Its cold out so I have been spending time organizing a "few" books beside my bed. I counted and there are 40 books on just herbs and healing. There are many others on various subjects (gardening, food preservation, livestock and their care, weed and wildflower identification, homesteading, pioneer skills and many other subjects) and most of them number into the 30s and 40s for EACH subject. I also have many books that I keep at work for when I have spare time there. Even my work "library" is nothing to sneeze at. Due to a lack of room, I still have many others packed up in my storage shed.
I have read almost all of these books and study/research them regularly. I would HATE to lose them. They are a huge source of information to me.
Even though I have read and continue to read these and other books, I don't believe that is enough. First, there is ALWAYS more to be learned. Second, there's more to learning then just reading. Just as important as reading in my opinion, is doing. If all I had ever done is read about things then I would only have half an education in this whole journey. It would be a GREAT half an education but not a complete education.
At some point we all need to practice what we learn. Whether its learning to identify and use herbs, learning to bake and cook from our food supplies, learning about our livestock and gardens, learning to aim and shoot or even purify water we all have to DO it as well as read about it to have a complete education and grasp of what we are learning.
Almost everything I've done I learned from books....at first. Knowledge is a very powerful thing and no one can take it from us once we obtain it. A huge part of that knowledge is cemented through hands on experience. So, today if you're snowed in or going outside, pick a skill you've been reading about and DO it. Even if it doesn't turn out well at least you're learning something. Failures aren't failures if you learn from them. So go ahead. Make a loaf of bread or a batch of cheese from scratch. Harvest some herbs and make an infusion or a tincture. Start some seeds because spring is coming. Hunt for your supper whether its squirrel, rabbit or wild edibles. The important thing is to learn and to cement that learning with hands on experience.
Southern Wood Elf