Book Clubbin: Made From Scratch

This week I was excited to participate in my first Book Club meeting. I've never been in a book club before, but some of my new Bentonville friends were starting one and I was eager to jump on board! I got to pick the first book, so I went with Jenna Woginrich's Made From Scratch, which details a twentysomething's journey from city to country girl. Her motivation is spelled out beautifully in this quote that I love:

"What you can do, though is change the way you live, no matter where you live. You can make better decisions every day; you can learn the skills that make for a more independent way of living. When you do, you'll start to feel more appreciation for those every day tasks, because at the end of that day, you're more in control of your life. That's really what this boils down to. The work in this book isn't about playing farmer, it's about being more responsible for the tasks we've become numb to" (2-3).

And one more...

"When you begin to comprehend how something as basic as how food gets to you, you begin thinking about how other items find their way to you, too: things like clothing, produce, and especially energy...So I threw my hands in the air. I was done with Walmart and Wonder Bread. I wanted something real. i wanted something basic. I wanted a lifestyle that was no longer a part of the problem, or at the very lest was constantly striving to be less involved in it. I wanted a more sustainable life..." (6-7).

While I don't love the name of this so called self-sufficiency movement (I don't think I quite believe in self sufficiency!), I love the idea of it and I loved reading Jenna's struggles and triumphs as she raised chickens, bees and rabbits, grew veggies, baked bread, made homemade pasta, sewed new clothes, and learned to play "mountain music" all on a small rented lot while working a full time job. And while I can't quite imagine myself inviting bees to my backyard or strumming away on the banjo, much of her journey resonated with me. I've even started following her blog, Cold Antler Farm.

So this year as I learn to bake bread and make broth, concoct homemade cleaners and grow my own veggies, I'll think of Jenna as another friend on the journey and I'll be a bit gentler with myself when things don't work quite the way I'd like them to.