This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to create their own modern homestead or just take some of the elements and add it into their live! It was jampacked with different information; from gardening to raising chickens, to using those garden foods in your canning and preservation. It is full of so much information that that would be useful to someone who already has some experience in these things or is a total newbie. There are some nice recipes in it as well. I think that the author did a great job and totally recommend this book to anyone interested in homesteading or any of the elements involved in it!

From gardening, to preserving, to raising backyard chickens, this is a great introduction to homesteading. Well written and accessible and with details, but not too many details that you feel overwhelmed. Also some great recipes I hope to try out. It's not often I find a book that has info I haven't already read about gardening and this one did it. Great addition to a homesteader's library (or to someone who just dreams about it).

I was really excited to review this because it is sort of everything I have been wanting to learn in one place. There are great recipes for staples from scratch, but what I was really interested in was some of the canning and preserving processes. This is all in here, and there are great detailed descriptions for how to do everything from gardening, to freezing, to preparing meals. I wish I'd been more prompt with it this season so that I could have done more with it in my own gardening etc., but I do intend to pick up the physical copy! Thanks to Globe Pequot | Lyons Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions mine.

Creating a Modern Homestead is a well written practical guide to planning, prioritizing, and implementing some more self-sufficient tasks in daily life by Victoria Pruett. Released 5th Aug 2025 by Globe Pequot on their Lyons Press imprint, it's 296 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

The book has a logical and accessible format with an understandable progression. The author starts with scratch/slow cooking, deep pantries and stocking needs, through safe shelf-stable food preservation, gardening, and incorporating chickens and other lifestock, and even a solid chapter on sourdough.

This won't be the *only* book needed to get from dreamer phase to self sufficient homesteader, but it is a very useful resource and will be a welcome addition to the smallholder's library. This would also make a good choice for public or possibly school library acquisition, as well as for community gardens and allotments. The photography throughout is superlative; clear and colorful.

Four and a half stars. The information contained in this volume is slanted toward readers in North America, but there are good takeaways for readers living elsewhere.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I daydream of being able to live a simple life out in the country. Away from the chaos of life. However for now I'll slowly learn the essentials and more- all to create a homestead for my family.
The wonderful author, Victoria Pruett, did an amazing
job in creating this guide. you can tell the hard work, research and dedication that was put into it. We are shown and told about how to get started and explained what you need and what you want to accomplish.
I learned so much from this book. We are taught how to grow
our own food, how to preserve food & herbs, and even raising chickens. I loved the variety of recipes from sour dough to
fudgy brownies. The photos in the book add to the outstanding
advice & guides in the book.
Gift to the future homesteader in your life, and enjoy it together

Enjoyment: 5
Start: 5
Plot: 5
Ending: 4.5
Style; 5
Rating: 4.9

This wasn't what I originally thought it was going to be. I thought it'd go more into the animal husbandry instead of just chickens, but all in all, this has officially been added to my wishlist on Amazon. I originally requested this book to see if my boyfriend could benefit from it, and found multiple sections not just for him, but for me as well. Need this book in my library. The only thing I hope/wish they did was move to sourdough closer to the cooking from scratch section. Just seems to work more cohesively that way to me.

I’ve read a lot of books on beginning to homestead and this is by far one of the best. Victoria Pruett covers everything you need to know about getting started, from cooking from scratch to planning your pantry to growing your own food and heaps more. It’s all clearly explained, concise but detailed and will definitely set you on the right path. The recipes are very American but I saw that as an opportunity and made my very first sloppy joe that went down well with my family! You don’t need a farm or lots of land to live like this - Victoria talks about container gardening and raised beds, as well as the Back to Eden method, and also outlines ways to maintain a comprehensive pantry even in your area short on space. This book is a must if you’re trying to live a more natural life away from the processed society that we sadly live in today.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

So this is mostly a cookbook, but also has nice chapters on how to do all types of food preservation, how to start and maintain your own garden and even how to raise chickens- all very cool info that I find interesting!

I think I just don't fit in with this crowd though, despite thinking this stuff is cool. It is definitely leaning to the conservative doomsday prepper vibe but I will give her props that she does not specifically mention anything about that! I think she is trying to appeal to a wide audience but I still got this vibe, you know? I would also take the health advice here not super seriously and do your own research, and warn you that most of the recipes are very very much typical American food.

