Simple Country Living

Techniques, Recipes, and Wisdom for the Garden, Kitchen, and Beyond

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Pub Date 2 Apr 2024 | Archive Date 25 Jan 2024

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Description

Answer the calling deep within for a simpler life: plant bountiful gardens, preserve fresh seasonal produce, make your own natural cleaning products, and more. 
 
Join homesteader and founder of Azure Farm, Annette Thurmon, to connect with nature on a deeper level. In Simple Country Living, you’ll find a sampler covering homesteading techniques that can be put to work no matter where you live. Recipes, tips, tricks, and family activities will help you reduce waste, save money, and harness new skills:

  • The Natural- and Nature-Inspired Home: Create family traditions around nature, including strawberry and apple picking, natural egg dye, salt dough ornament making, and decorating your home with natural elements, plus some recipes too! Make DIY cleaning sprays, reduce food waste, learn self-sufficient laundry and bathroom tips, and share the bounty with nature-inspired gifts and gatherings.
  • Cultivating a Garden: Master the essentials for a healthy garden, including soil health, garden layout, raised beds, choosing your seeds, frost dates, crop rotation, companion planting, compost essentials, and ways to involve the whole family in the garden.
  • What to Plant in Your Garden: Decide what to grow based on your climate and preferences, figure out how much to plant, and garden through the seasons. Go further with home orchards or berry patches, and explore the benefits of natural pest control, greenhouses, and animals in the garden. There are also activities for the family inspired by the garden.
  • Preserving the Harvest: Learn everything you need to can, freeze, dehydrate, and save seeds—including plenty of recipes, from salsa to fruit spreads. Have the whole family join in and create memories together.
  • Mastering the Home Kitchen: Embrace garden-to-table eating with seasonal recipes. Learn how to stock a resilient homestead pantry and find a selection of tried-and-true recipes the whole family will love (and love to cook!).

No matter where you live or what skills you already have, the simple country life can be more than a state of mind. Start growing more, cooking more, and living in rhythm with nature.
Answer the calling deep within for a simpler life: plant bountiful gardens, preserve fresh seasonal produce, make your own natural cleaning products, and more. 
 
Join homesteader and founder of Azure...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780760385401
PRICE US$25.00 (USD)
PAGES 208

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Average rating from 51 members


Featured Reviews

As someone who is very interested in the idea of a homestead and simple living, I was very eager to check out this book. The layout is and formatting is beautiful and I loved the variety of included recipes.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic.

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This book is great for starters like me! I loved the information the book provided and the pictures are to die for. Really makes me want to romanticise my life haha. It's easy to read and the recipes are great! You don't feel like you have to go beyond to get ingrediants as well.

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Just phenomenal. The pictures are captivating and the information is applicable. I feel like some books get too wordy about how to get started. This book gets straight to the point. Has easy and doable recipes and uses ingredients that I feel comfortable using. I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this!!

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This book is so refreshing and simple to follow, not only with the eyes and images, but also the easy recipes for a variety of items. I found the recipe for bath salts and cleaning spray that used ingredients already in my house. I would recommend this read for those interested in a simpler way of life, and how homtesteading ideas can be brought to everyone's table. A good coffee table piece. I would recommend this title for addition to our collection.

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This was a delicious read! I especially loved the little recipes sprinkled all throughout the book, chapter after chapter. I learned a lot about homesteading - and figured out why my vegetables all died last spring... - and really appreciated the contents and the overall look of this book. It would make a great gift for a loved one interested in homesteading !
One note, though : even if it wasn't advertised as such, this book has many religious references to Christianity. Might not be your jam if you're a fervent atheist like me!

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A beautifully written, beautifully photographed introduction to homesteading, by an author who declares, "I inspire others to live a simple life."

Annette Thurmond left the rat race as a nurse and couture wedding gown designer for a much simpler life in the country, and shares invaluable tips to help you do so too. You'll learn about making a country home and kitchen, gardening for sustenance including what to plant, and creating a lifestyle that supports health and well-being. She also includes delicious recipes such as dark chocolate mint truffles and garden fresh bruschetta that made me drool.

Highly recommended for anyone seeking a more natural, fulfilling life.

