“Carla Emery started writing The Encyclopedia of Country Living in 1969 during the back-to-the-land movement of that time.”
I have it, got it in 1998 or 1999.
I just bought the 40th anniversary edition that was just published. Is it as good as the reviews say it is?
I am country raised, yet there are still holes in my knowledge and skill set.
Apologies to the deceased in advance. That should not limit my opinion of what is in print.
Interesting read on her web site. Especially the “info” or lack of, on “fossil fuels”. I’m going to graciously give her the benefit of the doubt on the “encyclopedia” but she should have stuck to back to the land issues and steered clear of stuff she gathered from the MORONS claiming God didn’t know what the hell he was doing when he created a life sustaining planet due to eventually run out of food, fuel, and fun. Suggesting that God’s other creation, man, was capable of destroying everything and ending what started out as a good thing. I don’t buy any of it.
She is all in for manual labor and the use of muscles, decrying the use of a rototiller in her garden, but using far more fuel in her cross country travels promoting her book and way of life. There is a missing balance IMHO, and that may be the very reason I have never heard of her, in spite of having the full Foxfire collection and subscribing to Mother Earth News for a number of years, dreaming of my piece of Mother earth.
But again I’m sure the encyclopedia is a wealth of good stuff, that previous to this I had not heard of.