Book Review: Precycle! by Paul Peacock

Time for featuring an updated book review. This book still has value based on supporting eco-living initiatives and helping readers who want to keep in touch with nature. I am glad to see it's still readily available, and very relevant, almost two decades on! There's nothing particularly to do with astrology in this book, by the way, nor with tarot cards, but it covers certain areas of interest relating to a healthy planet and lifestyle. Plus, who doesn't love a few recipes for natural treats!   

The majority of information below was correct at the time of going to press, while certain details have also been updated, including an Amazon affiliate link if you should want to buy a copy of the book from that source. 

Precycle! (Paperback Book)

Author: Paul Peacock

Publisher: The Good Life Press Ltd

RRP: £29.99 - currently circa £15 at AmazonUK https://amzn.to/48oTyvC

Reviewed by: Diana McMahon-Collis

(Original review date 6 June 2009; updated 26 April 2026)) 

Copyright: Diana Collis 2026 

 

Are you interested in the idea of saving money and having more independence in food provision and looking after your home?  The Precycle method could work for you.

For anyone who remembers “The Good Life”, Paul Peacock’s Precycle! is in tune with the idea of growing your own and making your own – your own being whatever it is that you would normally go out and buy in a pack, jar, tub or bottle.

Why “Precycle!”?  Well, like many good book titles, it’s a clever little play on words.  The author’s remit is to help you to avoid having to buy so many pre-packaged, everyday items of grocery shopping - and thereby also avoid having to do so much recycling of packaging.

Peacock’s claim is to show you how to “make everything you buy in the shops – from sauce to sausages, bleach to beer, detergents to disinfectants”.  Actually, there’s a section on beauty products too – more of that later.

Does Precycle! live up to these claims?  Food, drink and cleaning products are the main contenders and are well covered in the book.  Not only can you learn how to make vinegar, but you can also see how to use it in your house-cleaning regime!  On the food front, there is a collection of popular recipes for preserves, cakes, biscuits, etc., plus some rather original and precious food-processing methods.  You can find out how to make cheeses like Edam, breakfast cereals like Cornflakes and drinks like ginger beer.

There’s a nice sort of “English Summer” feel to the food and drink section, with some recipes reminiscent of old British cookery and household management books: eg, Victoria Sandwich, lemonade, barley water, scones, soda bread…   Then there are some little gems such as Iced Cup Cakes, Caramel Sauce, home-made Ice Cream and Peppermint Tea straight from the garden.  Not to mention Naan, chapattis and granola (“a great alternative to cereal bars”).

The author is a smallholder and, at the time of writing, was editor of a monthly magazine, “Home Farmer” (back issues of which can be found at: https://pocketmags.com/home-farmer-magazine/).  In Precycle!, in the author's safe hands, you can also learn about making sausages, curing bacon, making butter, brewing beer and making country wines.  The meat section has guidance on producing ham and making pork pie and a decent, home-made pate.  There are also sections on fish, dairy products and bakery goods, with some entries more anecdotal than full recipes, so don’t expect a fully fledged, step-by-step Delia Smith Cookery Course approach!  However, you will find a lot of wisdom imparted in this handy little paperback.  I think it’s not unfair to describe it as a veritable tardis, as there’s really a remarkable amount of wisdom, experience and insight packed into the 224 pages that make up Precycle!

Within the Precycle! ethos there’s also an emphasis on frugality and plain old money saving – with the idea that you can make what you see on the supermarket shelves “for a fraction of the cost” - which includes concocting your own deodorant, shampoo and furniture polish.  Will the personal hygiene items compete with all those high-profile beauty products in glossy advertisements?  Maybe, maybe not.  But they could well accord with the “home spa” and organic approaches to hair and skin care.

Precycle! is a refreshing book.  It is, at one level, a collection of recipes.  But it’s more than just a cookery book and is all about how to make the most of easily available resources to cover some basic items that you probably use regularly.

There are a few less easily available ingredients mentioned; I would not readily know where to find rennet, glycerine or lanolin, for example – fortunately, the author gives advice of suppliers in the Resources section at the back of the book.  I draw the line, though, at wondering how to find 1kg of rosehips, to use in a recipe for a tonic high in vitamin C, in the “Vitamins and Supplements” section.  This is a sweet little section, more of a wave in the direction of Culpeper’s Herbal than a fully fledged red carpet trip.  But a nice idea, just the same – and you have to admire the author for making some potentially quaint ideas more appealing to a more modern audience.  Be assured, though, the author isn’t just serving up some wild claim or suggestion that, for example, garlic is good for you.  There’s an example given from “real life” where soldiers in the Great War were given garlic paste on field dressings to act as an antiseptic for their wounds - and the government supplied this through purchasing the garlic bulbs from the farmers.

The section on cleaning products is really worthwhile, with lots of insight into how very simple the basis of most household cleaning agents really is.  There is information on soap making and even lye making, although no obvious mention that you should have a licence if you want to deal with lye and make soap from home.  I was also disappointed not to find a recipe for a descaling product; and a lack of an index (if the book still doesn't feature one) is a possible oversight.  Nonetheless, this book is full of some wonderful gems and it’s worth reading through a few times to find them.

Currently available at Amazon: https://amzn.to/48oTyvC