Wanted water up at the garden for years but there's no power down by the creek. Built the ram pump over two Saturdays and it's been running since June. Forge is next.
The Forgotten Workshop
The Forgotten Workshop
Paperback · 100 projects · Full color · Parts list on every project
Do the things your grandfather could do
Cider press, forge, ram pump and 97 more builds
Know what it costs before you cut a board
Real plans, not two-page overviews
BUNDLE & SAVE
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What's inside
What's inside
Your grandparents could do most of this without a book. Nobody wrote it down for you.
One hundred projects across nine chapters: water from the ground and a pump that runs on nothing, wood heat that lasts the winter, chickens, bees and goats, an orchard you planted yourself, cider, cheese, butter and maple syrup, soap and candles, a forge, a workbench, fences and a pole barn.
Every project opens with three numbers: cost, difficulty and build time. Then the full parts list, right down to the screws. You will know whether it is an afternoon or a season before you pick up a tool.
What’s inside
- Water and sanitation: a hand-dug well, a ram pump, a spring box, a composting toilet
- Heat and fire: a full-winter woodshed, a Rumford fireplace, a safe wood stove install, a sauna
- Animals: chicken coop and run, a beehive and your own honey, a goat shed and milking stand, ducks and pigs
- Soil and growing: a worm bin, planters and trellises, a keyhole garden, an orchard, grafting, mushrooms
- Kitchen: a cider press, vinegar, pickles, cheese, butter, maple syrup, cider and beer
- Home and workshop: soap, candles, leather, baskets, a brake-drum forge, a knife, a pegged workbench
- Land: fences, a dry-stone wall, a pole barn, your own lumber from a chainsaw mill
Who it’s for
The one who wishes he had paid more attention when his grandfather was in the shop. The one with a few acres and a list of things he has meant to build for ten years. The couple who plan it at the kitchen table and build it on Saturday. The one who wants the grandkids to know how, and would rather show them than tell them.
Not one project repeats The Weekend Self-Reliance Manual. It picks up where that book stops. You do not need to be an expert, and you do not need a farm. A good share of these projects are a Saturday, a trip to the hardware store and the tools already in the garage.
Shipping & 30-day guarantee
Shipping & 30-day guarantee
Orders leave within 1 to 3 days and arrive in 8 to 11 business days, tracked the whole way.
Paperback, full color, packed so it arrives undamaged.
Thirty days to decide. If it is not for you, email info@byorfela.com and we refund you.
What you need to start
What you need to start
A drill, a saw, a tape measure and a level cover most of the book, and most people already own them. Where a project needs more, like the forge or the chainsaw mill, every tool is listed with the cost before you begin.
Every project stands on its own. Start with the one you have always wanted to build.
One Project a Week
Every week, one project worth building. The parts list, what it costs, and what to do on Saturday, in your inbox. First week free, then $9.99/week. Cancel anytime.
The Forgotten Workshop
Your grandfather could build half of this. Nobody wrote it down.
He could split a winter of wood, keep bees, press cider and put up a fence that stood for forty years. Most of it was never written down. It went with him.
One hundred projects, from a hand-dug well to a brake-drum forge. Each one opens with what it costs, how hard it is and how long it takes.
It was never that you couldn’t. It was that nobody was left to show you.
Which one have you been meaning to build?
Woodshed: two weekends, holds a winter of wood
Cider press: one weekend
Chicken coop: three Saturdays
Beehive: one afternoon
Brake-drum forge: one weekend, from a drum the tire shop throws out
Maple syrup setup: ready before February
Most men have a list like this in their head. This book is that list, with the plans.
Most homestead books tell you about it. This one shows you how.
The big homestead books cover everything, and most of it in two pages. You finish the chapter on bees and still could not build a hive. So you assumed it was something you had to grow up with.
