Synopses & Reviews
Discovering the pleasures of a handmade life was a longtime dream for urban homesteader Jenna Woginrich. At 24 years old, living in an apartment in Knoxville, Tennessee, and working as a computer designer, Woginrich was nurturing her dream of learning to homestead. Now, at 27, she's settled on a rented farm in rural Vermont, where she cares for two working sled dogs, chickens, a flock of sheep, honeybees, a couple of geese, fluffy Angora rabbits, and a backyard garden that provides much of her own food.
Part memoir and part how-to manual, Made from Scratch recounts Woginrich's growing independence and the successes and missteps she experiences as she learns to more fully live off the land. By turns upbeat, dramatic, and sometimes sorrowful, her story embodies the experience of the new homesteader one who is committed to reducing dependence on commercially produced goods while still working a day job to pay the rent. Woven into the narrative, readers will find easy-to-follow instructions for making clothing, playing a musical instrument, preserving fruit, brewing the best pot of coffee imaginable, and much more.
Now available in paperback, this new edition features additional material on moving from Idaho to Vermont, a topic that will delight fans of her blog.
Synopsis
In a hectic world of mass-produced food, clothing, and entertainment, it s easy to miss out on the simple pleasures of doing things for yourself. Young web designer Jenna Woginrich chronicles her adventures as she learns to embrace the idea of self-sufficiency in all aspects of her life, including sewing her own clothes, growing her own food, and creating her own fun outside of the mainstream. Woginrich s hilarious, heartbreaking, and soul-satisfying journey will bring joy and inspiration to those who dream about a more independent lifestyle.
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About the Author
Jenna Woginrich is a homesteader and the author of Barnheart, Chick Days, and Made from Scratch. She blogs at Cold Antler Farm, as well as Mother Earth News and The Huffington Post. A Pennsylvania native, she has made her home in the mountains of Tennessee, in northern Idaho, in rural Vermont, and most recently in upstate New York, where she lives with a flock of Scottish Blackface sheep, a border collie in training, chickens and geese, a hive of bees, a horse, and several amiable rabbits.