Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One 's Own

Whether they’re about raising chickens or herding sheep, the tales of Jenna Woginrich have caught the imagination of thousands of young homesteaders. As she learns traditional farming skills by trial and error, Woginrich records her offbeat observations and poignant moments with honesty, humility, and humor.

In BarnHeart, she lands at a small rented farm and struggles to find her place in a reserved rural community filled with working farmers who are scraping by and wealthy vacation-home owners with fancy barns that never house livestock. Although her barnheart — a term Woginrich coins to describe her state of longing for a farm of her own — never subsides, she makes do on her rented farmstead, caring for her sheep, chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, a goat, and a turkey, until relationships sour and she’s abruptly forced to leave. Where will she and her animals go? Will she finally be able to afford the farm she’s always dreamed of?

Even when dealing with cranky neighbors, small-town politics, and the loneliness that comes with running a farm on her own, Woginrich never loses her sense of humor. Readers will recognize themselves and find inspiration in this appealing story of longing and striving for a more authentic life.

Symptoms of Acute Barnheart: Endless hours spent baking bread, studying chicken coop plans, gathering eggs, browsing seed catalogs, weeding the vegetable garden, attending sheepdog trials, dreaming about heritage-breed livestock, and longing incessantly for a farm of one's own. In a memoir filled with hope and humor, Jenna Woginrich recounts her adventures in homesteading and how she finally makes peace with her barnheart.

Jenna Woginrich is a 25-year-old web designer who works in an office during the day and homesteads in her spare time. She has taught herself how to bake, spin, sew, raise chickens, grow vegetables, and play the fiddle and mountain dulcimer. She shares her home in Vermont, with Jazz and Annie, two exuberant huskies.

A Cabin in the Woods
A Very Long Winter
Sheep 101
The Arrival of Rufus Wainwright and Benjamin Franklin
Into the Garden
Meet the Locals
The Society of Lamb and Wool
The Hooves Have Landed
Getting My Goat
You Need a Truck, Girl
Building Paradise Broke and Alone
Saving Sarah
Turkey Drama
A Note on the Door
The Search Begins
Going Home