FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used - Very Good | See details
Sold by BTBooksellers.
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life [Hardcover]

Jenna Woginrich
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover, Bargain Price $8.38  
Hardcover, December 3, 2008 --  
Paperback $9.43  
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

December 3, 2008
Starting off as a young, single woman with a desk job and a city apartment, Jenna Woginrich set out to build a more self-sufficient lifestyle by learning homesteading skills. She didn't own land or have much practical experience beyond a few forays into knitting and soap making, but she did have a strong desire to opt out of what she saw as a consumer-driven culture. After moving across the country to a rented farmhouse in northern Idaho, she learned to raise chickens, keep bees, and grow her own food.

This is the story of her joyful, dramatic, and sometimes sorrowful journey toward self-reliance. Along the way, she learned that an abundance of enthusiasm and a willingness to experiment could make up for a lack of knowledge, and that reaching out to others for mentoring and guidance could help her reconnect with her community.

From the satisfying work of starting a new garden and installing honeybees, to the bliss of gathering fresh eggs to be baked into a quiche served with warm-from-the-oven bread and hand-churned butter, Made from Scratch shares the deep satisfaction that comes with providing for oneself. In an encouraging and entertaining voice, Woginrich weaves into her narrative easy-to-follow instructions for making your own clothes, teaching yourself to play a musical instrument, and much more.

In any setting — urban, suburban, or rural — with any level of experience, it's possible to take small steps toward self-reliance. Windowbox vegetable gardens, a batch of homemade strawberry jam, a handknit sweater, or a small flock of backyard chickens all satisfy the craving to homestead. It's not about having a rustic cabin on five acres, complete with a pickup truck and a barn full of livestock. For Woginrich, it's about being more receptive to learning the simple skills most of us have forgotten, and finding joy in the process.

Praise for Made from Scratch
"The book...is simultaneously a lighthearted fish-out-of-water, city-girl-turns-homesteader memoir, and a more serious primer on making a lifestyle change. Perfect for environmentally conscious, do-it-yourself readers." —Booklist 

"This fine, simple book is the real deal — and it will come as a great relief to people feeling some silent dread in a time of rising gas prices, food shortages, and the like. Much can be done -- in your home!" —Bill McKibbon, author of Deep Economy  

"A delightful introduction to the simple (and not so simple) life." —William Alexander, author of The $64 Tomato


Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

One day Woginrich, a Web designer, threw her hands in the air and vowed to change her life. She was going to be more self-sufficient: produce her own food, make her own clothing, live a simpler and more fulfilling life. Easier said than done, she soon learned. This amiable memoir charts her course to self-sufficiency, documenting her successes and disappointments, exploring what it means to make the shift from consumer to producer. It’s almost two books in one: each chapter (for example, the one in which she tells us about her early misadventures in chicken raising) is accompanied by a brief guide to its subject (in this case, she talks about the importance of selecting a breed, choosing the right food, and providing a proper, poultry-friendly environment). The book, therefore, is simultaneously a lighthearted fish-out-of-water, city-girl-turns-homesteader memoir and a more serious primer on making a lifestyle change. Perfect for environmentally conscious, do-it-yourself readers. --David Pitt

About the Author

Jenna Woginrich is a 20-something 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, and several amiable rabbits.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC; First Edition edition (December 3, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 160342086X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1603420860
  • Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 8.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
170 of 174 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars sign me up December 27, 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mere nostalgia for a so-called "simpler time" is not enough reason for me to do anything; I have to know there is some modern benefit, something to justify its practice in the here and now. The author of Made From Scratch does an excellent job not only convincing me of this, but stoking my excitement for it.

Of 11 chapters, I loved 6:

Chickens. Eggs aren't that expensive -they might be some of the cheapest sources of protein available- so why raise your own chickens? First, by doing so you'll know exactly how they've been treated instead of wondering by what loophole "free range" came to be stamped on the egg cartons at the grocery store. Second, fresh eggs really do taste better; they are higher in omega-3 fatty acids and lower in cholesterol than factory eggs. They even look better, with perky, deep orange yolks. Third, getting eggs out of your own backyard is a nice way to bypass the whole "eat organic vs. eat local" debate. Fourth, chickens will eat the slugs and other pests harassing your vegetable and herb garden. Fifth, when you change their bedding, the old bedding does wonders for your compost. The one glitch seems to be getting your hands on chickens humanely. She gets chickens through the mail, first two-day-old chicks who arrive in a box "parched and starved" and later pullets (chickens just a few weeks away from laying their first eggs) who arrive with clipped beaks.