However, I am excited to try some of the recipes for homemade things like mayo and bread, and maybe even try to can some of my own peppers or something that I grew! Makes me wish I lived on a farm with a lot of space so I could try some more of these tips, but as she makes it a point to write, it can be very rewarding to try even small stuff and start to be more aware of how you interact with the global food industry.

You do not have to live on a farm with a 5-acre garden to appreciate the skills our ancestors learned from necessity. Today's preservation processes and equipment make preserving fresh food safer and easier. Victoria Pruitt shares her expertise with readers, drawing on the teachings she learned from generations before. Her instructions are clear, easy to follow, and adaptable to personal tastes. The recipes she provides use ingredients found in most pantries and produce excellent results with little effort. This is another book I'm adding to my list of those I share and gift. The book makes interesting reading as well as practical guidelines.

I have always loved cooking. I even used to canned foods when I was younger. But then first, my family grew and then career took off, leaving me with less time to do the things I enjoyed. Now that I’m retired that all changes!

This book is filled with recipes that spans so many areas that I think I’ll be spending a full year exploring the ones I find most interesting. I think I might be buying a copy of this for my daughter for Christmas!

Book Review: Creating a Modern Homestead by Victoria Pruett

Rating: 3 Stars

I recently picked up Creating a Modern Homestead: Traditional Skills for Real, Everyday Life by Victoria Pruett, and I have some mixed feelings about it. Overall, I’d give it a solid 3 stars.

The book aims to help readers bring simple living and self-sufficiency into their daily lives, no matter where they live. Victoria emphasizes that you don’t have to move to the countryside to adopt traditional skills like cooking from scratch, raising backyard chickens, growing your own food—even in small spaces—and preserving your harvest through canning, freezing, or dehydrating. Her approach is practical and flexible, fitting these skills into a busy modern lifestyle that includes work, family, and social commitments.

The chapters cover a good range of topics: there are 126 recipes ranging from breads and main dishes to desserts, basics on building a pantry for food security, detailed preservation methods (water bath and pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating, freeze-drying), chicken keeping tips, and gardening advice tailored to your climate and season. I especially appreciated the section on sourdough since I recently started my own starter and found her tips handy.

One thing that stands out is the book’s accessibility for beginners. The recipes are straightforward—think pancakes, roast chicken, biscuits, french fries, pizza—and there are easy-to-follow instructions for making staples like homemade mayonnaise, yogurt and chicken salad. If you’re just starting out with homesteading or want a gentle introduction to these skills, this book could be a great gift or resource.

On the downside, if you’re already familiar with homesteading or cooking from scratch, some of the content might feel a bit basic or surface-level. It doesn’t dive deep into the complexities or challenges of homesteading life but rather keeps things light and manageable.

In short, Creating a Modern Homestead is a nice starter guide for those curious about simple living and traditional skills but not quite ready to overhaul their lifestyle. It’s practical without being overwhelming, making it a decent pick for newcomers who want to dip their toes into homesteading without diving in headfirst.

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️

A very cute and well detailed book on some factors of starting a homestead. Whilst I would have loved to see a couple of other things like perhaps wool spinning or visible mending in here, I felt this book is a great starter guide for those wanting to switch to the lifestyle.

I was a little disappointed she didn’t include permaculture/sustainable alternatives to plastic wrap, which are common in most homesteads, such as cotton bowl or dish covers or silicone mats, but otherwise really loved the book. And understand her primary audience is probably people who aren’t very familiar with sustainable/non-toxic swaps, but feel this was a missed opportunity to introduce new readers/those new to permaculture to these more earth friendly products. Same for aluminum foil - as part of a non-toxic household, there are better, safer, and healthier alternatives that could have been mentioned, such as silicone mats. And also plastic buckets/bags. Even though it means (unless, you’re able to find the Costco large size glass mason jars with metal lids) storing the food in slightly smaller containers, it’s a better alternative than risking microplastics shedding into your food. 🤢 Especially if you’re dealing the bags with heat, as she suggested, which will naturally cause microplastics to shed.

Otherwise it was beautifully photographed and I enjoyed reading it. 😊

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.

I've been trying to decide who the audience for this book is. I don't think it was me - but that doesn't mean it won't hold some value for other folks. I'd definitely say that it's more for newbies to cooking, gardening, etc. And for those that like your typical "American" foods.

It's interesting, because it's half cookbook - soooo many recipes for your basic things that most people enjoy, it would be a benefit to someone in that way. But purportedly healthier because you're making the stuff yourself from whole ingredients. Which may be partially true but I don't quite think all the way there as opposed to some diets you can do from your own gardened produce.