This one is a build list. One hundred projects, each with the cost, the difficulty and the hours printed at the top.
| This book | Other homestead books | |
|---|---|---|
| Real builds, not two-page overviews | ||
| Cost, difficulty and time on every project | ||
| Full parts list, right down to the screws | ||
| One hundred real builds, no filler projects | ||
| Projects for a backyard, not just a farm | ||
| Written for someone who has never built anything |
The skills skipped a generation.
A 2026 survey of American homesteaders found that 42% have no farming background in their family at all. For most of the rest, the last ones who farmed were their grandparents.
The people who wanted to learn were never the problem. Nobody was left to teach them.
What American homesteaders said in 2026
42%
have no farming background in the family
The know-how never reached them.
60%
want to learn food preservation
The most wanted skills are the old ones.
49%
want to learn beekeeping
Half want bees. Few have ever built a hive.
Has anyone actually built anything from this?
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The woodshed my dad always talked about
My dad heated with wood his whole life and I never paid much attention. Built the woodshed with my son over two weekends. Holds just under three cords, and the parts list was dead on, right down to the hinges.
-
Bought it for my husband, now we both use it
He basically lives in the garage since he retired. He had the cider press built inside a week of his birthday. I've claimed the cheese and butter pages for myself.
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Cider with the grandsons
We built the press over Labor Day and pressed the old tree out back. The boys did all the cranking. Best afternoon we've had in a long time.
Questions people ask
Why not just watch videos online?
Why not just watch videos online?
You can watch a hundred videos and still not know which one to trust. What it costs, whether the parts fit, how long it really takes. This book puts one hundred projects in one place, with the cost, the difficulty, the time and the parts list at the top of every one. And it works when the internet does not.
How long does shipping take?
How long does shipping take?
8 to 11 business days with full tracking. Orders leave within 1 to 3 days, and the tracking number is emailed to you as soon as it ships.
What if I do not like it?
What if I do not like it?
Thirty days, full refund. Email us and we will take care of it.
Can I actually talk to someone?
Can I actually talk to someone?
Yes. Email info@byorfela.com and a person answers, usually the same day.
Do I need to be handy?
Do I need to be handy?
Not especially. Every project is rated for difficulty. Plenty are an afternoon with basic tools, and a few, like the pole barn and the stone wall, are a season. You will know which before you start.
Is this the same as The Weekend Self-Reliance Manual?
Is this the same as The Weekend Self-Reliance Manual?
No. Not one project is repeated. The Weekend Self-Reliance Manual covers water, power and getting through an outage. The Forgotten Workshop picks up where it stops: the animals, the orchard, the kitchen, the workshop and the land. They are made to sit side by side on the shelf.
Can I buy it as a gift?
Can I buy it as a gift?
Yes, and a lot of people do: for a husband who lives in the garage, a dad who just retired, or a grandchild old enough to hold a hammer. The two- and three-copy bundles are above, you can add a gift note at checkout, and it can ship to their address instead of yours.
Is it a physical book?
Is it a physical book?
Yes. A full-color paperback, made to lie open on a workbench. That is the point of it.
I already own a shelf of these. Will I get anything from this?
I already own a shelf of these. Will I get anything from this?
That is most of our readers. Most of that shelf tells you about the old ways. This one tells you how to build them, with the cost, the parts and the time worked out. Which is why it is the one that ends up open on the bench.
Do I need land?
Do I need land?
Not for most of it. Plenty fits a backyard or a garage: the cider press, the worm bin, the planters, soap, candles, the forge and the workbench. The well, the orchard, the goats and the pole barn want more room, and they say so up front.
Why does a paperback cost this much?
Why does a paperback cost this much?
One hundred projects works out to under thirty cents a project. Build one woodshed or one cider press instead of buying it and the book has paid for itself. It is full color because it is meant to be open on a bench, with sawdust on it, for twenty years.
Customer Reviews
Based on 1,784 reviews
Built the woodshed with my son. Took us 2 weekends, would have been 1 if it hadn't rained. Holds a bit under 3 cord. Dad heated with wood his whole life, wish he could see it.