Grow Your Own Meal. The food at the grocery store is a mystery. You don't know how it was grown, how far it was trucked, how long ago it was picked, who picked it, or what they were paid. It's coated in wax and dyes. It's oversized, dry, and flavorless. It's grown for shelf life rather than taste. And it's getting more expensive all the time. Not only does growing your own food cut all that out of the equation, it gives your kitchen scraps new purpose as compost.

Beekeeping. Honey! Wax! Support for the garden's ecosystem! Too bad I'm probably actually too afraid to try this one.

Old Stuff. "There are a lot of really good reasons I run to the past when I need something as utilitarian as a cheese grater: things were made better, looked prettier, and lasted longer before plastic took over. Buying from a neighborhood secondhand shop helps support the local economy and is a kind of recycling." -p. 78

DIY Wardrobe. There are two things that excite me about this chapter. First is simply the fact that I hate shopping for clothes; 10 minutes in a dressing room and I seriously ponder following the example of the woman who made a single brown dress and wore it for a year. My body type (like anyone else's) only seems to be "in style" once a decade, if that. Things don't look on me the way they look on the hanger/mannequin. I know I'm not the only one to have a great skirt hanging in the back of the closet for lack of the right shirt to go with it. I can't count on living to see the type of clothes I like (1930's, 1940's) being manufactured ever. Second is just enthusiasm for the idea that it is possible to REALLY make stuff with my own hands. "Most of us never even consider that something like a pair of jeans could actually be made without an assembly line behind it." -p. 90 It seems widely regarded that any homemade item is sure to be inferior, unsafe, or even flat out impossible. I think this is reinforced by "craft" stores like Michael's where to make paper, soap, candles, or chocolate you must first buy ... paper, soap, wax, and chocolate, merely shredding or melting it down and bringing it back together in a new shape. Even as a kid I thought that was pretty lame -and quite the letdown for someone high on reading Anne of Green Gables and the Laura Ingers Wilder books.

Research, Son. Seventeen pages of memoirs, how-to books, and websites that pertain to the topics discussed in the book.

The other five chapters are: The Country Kitchen, Working House Dogs, Angora Rabbits: Portable Livestock, Homemade Mountain Music, Outside The Farm, and Want More? The Country Kitchen is pretty thin, but is nonetheless why I now have (as of Sept 2011) a little handcrank radio playing away in the kitchen (She's right; it adds coziness to the room in a way a TV never could) and as many hand-powered kitchen tools as are practical (including a manual coffee grinder). When the power went out in California/Arizona/New Mexico/Mexico recently, I have to say it was extremely reassuring to have these things and the chickens and a way of composting food scraps should the trash collection get derailed. The black-out just came and went with no hiccup for us (also courtesy of the book Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient when the Unexpected Happens. And we'll soon likely have rabbits, I'm coming around to the practicality of having working dogs, and the chapter on Homemade Mountain Music got me started on listening to it which turns out to just be a gateway drug to needing to own a fiddle. So even the chapters that didn't initially fire me up seem to have been gestating in my mind this whole time.

I would give the book five stars but for layout. Because it is a memoir and not a how-to book, disrupting the chronology to arrange the story by project does not make the most sense.

Whether your interest in the DIY scene began with knitting a scarf and now you're looking for more, you crave the comfort of control that only self-sufficiency can provide in turbulent times, or you feel like there is nothing to do with your free time anymore but shop, this book is worth a look.

