Sunday, August 19, 2012

Made From Scratch

Although I do not fear the zombie apocalypse any time soon, for some reason I have been reading a lot of books about survival, growing your own food, how cities need to rethink land use, water harvesting, etc. One of the most enjoyable books in this latest nonfiction binge has been Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich.

I believe most of the chapters in this book came from Jenna's blog originally, but being the tactile person that I am, I wanted to read the book. Each chapter is a different aspect of life that she has explored in her move to the country - raising chickens, starting a beehive, running the sled dogs, starting a garden, baking bread, knitting, sewing, playing an instrument, you get the picture.


There is no reason for me to believe I will ever need to know about sled dogs and I'm allergic to bees so no honey happening in my backyard. But for the first time, Jenna's plucky way of writing has inspired me to learn how to sew. Her simple sewing kit and instructions to make a canvas sack were easy enough for a total klutz to have a go at it (ok, I haven't actually made one yet, but I'm at least contemplating it).

Jenna is a young woman taking on some old fashioned skills. Her writing does show her age, but her engaging style and willingness to share her trials and triumphs is endearing. And the librarian in me really appreciates the list of additional resources at the end of the book. You never know, maybe one of these years you'll see me on Project Runway, all because of the inspiration from a book.

~More Books

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