Review: Made from Scratch

The book Made from Scratch, by Jenna Woginrich, also the writer of blog Cold Antler Farm, was a fun little read.

It may have just been my recent obsession, but I thought the first chapter, on her adventures starting to keep chickens, was the best. I did enjoy the overall premise, which was on homesteading for the newbie. Jenna talks the reader through various subjects related to a homemade and sustainable life with anecdotes of her own efforts. She includes the expected subjects of gardening and farm animals, but also antiquing, playing an instrument, and having working pets.

I'm not quite sure how we discovered this book. My mom had reserved it from the library, but when it came in she didn't remember looking for it herself and thought I had chosen it. I hadn't heard of it, but it did sound like something that fit my recent interest in learning more homemade skills. Although neither of us remembered hearing of it, we picked it up and read the first chapter out loud (hey, you never outgrow being read to!). We really enjoyed the chapter, but after that it had a little less punch.

I think the narrative style would have been a better fit for a narrative oranization to the book. The book was organized by subject, and it did follow an emotional development, but the lack of chronology was a bit distracting. The author moved from Tennesee to northern Iowa to start her homesteading, but the progression of the book doesn't parallel the move and development.
There are small sections concluding each subject giving basic instructions for getting started and although the information is fine, it repeats some of that discussed in the narrative; I didn't care for the division of each subject into separate sections.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, mostly because of the interest of listening to a young woman share her passion for getting into how to do old things.