How to Do Things: A Timeless Guide to a Simpler Life

An ode to self-reliance brimming with wit, wisdom, and nostalgia.

Sometimes doing things the "old-fashioned way" is still the best way: For anyone who wants to learn how to catch a runaway pig, mend a fence post, milk a cow, or throw an unforgettable barn party, this engaging volume delivers timeless advice on accomplishing tasks big and small around the house, garden, and farm. Written by farmers and craftsmen and featuring original text and illustrations from the 1919 first edition, the 100th-anniversary volume of How to Do Things presents a new generation of readers with expert guidance on every facet of homesteading in a very handsomely crafted package.

• With projects that range from practical (ridding a yard of poison ivy) to downright bemusing (organizing a potato peeling contest), this delightful book is equal parts useful and entertaining.
• Originally published by the editors of Farm Journal a century ago, How to Do Things still contains relevant information for today's world.
• With the handwriting – and doodles – of the test taker, readers will have flashbacks of anxiously sitting over a test paper chewing on the end of a pencil.

In today's fast-paced, non-stop, technologically-centric world, How to Do Things: A Timeless Guide to a Simpler Life is a refreshing trip back in time.

An ode to self-reliance and an invitation to reconnect with life's simple pleasures.

• A must-have for anyone who enjoys doing things with their own two hands.
• Beautifully packaged, How to Do Things makes a great gift for farmers, city dwellers and everyone in between.

Brian Barth is a contributing editor at Landscape Architecture Magazine and writer at large at Modern Farmer. He lives in Toronto.

William Campbell is an editor and writer. He lives an idyllic pastoral life in Brooklyn.