Are you looking for a fun way to create community on the homestead? Or maybe you need to learn more about homesteading topics and would like to do it in an entertaining way! Start a homestead book club and find out how motivating and delightful it can be to gather with like-minded homesteaders all dedicated to this way of life. I promise it’s not too complicated or difficult – we even take the pressure off by explaining what a homestead book club is not! Bonus: There are free fill-in-the-blank calendar sheets for your new book club at the very end of the article! 
More Homestead Building When You Have Time:
10 Ways to Create a Community of Homesteaders
How Do You Organize a Basic Party?
Start a Homestead Book Club
This article includes:
- What a homestead book club isn’t.
- What a homestead book club is with a sample itinerary.
- A sample schedule for the year with books and activities.
- Getting started with a goal prompt and plan.
Homestead Book Club Realities
Let’s chat about what a book club is and what it isn’t.
A book club is a consistent group of people meeting at a consistent time to discuss a pre-arranged topic (a book you’ve all agreed to read). This discussion leads to an exchange of ideas, which leads to wisdom and experience.
- A book club is not a party. If you’re the month’s hostess, you don’t have to go all out with food and decorations and hours of cleaning your house (unless that brings you joy). Don’t waste your time or energy on superfluous tasks and don’t show off for other club members, thereby making the club more about the presentation and less about what is being learned from these great books.
A book club is a place to share ideas on a common topic and a motivation to read books you might not otherwise get around to reading.
- However, a book club isn’t a place where you all have to agree or even understand everything you’ve read. It does provide food for thought and a jumping off place for learning more.
Let it be what it is and don’t force it to be something it’s not. Just relax and read and be with like-minded people at ease with each other. And be sure to laugh together as much as possible. Taking ourselves too seriously is the death of every worthy self-sufficient goal.
Host a Homestead Book Club
A homestead book club could be just the thing to motivate you, and others, to get through all those chicken titles tottering dangerously by your bed. And the ones stashed in the bathroom, and the car.
Reading those books is only the beginning, too. After you and your friends have discussed the book on making cheese, you may just find yourself huddled around a group batch of mozzarella afterward. What was a simple book club just became a homestead mentoring group.
It can be handy to have a designated leader or president, but it’s not necessary. It should be said that having even a touch of formality can help prevent hard feelings later. That way, everyone knows at the start…
- who is in charge
- who makes the phone calls
- who handles finding speakers
- who reserves the books at the library
…then everyone can move forward with their assignments in clarity.
Also, be sure to come up with a fair way to choose the books, so everyone can participate. No one likes a book tyrant!
Some groups prefer to keep it loosey-goosey, and that’s perfectly fine. Just try not to step on each other’s toes when there is organizational work to be done. The hope is that this group will last a long time as you all grow and mature as homesteaders together.
Reasons a Homestead Book Club Can Fail
While we’re on the topic of longevity, if you’ve participated in book clubs before, you know there are a million and one reasons why they fall apart. Let’s chat about those for a minute.
Inconsistent Meetings
With the understanding that every member will end up missing a meeting here or there, it’s really important to pick the same Tuesday (or whichever day) of the month and stick to it.
Also, please consider that the homesteading community in any town is close knit so if you commit to do something, do it, so as not to give yourself a poor reputation as someone who doesn’t follow through.
Life happens to everyone, and no one should expect any member of your group to sacrifice exorbitant amounts of time and energy but thinking of it as your monthly community service will help you stay engaged at appropriate levels.
- You know yourself; volunteer to do what you will do and then do it.
Not Reading the Book
Ok, so, the whole point of a book club is to read a book and talk about it together later. Sometimes, this can get tedious and we feel more like we’re doing an assignment than enjoying our reading experience.
However, if we’re participating in a book group, we need to read the book.
You’ll always have a member or two who consistently doesn’t read the book and this can get frustrating. However, try to think of as their problem, because it is. This is the level of engagement that they want to have right now. Let it go.
- If there’s an activity based around the book, perhaps feeling behind and confused as they try to participate will inspire them to read the next book! Always try to be loving and generous in how you handle those who don’t fulfill assignments, even and especially if it irritates you.
We’re Not Allowed to Hate the Book
In truth, not everyone will connect with the titles chosen by the homestead book group. They might end up covering topics we don’t have any interest in and will never attempt on our own homesteads.
Or we might just not jive with the author’s style. We should be allowed and encouraged in a book group to politely and constructively criticize any book we read for group.
- A book group is supposed to be a discussion, which will include critiques.