There were also sections on keeping chickens, gardening, etc. which had some helpful tidbits, but again for newer people to the "hobby". Which I keep saying newer - there's some stuff in here that people feel very strongly about - in both directions (raw milk, etc.) and if you feel some sort of way about it, you might not like this book. Or if you're newer to the life, I would just make sure to read everything from all sides and form your own opinion. There was also a lot on disaster prepping, despite the author proclaiming they were not one of the hardcore type of preppers. Which - given why most people go into homesteading makes sense in a way, but I'm not sure as much for new homesteaders who may still be learning the cook the simple recipes the author has included.

Again, some gems in here for newbies, I just think that maybe I wasn't the goal audience for this one.

Review by M. Reynard 2025

I don't really like giving reviews of non-fiction books, especially cookbooks like this. But I thought it was well done and well thought out. The recipes were good and some of the stories that were woven through the book were compelling to read.

This is a great resource for anyone interested in being a bit more self-sufficient. Pruett provides a ton of helpful information about topics such as gardening, preserving food, and raising chickens, as well as a bunch of recipes for everyday staples. I found the section on putting together a deep pantry to be particularly helpful!

This book found me right as I started seriously eyeing raw land listings and whispering “I could totally raise goats” to myself at 2am. Creating a Modern Homestead is part guide, part vibe check for anyone suddenly consumed by the urge to grow things, build things, and possibly barter eggs for butter.

Victoria Pruett lays out a surprisingly practical roadmap for anyone craving a slower, more self-sufficient life—whether you're dreaming of total off-grid freedom or just want to grow your own tomatoes and not panic during a power outage. It covers a wide range of traditional skills: gardening, preserving food, raising animals, using solar, harvesting water. All written in a calm, grounded voice that says “you’ve got this,” not “buy 800 acres and a bunker or die.”

It’s not a deep-dive manual (you’ll want follow-up books or YouTube rabbit holes if you’re getting serious about any one topic), but it’s a damn solid foundation. Especially if you’re just getting started and need the encouragement to believe this kind of life is actually possible (even if you’ve never touched a chicken in your life).

Read this if you’re in your “feral Little House on the Prairie but make it climate anxiety and sourdough” era. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel like you can build something real.

" While picking up and moving to the country may not be an option for everyone, it is possible to embrace simple living and more traditional skills no matter where you live."

I know I've been happier with my meals since I've been cooking from scratch, and this cookbook has plenty of recipes, tips, and shortcuts for the modern home chef looking to try and make more things from fewer ingredients. Biscuits, tortillas, breads, and snacks are a great start to changing how we eat at home. There's a lot of information about growing food, storing dry goods, preserving, and freezing cooked food. Lots of information on freeze drying and dehydrating ingredients and meals too. There's even a chapter on keeping livestock, like chickens, if your location allows it.

There's often an element of "doomsday prepping" or "tradwife" to many homesteading books, but this one seems to avoid that trap for the most part. Lots of useful info for people wanting to try some different things!

I received a free ebook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

The book is fantastic at setting you up for success no matter how big or small your space is. I loved the receipes and the tips. This is essential to learning how to be more sustainable and thinking forward during our current economic crisis. I cannot wait to put some of these ideas into practice.

This is a very misleading title, as 2/3 of the book is on cooking. There are some very practical tips on homesteads, but not enough for the title.

Creating a Modern Homestead” Traditional Skills for Real, Everyday Life
Victoria Pruett
Modern life causes stress, anxiety and illness. We have decided it is time to look for a simpler way of life. You do not have to live in a rural area to use traditional skills. We embraced this culture over 40 years ago, however there is always room to learn more. There are many traditional skills discussed in this book including cooking from scratch, how to keep your pantry stocked, how to raise chickens, how to raise your own vegetables and how to preserve your vegetables.
Author Victoria Pruett demonstrates how to integrate traditional skills into your life. That’s right you can deal with employment, family, and social lives. With preparation and training you will begin to think of ways and methods that will help you become self-reliant and become comfortable putting them in practice.
This book has numerous recipes for cooking, preserving food by the water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating and freezing drying. The readers will learn about raising chickens in the back yard. In gardening the reader will discover information about raising a garden, growing zones, growing seasons, companion planting and pest control without harsh chemicals.
It is time to slow our lives down, live a simpler but healthier lifestyle. Not only will we be healthier but it also is a cheaper way to live. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.