The Foxfire Book Series a Break-Down of Contents and Review

by Victoria S
The Foxfire books are widely collected by preppers, mainly because they cover how to do old time skills from the Appalachian mountains. There are 13 of them, although only 12 are numbered. However, they aren’t actually “how to live like a mountaineer” books, and they aren’t systematic in their coverage.
The various books include not only the “how-to” articles, but many historical articles and interviews and life stories of people in the Appalachians. Their usefulness to preppers can vary from book to book. To help others, I’ve gone through the first 10 (I don’t own the last 3) and pointed out which books cover topics of interest and how useful that coverage is. This will hopefully help folks pick which books are of interest to them, or at least prioritize which books to acquire.
Overall, I’ve found the first five books to be the most of use for me in my prepping career. The later ones are more concerned with history and folklore as well as interviews of people. That’s interesting also, but it is more difficult to get useful information out of them.
Foxfire 1:
– Extensive discussion of wood types, the tools and skills needed for felling and working lumber, and building a log cabin. Also how to build a chimney for your cabin. Many photos and diagrams of various designs and techniques.
– Making white oak splints that you then can make into baskets. Lots of photos.
– Chair making covered briefly with a few photos.
– Soapmaking. More anecdotal than a systematic step-by-step discussion of the process. Photos.
– Cooking in a fireplace, with a dutch oven, and on a wood stove. Also recipes to go with the article, including how to preserve vegetables and fruits. Very quick coverage of a very extensive topic.
– Slaughtering, dressing, and curing (smoking and salting) a hog, along with recipes. Many photos.
– Hunting, dressing, and cooking wild animals. Reasonably extensive but not many photos.
– Weather signs. Quick coverage.
– “Moonshining as fine art” – discusses some of the tools needed as well as how best to hide your still. Not a lot of diagrams or photos. Certainly not a “how-to-moonshine” guide.
Foxfire 2:
– Beekeeping, with mainly text coverage and a few photos.
– Finding and using spring edible wild plants. Many photos and diagrams.
– Making an ox yoke with photos of the process and diagrams
– Wagon and wagon wheel making, although it’s not terribly extensive
– Making a tub wheel for a water mill. This would be used in place of an undershot or overshot mill wheel. Lots of diagrams and photos.
– Making a foot powered lathe. Lots of photos but only one diagram of the design.
– “From raising sheep to weaving cloth” – covers production of cloth including spinning wheels and looms. Lots of photos and diagrams.
Foxfire 3:
– Hide tanning, including rawhide making and small discussions of various ways of using bark, brains or alum.
– Cattle raising – mainly historical, but including a brief discussion of ear-marking
– Banjos and dulcimers. Making and using them. Extensive discussion with many photos and diagrams.
– ginseng finding and uses. Lots of historical coverage along with some photos and discussion of uses.
– summer and fall edible wild plants. Many photos and diagrams, very large section.
– smokehouse construction, small section with a few photos and diagrams
– building a lumber kiln, just a few photos and diagrams, not extensive coverage.
– construction of butter churns. Lots of photos and diagrams illustrating the process.
– sorghum harvesting and pressing, a very quick treatment in a few pages.
– a quick coverage of making brooms and brushes, with only a few photos. Only a couple of pages.
Foxfire 4:
– knife making. Pretty much a basic introduction, with diagrams and photos.
– fiddle making, with diagrams and photos. More of an introduction to the subject than an in-depth treatment.
– a section on gardening. This is more anecdotal than systemic. Lots of hints and tricks, not so much a how-to-guide.
– wooden sleds. Diagrams and photos of making some.
– bird traps, deadfalls, and rabbit box traps. Diagram of each, but not an extensive treatment with many different types.
– making tar along with photos.
– logging. Not many photos or diagrams, but some historical discussion.
– water systems, including spring houses. Several different designs and plans are given. Includes a brief discussion of dowsing.
– cheese making, with some photos. Very brief coverage.
Foxfire 5:
– a large section on ironmaking and blacksmithing, including blast furnace construction, making a variety of tools, and some on horseshoeing. Lots of photos and diagrams.
– a very beginner’s guide to gun smithing, including barrel making, stock making, and black power basics. Includes information on flintlocks, including how to create the flints.
Foxfire 6:
– making wooden locks with tumblers. Very interesting, with photos and diagrams.
– shoemaking, including diagrams, patterns, and many photos to illustrate the process. Doesn’t cover many different types of shoes, however.
– very large section of games and how to make handmade toys. Toys include apple head dolls, wooden ball and cups, bull roarers, stilts, toy ride-on wagons, etc.
Foxfire 7 is mainly concerned with religious information on denominations active in the Appalachians. Includes a section on snake handling churches (which I strongly suggest folks not pursue as a hobby, because we’re all sinners and well… handling rattlesnakes strikes me as pushing your luck a bit much).
Foxfire 8 mainly deals with information about southern folk pottery makers, as well as a section on cockfighting. The pottery section has diagrams of kilns, as well as photos of people making pottery. Very extensive. (I’m not a fan of making animals fight for amusement so I’ll pass on reading the cockfighting information).
Foxfire 9:
– very extensive section on wagon making, with many pictures and diagrams for the whole process.
– another section on log cabins, including some more details on tools used to make them. Also details of construction of some older examples. Includes a section on making a puncheon floor and making a maul and a broadax handle for tools.
Foxfire 10:
– making a pole lathe made from wood. Has diagrams but not very long or many photos on the production process. A few photos on using it also.
I do not own the next three books put out by Foxfire, so I cribbed these notes from their website.
Foxfire 11:
– beekeeping again
– more on preserving food
– more on wild plants usage
– fishing techniques
Foxfire 12:
– coffin making
– square dancing
“Singin’, Praisin’, Raisin'” – (2011)
– building a farm sled
– making basic woodworking tools
– braiding a leather bullwhip