The Meeting Is Boring
This is where a homestead book club can really shine over a regular book club! Homesteading books cover fascinating topics that lend themselves naturally to projects on club night!
- Make Make simple candles if your book that month is one like Candle Making in a Day.
- Try your hand at paper making if you’re reading The Papermaker’s Companion: The Ultimate Guide to Making and Using Handmade Paper, by Helen Hiebert
- How about a simple cheesemaking class the month you read David Asher’s The Art of Natural Cheesemaking.
Or fermented foods like sauerkraut! Or building garden beds! Or…whatever you can think of!
Sample Book Club Itinerary
Here’s a reminder that you don’t have to run the book group by yourself. Each person can contribute on the topic about which they’re the most passionate and with which they have experience.
Plan to share the burden of planning, leading discussions, purchasing materials for activities and hosting in your home. Personally, commit to contributing in some way; you’ll only get out what you put in from a group like this one.
Here’s a basic outline of a book club meeting so you can see how simple it can be:
- Welcome everyone and be sure to acknowledge anyone new in the group and/or anyone who’s come to speak about your topic.
- Club business is presented, which includes the book for next month and place of meeting, as well as questions from last month’s activity.
- The person in charge presents the book for the evening with a short summation.
- A club member can read aloud suggested discussion questions from the book. While discussing the questions, you can include the pros and cons of book.
- Break for hands on activity.
- Serve a snack and drinks, if that’s something your book club does.
Your Learning Community
These book group discussion and experiences will expose you to a wide range of home-stead topics and you will find, as they all sift together, that there are things you really want to do.
You’ll also find the things you’re not interested in doing at all. This is one of the most important things you can learn from others’ experiences.
- Learning as part of a community will end up saving you time as your own homestead grows because, although you’ll be making plenty of mistakes, you can make them as a team and avoid some of the problems other members have experienced.
Just you, and your homestead book club, against the world.
Guest Speakers & Hands On
I’m a super hands on kind of learner and I think the best homestead book clubs include an on-topic activity once the book discussion has concluded. I have suggested activities for each of the book listed on my suggested book club schedule, as you’ll see.
If you can get the author or an on-topic guest speaker to join your discussion and educate you in the activity, great! Be sure to send them a card of thanks with everyone’s signature. If you take field trips together, plan to do the same with the people who host you.
If you have a secretary designated, this is a great job for them to take over. Be sure to include in your note a query as to whether they have friends with similar interests who would like to come speak to your group.
- Some books clubs are just about the book and some good talk, so don’t feel like you must bring in guest speakers or take field trips at all. Asking for everyone’s input and even taking a vote on ideas like these will ensure that everyone’s opinions are heard.
Get Started Planning Your Book Club
Take out your homestead journal and make a short list of people you’d like to invite to be part of your book group.
Then, make a quick list of titles you’d like to read together, and possible activities. Keep both, as I say, short to begin with.
Think about your schedule. Don’t take on too much and remember that you still have a life beyond your homesteading efforts. A book club is supposed to be fun and inspiring, not overwhelming and soul-crushing.
- Do you want to meet once a month or once every other month?
- What can you reasonably and realistically accomplish this coming year?
Go back to your journal and write down all the wild ideas you have for your book group, as well as your concerns; just free write, without worrying about what you’re getting down on paper. Put it aside for a few days and come back to your notes after you’ve had time to let the idea rumble around a bit.
Get Going!
Contact the people on your short list of possible participants this coming week to brainstorm the idea. Your list will most likely be comprised of people you know relatively well, so feel free to bounce ideas off each other.
- Either in person, or via email, make a tentative schedule of books and meeting dates.
- Figure out how you’re going to get the word out about your group.
- Do you want to keep the group small or get as many people together as possible?
- Will you have activities or simply do a book discussion?
- What venue is available for your meetings?
If you’re online but having a hard time finding like-minded people in person, try social media groups that offer online connections for your local community and specific area of interest.
You could also simply host your group on Zoom, if you can’t meet in person.
- Always exercise caution when sharing personal information online, but you may just find there are more people like you in your town than you originally thought.
Create an Online Place for Book Club Information
Like I said, it can be a good idea to set up a Facebook group for your book club to make it easier for this tech savvy world to find you and stay updated with what you’re doing. Even if your book group stays small, you’ll want a central, online place to share questions, inspiration, and plans.
Email lists and text threads are great for quick updates and plans, but the messaging back and forth can get cumbersome with a group of people. Social media provides a tidy place to keep track of what’s going on with your group.