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An absolutely beautiful book. Full of so many peaceful ideas to homestead to come back to nature.Delicious recipes helpful hints for making cleaning products and other life simplifying ideas.A gorgeous read a book I will enjoy going back to again and again.#netgalley #quartobooks

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Absolutely stunning book. The writing style feels like a friend is helping you to make simple changes to balance your life.
The pictures, recipes, descriptions of making home cleaning items are beautiful.
There are chapters for your garden, home, a focus on each season & spending time with loved family & friends.
Feels like a balm for your mind & soul, to remind you to look after yourself when life gets too busy.

Posted review on Amazon, as uses American references.

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Simple Country Living by Annette Thurman is a great beginning to intermediate book for anyone looking for homesteading or sustainability books. Beautiful photos throughout, it includes practical hands on tips and recipes for gardening, cooking, cleaning, and living a more cottagecore lifestyle. I jotted down a few ideas from the author and started following her online at Azure Farm.

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I loved this book. From planting to preserving this book had it all. Especially good if you have little ones at home. Has some amazing ideas for including them in your garden and life as you do day to day tasks. Even has different age appropriate suggestions. Tried the bread and loved it! Will definitely be picking this book up for me and maybe one for a friend.

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Author’s inspirational story of her journey into homesteading. Author provides recipes, tips and family activities. She advises to start slow to make the changes of a simpler lifestyle. Beautiful pictures.

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Annette Thurman, homesteader and founder of Azure Farm, has written a beautiful book covering everything you need to know about homesteading and finding a deeper connection to the natural.


The photographs are lovely and the information is easy to understand. There are recipes, tips, how-to pages and family activities that focus on no waste, saving money and living a satisfying life.


I saved a few recipes and will be doing more.


Lovely book!

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I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook.
Beautifully photographed. This book has everything in it. From making your own soap, to laundry soap, food recipes, how to make a garden etc. I loved the authors fashion style and house style. Everything seems very easy to understand and does not seem hard. I cannot wait to try some of these items that were listed.

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For someone like me who is making changes and prepping for this lifestyle later this year; this book was wonderful and will be recommended out by me! I appreciate that she has recommendations for "dream big but start small" mindset. Annette has beautiful pictures throughout her entire book and from recipes, cleaning etc. this is the perfect book for those looking for "Simple Country Living"!

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Such a lovely book! As someone raised in the city and now lives on a few acres in the country I love learning from women who have “been there, done that.” The pictures are gorgeous, recipes are easy to follow and the stories and anecdotes are great. I will definitely be reaching for Simple Country Living a lot as I navigate my own simple country living adventure.

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I love the soft colors throughout the book. It's very welcoming and makes me want all the animals that she has. I enjoyed all the recipes and will be making most of them.

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I lived on a farm for a couple years and one of my pipe dreams that cannot be = homesteading (I have black thumbs and would likely starve). I love that this book introduces so many different recipes and ideas for you to go "all in" or to sprinkle your own life with as much as you want/can.

From gardening/composting to preserving food to delicious recipes, this has something for everyone, and if you have kids, she's even included activities on have them help out while having fun! There are some religious references so it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

There are so many recipes that look amazing in here, but I'm especially looking forward to trying out the winter baked pears + the blueberry lemon sauce + waffles!

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Very beautiful book! I enjoying seeing her farm, the animals and the fan family activities. The recipes are also very nice, not just recipes for food (bread, pizza, spices, salsa) but for cleaning supplies, bath salt and other stuff. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

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A relaxing walk through the life of the author, Annette Thurmon, and her family's choice to move to the country and live a simpler life. Choosing doing over electronic consumption of entertainment. Being closer to nature and the earth, living seasonally.

The author explains you have to know you "why", why are you making the choice. This is a hard choice to make on a whim. You are moving away from the city life you had, the convenience of having things close at hand, ordering supper to be delivered if you don't feel up to cooking. Living in the country you are far from many stores others regularly visit, some favorite items may only be available through mail order. The benefits though are many. You get to see where your food comes from, grow you own veggies, free from pesticides. Meet the farmer who gives you milk, eggs and meat. Build relationships with your kids that don't involve screen time.

If you have ever dreamed of making a choice like this, read Simple Country Living it is a delightful read full of recipes, photographs and great advice.

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I loved this book and I bet the hardcopy of this book is beautiful. I loved the photography in this book and all it stands for. Unfortunately, I am not in a situation where I can do some of the things in this book but I'm all about the lovely food recipes!

I appreciate getting an arc copy of this!

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