One more note: When I read this book in December 2008, though I enjoyed it, I was mildly disappointed that it was not (I thought) as useful to my situation as the preface had led me to believe. But six months later, as I've returned to this topic and started reading more about gardening, beekeeping, and chicken raising, I am amazed at how much I recognize, how much I already know that I didn't even realize I knew -about raised beds, queen bees, pullets- all from reading her stories. And I think a lot of that comes because she chose to share her difficulties and failures (by far the best parts of the book). As Michael Pollan says in Second Nature "...his failures have more to say to him -about his soil, the weather, the predilections of local pests, the character of his land. The gardener learns nothing when his carrots thrive, unless that success is won against a background of prior disappointment. Outright success is dumb, disaster frequently eloquent." (p. 121)

Two more things she said that have come back again and again:

1. Homesteading is about small steps. Be happy with what you can do today. This helps me not spoil my own excitement over everything I'm growing on my balcony with wishing I could fit a clothesline, rain barrel, composter, solar panel, mini-windmill, three chickens, and a pygmy goat, too.

2. Have a mentor. Reading is useful of course and a reference library will earn its shelf space, but also having someone from whom to learn is invaluable; they can show you with their hands when the book's diagrams aren't yielding their secrets and answer questions omitted by the index. I should've figured this out from giving up on both sewing and knitting after trying to learn solely from books, but it took her saying as much to get me moving on at least finding sewing and gardening classes.

[...]
Was this review helpful to you?
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, The Not So Simple LIfe January 3, 2009
Format:Hardcover
I picked up this book for a quick little chapter read to see if I would be interested and didn't put it down until I had read the whole book. Very much in the same vein as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle but without all the preachiness.

Woganrich takes you through her experiences in homesteading and living a simpler life. Each chapter begins with her discussing her adventures, successes, and failures then ends up with mentoring tips. All the stuff you are looking for without all the hours of research.

The chapters can be taken or dismissed depending on your wish to undertake this particular part of your own adventure into homesteading, but I did have to laugh when I came to the one on Dogs as Work Animals. I own Pugs and there is not a single working gene amongst them so that part just won't work for me.

The other chapters on Bees and Chickens are quite interesting and it's quite refreshing to read an author in this field that will actually discuss their failures and mentor you to your own successes

Great book and going to her website you can see what she has been up to in the year since.
Was this review helpful to you?
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book came into my life at the perfect time. I am a midwestern transplant living in NYC and was starting to feel depressed and disconected by city life. I picked this book up one day and read it while commuting to work. My usual boring hour ride on the subway flew by as I read about Jenna's garden, chickens, and bees. I finished the whole thing that night and then went online to read her blog, and it sparked something inside of me,and I realized that even if my dreams of country living are probably not going to happen for a few years there are plenty of things i can be doing now. As of this moment I have some rapidly growing vegetable plants in the window, a pair of socks on the kntting needles, a quilt in progress, and can play about ten songs on the fiddle. So if you are just looking for a great read, or some inspiration for your country dreams pick up this book, you will be glad you did.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
I loved this book! It fueled my desire to have a little farm of my own...love Jenna's writing style. A must read if you are dreaming of a homestead.
Published 1 month ago by Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars i adore this book.
it is such a great read. i can relate with her so much as I too am a city girl who is looking to become more self sufficient and live off the land. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Menay Wilde
4.0 out of 5 stars A gift
I bought this for my daughter in law. She put it on her list. She was very happy with it.
Published 2 months ago by Lin
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, fun, and inspiring!
Beautifully written and full of good humor, Jenna Woginrich's book invites you to play with dirt, plants, chickens, rabbits, dogs, acoustic string instruments, and other real, live... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio
4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
This book sent me off on about 5 different tangents. She briefly touches on many different subjects, a few of which (raising chickens, sewing and thrifting) inspired me to find... Read more
Published 2 months ago by bsting
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
I've read literally dozens of comparable accounts by people learning to homestead. Jenna clearly got the fever and followed her dream. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Teo46
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book , very interesting read
It was a pleasure to read Made from Scratch , it included very useful information , I would highly recommend this book.
Published 3 months ago by edm
5.0 out of 5 stars A story to inspire you to a better, happier life
What a great book about living a better life!!!

If you are truly happy with a full time job so you can get more new stuff, a "going it alone" sort of life, then you... Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Meisenbacher
5.0 out of 5 stars A how to manual for the farmer in all of us - or some of us!
A great how to for those of us that would like to start growing our own foods and don't know where to start. Jenna got me started farming!
Published 5 months ago by Patricia Wesner
1.0 out of 5 stars If you only want an intro book
If you only want to gloss the surface and pay for stuff you can get free on the internet then go ahead and get this book. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kim
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category