If you’ve never set up one of these groups, just search online to find step by step tutorials.
Visit Facebook to learn how to set up a Facebook Group. Believe me, if I can figure out how to set up a Facebook group, anyone can.
Sample Homestead Book Club Schedule
I encourage you to discuss a reading schedule with your group and create a plan for the year. Remember to check with your local library to be sure they have the titles you select.
Or locate a source for discount purchasing of books for your group. Always remember the value of used books in good repair!
The following is just a sample schedule to inspire you; feel free to use the blank scheduling sheets included in the free download to fill in with your own ideas.
–>>Get Free Homestead Book Club Schedule Sheets – Fill in the Blanks!<<–
JANUARY
Book: Week by Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, by Ron and Jennifer Kujawski.
Activity: Download, print, and begin to pencil in your garden plan for the year. Garden planners are available online for free, or you can purchase a very thorough one from Schneider Peeps below.
In your group, look at each other’s plans and decide who’s going to grow what from seed and plan to share around baby plant starts as the season progresses.
Alternate Book: Practical Permaculture, by Jessie Bloom & Dave Boehnlein if you’re group is ready to learn about how permaculture can rock your homestead garden.
FEBRUARY
Book: Natural Bee Keeping, by Ross Conrad.
Activity: Invite a beekeeper to give a brief demo of equipment and how to get started—make plans to prepare for bee keeping by ordering bees and getting equipment before Valentine’s Day (many bee breeders sell out by then).
Make bees wax fire starters, if time permits.
Alternate Book: Common Sense Natural Beekeeping, by Kim Flottum
MARCH
Book: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.
Activity: Make a list of five new things you each want to do on your homestead this year. Have a guest speaker come lecture on foraging, candle making, or making maple syrup.
- If weather permits for doing either activity in person, go on a maple or foraging field trip or set up some simple candle making options.
Alternate Book: The Do It Yourself Homestead.
APRIL
Book: The Homemade Pantry, by Alana Chernila.
Activity: Make graham crackers and marshmallows from scratch together and improvise some S’mores for a treat!
Alternate Book: From Scratch: Traditional, whole-foods dishes for easy, everyday meals, by Shaye Marie Elliott.
MAY
Book: Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow and Use, by Rosemary Gladstar.
Activity: Have a guest speaker walk you through making a tincture; also, prepare a simple lip balm together.
Alternate Book: The Big Book of Homemade Products for Your Skin, Health and Home: Easy, All-Natural DIY Projects Using Herbs, Flowers and Other Plants, by Jan Berry
JUNE
- No book club; group service project*
JULY
Book: The Ultimate Guide to Preserving Vegetables: Canning, Pickling, Fermenting, Dehydrating and Freezing Your Favorite Fresh Produce, by Angi Schneider
Activity: Can jam or pickles together. Make a canning schedule for those who wish to get together during the rest of the season to can/preserve food as a group.
- Plan to share produce, equipment, and ingredients.
Alternate Book: Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and Production, by Sharon Astyk.
AUGUST
Book: Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort and Joy, by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
Activity: Go to group prepared to share a story from your family (or other inspirational group) about the value of wholesome traditions. Brainstorm ideas for your family from this book; help inspire each other with personal stories.
- Make a “holiday tree” for each family (see instructions in the book).
Alternate Book: Homestead Holidays
SEPTEMBER
Book: Butchering, by Adam Daforth.
Activity: Have an experienced homesteader walk you through the humane harvest of a batch of meat chickens. As a group, visit their homestead on a butchering day to help them with their processing so you can learn every detail.
Alternate Book: Raising Rabbits for Meat, by Eric Rapp and Callene Rapp
OCTOBER
Book: Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way: 18th Century Methods for Today’s Organic Gardeners, by Wesley Green.
Activity: Make a wicker cloche by using a basket making kit in the right shape and size. This project can be started that evening and finished at home.
Alternate Book: Founding Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf, for US history buffs or Growing Heirloom Flowers, by Chris McLaughlin.
NOVEMBER
Book: Cooking with Fire, by Paula Marcoux.
Activity: Have a guest speaker guide you through the preparation of an actual, over-the-flame meal —
NO CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES!
- Don’t forget dessert and don’t be afraid to fail. Invite families to this event.
Alternate Book: Cook Wild: Year-round Cooking on an Open Fire, by Susanne Fischer-Rizzi
DECEMBER
- No book club; group service project*
*Be sure to take time to serve in your community together as a club. Selfless service creates feelings of community and true charity which will strengthen not only those you serve but your homesteading group, as well.
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