes and what she has learned, making this a really useful book for those who take up homesteading with little real experience. After a section on fruit trees, the book finishes with short pieces from other homesteaders across the U.S. (the Elliotts are in Eastern Washington), including one urban resident who advocates for all of us to support farmers by buying local produce and shopping at farmers’ markets. In addition the aforementioned index (it spans 7 pages!!), there is a resource section that offers tips on which tools and supplies are worth getting to make your hobby farm productive, in the kitchen and the barnyard. While I found a few too many amens for my taste, this is a fascinating book, filled with humour and an honest portrayal of the work and the rewards. My thanks to Lyons Press for the advance reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34024098

Welcome to the Farm by Shaye Elliott is a VERY comprehensive, must have book for garden enthusiasts and small scale homesteaders. This book really has it all. Everything you need to know from seed saving, planting times, pest control, harvesting, preserving, etc. It also included information on caring for farm animals. Wonderful photos, which is always a plus!

I so enjoyed this book. It made me miss my garden ( I have one every year, but the past year was a bust and this year isn't likely to be any better...) Well, it lets me enjoy vicariously! I can still visit my local farmers markets and make the recipes in this book! So many good memories all in one book! Love the photos!

I have been following the Elliott Homestead blog for a while now, so I was really excited to see this book published. I love Shaye's writing style and her natural easy going way of explaining things. If you are interested in starting your own homestead, raising chickens, or just growing a backyard garden, then this book is definitely for you. You also need to check out Shaye's cookbook, The Elliott Homestead Family Table.

(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)

RATING: 4 STARS

I don't live on a farm or plan to any time soon, but I have always been interested in farm life and gardening. Both of my parents are from farming families so maybe it's the blood...although, it seems I have missed the green thumb. Shaye Elliott did a really good job with this book. It is a bit of a journal and a how-to guide with great photographs. While I don't plan to raise animals I did find the gardening and harvesting quite interesting and useful. I would like to have a small garden so hopefully this will be a motivator.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it is seriously beautiful! I love the cover and the pictures on the inside are just as amazing as the cover. I also love the tone of the writing. Reading it you feel like a friend is teaching you about seeds, and chickens, and canning. I've been trying to get started with a backyard garden for a couple of years and have yet to be successful but this book makes me think I can give it another try!

There is tons of information here, on everything from different methods of gardening (even ones that can be used on an apartment balcony), to butchering your own livestock. That being said, not everything in this book will be for everyone, and that's okay. I will probably never have to learn the proper way to wean lambs, and honestly I don't think I'd want too, but I still need lots of help with seed choices and what works for container gardening.

I honestly did not know there was a difference between organic seeds and heirloom seeds before I read this. I had no idea that you could purchase dwarf fruit trees for orchards in smaller areas. I feel like I've learned so much about gardening from this one book. I love that the author included resources for buying seeds and plants, lists of essential tools, and words of encouragement and wisdom from other homesteaders/ supporters. She also has recipes for just about everything, from how to freeze herbs in olive oil to head cheese, and step by step canning instructions so you can preserve all the yummy stuff you make. I love to cook and honestly the recipes are my favorite thing in this book!

This book has me looking at dwarf fruit trees for the new house and checking on city ordinances for goats. I feel like there is a lot of good information here for anyone who wants to take control of where their food comes from, even if that just means growing your own lettuce and seeing how it goes. I intend to buy a paper copy of Welcome to the Farm when it comes out! There is so much to learn here! The only 'complaint' I would say I have is that the section on fruit trees is not near the gardening section, it's after all the info on animals, which isn't really a big deal. So 5 out of 5 stars! Totally recommend!

Beautifully imaged autobiography of a successful farming venture filled with valuable instructions and advice. With recipes such as Vanilla-Infused Cherries, Homemade Egg Pasta and Pickled Eggs you will learn to make use of what you can produce from your farming efforts. Full Disclosure: I was allowed to read a copy of this book for free as a member of NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and I was not influenced to give a positive review.

A blogger turned book author Shaye Elliot writes about the basics of farming , storing the harvest and how to use them in the recipes......... wonderful writeup........

Wow! I have read articles and watched videos from Shaye Elliott before and was excited to hear that there was a book coming out. It definitely did not disappoint. There is so much information that would be helpful to those who want to make a new lifestyle or just learn a new skill or two. I learned so much from this book and I am looking forward to referencing it again many times in the future as my family and I start our new life and farm.

This book may have single-handedly convinced my teen daughter and I that we need to start our own homestead or hobby farm. This book is not only full of great how-tos and help, it's full of humor and the writing style makes you want to keep reading....and then run out and buy chicken and goats! I can't comment as to how good all of the advice in this book is, I only know I loved reading it and am now convinced we could actually pull it off if we put our minds to it!