My grandfather had hives and made cider and I never asked him one thing about it. Now I'm 67 and doing it myself. Hive is built, bees come in April.
Got it for my husbands birthday. Cider press was done before the week was out and now the whole garage smells like apples. I've taken over the cheese section lol
40 years in an office. Since June he's built a woodshed, a milking stand and a gate. Haven't seen him this happy in years.
Book said around $300 for the coop. I spent $280 and change. Took me and my daughter three Saturdays. Girls moved in last month.
This one stays in the family. Already writing notes in the margins for my kids.
Built the brake drum forge out of a drum the tire shop was tossing. First chisel was ugly but it cuts. Wife rolled her eyes until I made her a set of fireplace tongs.
Great book. Lots of good projects.
Every Christmas I buy my dad a book that just sits on the shelf. This one already has sawdust in it. He did the workbench first and now he's on the table.
Heavy pages, big clear pictures. Arrived well packed.
We've had six sugar maples for 20 years and never tapped them. Did it in February going off the chapter. Got about 2 quarts. Grandkids think I'm a wizard.
Bought it for my brother, he loves it. Might need to get one for myself.
My grandmother made lye from the wood stove ash and I always wondered how. The book takes it slow and is very clear about safety. Six bars curing in the basement right now.
Grandsons were here Labor Day weekend so we built the press. They're 10 and 12 and wouldn't let anyone else turn the crank. Got about 3 gallons off the old tree out back.
Been talking about a backyard sauna for five years. Seeing the cost and time up front finally got me off my butt. Three weekends.
Always thought grafting was something only orchard guys knew how to do. 3 out of 4 took. Planting a row next spring.
Pole barn and orchard aren't happening on my lot, but the book is upfront about how much room things need. Plenty else to keep me busy. Would have liked a few more pages on the forge.
Most homestead books I own pad it out with birdhouses. This one has a well, a ram pump, a sauna. Real stuff.
Good book but a lot of these are not weekend jobs for someone like me. The forge and the well I will never do. Herb rack and worm bin turned out fine.
Bought everything on the parts list in one trip. That's a first for me.
We're both retired and wanted something to do together besides TV. Chickens first, then the run, now the berry patch. Every weekend has a plan.
Watched four videos on ram pumps and every one did it differently. Book gives you one way with the parts and the cost. Ours has been pushing water up to the garden since June.
Parts lists are great. On a couple of projects I had to read the steps three times to see how the pieces go together. A few more photos of the steps would help.
The stone wall says it takes a season. It takes a season. Appreciate that they don't pretend.
Quarter acre in the suburbs. Worm bin, potato box, herb rack, vinegar. Plenty in here if you don't have land.
Wanted to make butter since I was a little girl watching my aunt. Took about 20 minutes. So easy I'm almost mad nobody told me.
I thought it would be more about solar and off grid power. It's mostly building things for the yard and the kitchen. Nicely made book, just not for me.
Lots here, I've marked about 30 projects. Knocked off a star because I wanted more on goats. Everything I've built so far turned out like the book.
Son-in-law bought a place with some land and no clue what to do with it. Got him this and the Self-Reliance Manual. He calls my husband every Saturday now.
Prices in the book are lower than what I paid. Coop came out closer to $400 with lumber where it is. Still useful, just budget extra.
made my first knife from an old file. not pretty but it holds an edge
No doom and gloom. Just the project, the parts and what it costs.
Never built a thing in my life. Started with the herb drying rack and the soil sifter. Eyeing the coop next.
Wife said I was crazy building a wood fired hot tub. Now she uses it more than I do.
Farm store wanted $800 for a woodshed. Built a bigger one from the book for under $300.
Built something from the book? Email a photo to info@byorfela.com and we will put it here with your first name and state. Real builds only. That is the whole point of the book.