Fall is really here. It is gray, rainy, and has us all thinking of baking bread, pumpkin patches, hot apple cider, and snuggling up in front of the fireplace. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn as our lifestyle changes from being outside as much as possible to more indoor activities.

Did you know that October is also Vegetarian Awareness Month? Saturday, October 1, was World Vegetarian Day and the kick-off of a month of awareness about the benefits of a vegetarian, plant-based diet, especially one that is grown locally and sustainably.

I was recently sent a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever, which was perfect for this month.

“What we used to call being a vegan or vegetarian is more accurately called a plant-based diet. What makes a plant-based diet different from veganism or vegetarianism is that it defines the composition of what is included in the diet, opposed to what is excluded from the diet,” says Herver.

I love that the author mentions the difference between focusing on what to exclude from your diet and what to include. This leaves room for those that don’t exclude all animal products, but are willing to look at the health end environmental benefits of a plant-centered diet. Although the more you learn, the more you may lean toward that whole-food, plant-based diet.
Baby steps. You know I am a big believer in small steps as the key to real and permanent change.

Hippocrates said, “Let thy food by thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.” You are what you eat. And if you eat foods that promote health and well-being… well you all are not idiots and can certainly figure that out. The latest information and research about a plant-based diet is proving that it protects against many of our health-related illnesses (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis).

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition guides readers through the transition to a plant-only eating ensuring you get all the necessary vitamins and nutrients. In addition, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition helps clarify myths and facts about plant-based diets, offers special diets for athletes, pregnant women, seniors and children, and shares specific exercises that enhance a plant-based diet.

This is not a book for idiots. It is a book for anyone that is interested in learning more about a whole-food, plant-based diet or a seasoned expert looking for the latest research and delicious recipes. I have been a vegetarian (and sometimes vegan) for 18 years even I learned a lot from this book.

Another book I was also sent that I am excited about reading throughout this season to get me ready for when the weather warms and help keep me educated about new things I can do during the short, cold months to be gentle on the environment is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading by Sundari Elizabeth Kraft.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading gives clear, practical advice on how to live sustainably and responsibly—and save money and time—in any urban environment. Expert urban homesteader Sundari Elizabeth Kraft shares her hands-on knowledge of growing and preserving organic foods, composting, raising small livestock, saving money on transportation, creative recycling and more.

An urban homesteader is something that I aspire to be, even with my somewhat brown-thumb. And it is a big part of my family’s plans for the coming year.

What exactly is urban homesteading? Kraft defines it as, “a collection of practices, which can be done within a city, with the aim of meeting basic daily needs in a self-sufficient and sustainable way.”

If we want to make a real, positive impact on the next generation, I believe that this movement is one way to do that. As a society, we have lost our taste for self-sufficiency, for understanding where (and how) the products we consume are made and what it entails, and for quality.

I will never forget when friends brought over some eggs for us from their backyard chickens and having my husband exclaim every time he cracked one about the incredible color! And us all exclaim about their incredible flavor. We have lost that knowledge somewhere along the way. This is the book that can bring us back to it.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading has a wonderful section on gardening for any situation you might encounter in urban living: from small containers to windowsill micro-gardening, converting your yard to growing in someone else’s there is something for everyone and more information about “how-to” than any other resource I have found.

My family and I are planning on raising backyard chickens next year and I was excited about the section on livestock (chickens, goats, rabbits, bees, and aquaponics) in the city, but was again impressed with the breadth of information from the basics to the advanced. Between this book and many trips to the Urban Farm Store, I think we will be ready.

One area that I think is so important to working toward a green lifestyle is making what you need (compost!) and making do with what you have (water conservation!). This book covers all that and more, even urban foraging! If you have any inclination toward urban homesteading, even if just one small piece is appealing, then you will find yourself coming back to this book again and again.

Want to win a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading of your own?

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Contest Deadline: October 16 @ 9 pm PST.

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Good luck!

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Kate, the winner of a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading who said, “I want to win because I was just looking at this book the other day,really want to read it.”