Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
This is a type of info/memoir by and about Jenna Woginrich. Made from Scratch covers beekeeping, chicken raising, antique hunting, bread making and many other rituals of the not-so-urban dwellers. Her book is set up well and there are sections of it that are extremely helpful and smart.
Many times however, I was turned off by the attempt to cover up poor writing by and addition of overly flowered and emotional prose. It was just way too loaded for me. She got emotional and excited because some friends from college were to join her at her house and so she went out of her way to make it a complete hassle-free weekend for them. She goes on to speak of how blessed she is that as she sees her friend falling asleep on the couch she knows that the food that is going through his body is from her very own farm. Cheesy! I have chickens in my backyard and I have never sat and thought that, yes I am delighted the boys get fresh eggs, and delighted that we aren’t paying into the insanely hideous picture of all those caged birds laying eggs onto a conveyor belt for their whole lives while never to set foot on grass. Yes I am! But it seems to me Jenna goes a little overboard with her pleasure of the food that is in her friends digestive system. It isn’t just that passage either- there are more.
Besides the emotional aspect of this book (which seems to be written by someone either PMSing or enduring Menopause) I did enjoy the farming insight and tips. Although I am not quite ready to dive into bee-keeping (the neighbors probably wouldn’t like it either) I liked reading what she learned from both her mistakes and successes. I learn from other people’s mistakes when it comes to farming, gardening and such- it is way to expensive not to! Overall this was an average short and light read. It could have been so much better without the melodrama, but there were enough tidbits in it to keep me somewhat content.
If you could own one kind of farm animal (without worrying about land space, or your neighbors) what would it be? The latest one that I want…Angora rabbits! I really want me a pair.
- ISBN: 9781603420860
- Subtitle: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
- Author: Woginrich, Jenna
- Publisher: Storey Publishing
- Subject: Do-It-Yourself – General
- Personal Memoirs
- Country life
- Urban homesteading.
- Farmers & Ranchers
- Self-reliant living
- Publication Date: December 2008
- Pages: 184
Themocracy
Bethany, I always enjoy your writing so much! In answer to your question, if I could have one critter without having to worry about, you know, REALITY, I’d want a cow. Milk, butter, cream, cheese … I’d love to learn about all of that and have it fresh.
(I am fairly certain that in all of the hundreds of thousands of words I have written in my life, I have never before typed the sentence “I’d want a cow.”)
Awe thanks!! You so made my day!
Yes, a cow would be a good buy for sure. I knew you were a country girl at heart.