Making Home: Adapting Our Homes and Our Lives to Settle in Place

Mother Earth News Wiser Living

by Sharon Astyk

How settling for less can mean having more. Other books tell us how to live the good life―but you might have to win the lottery to do it. Making Home is about improving life with the real people around us and the resources we already have. While encouraging us to be more resilient in the face of hard times, author Sharon Astyk also points out the beauty, grace, and elegance that result, because getting the most out of everything we use is a way of transforming our lives into something much more fulfilling. Written from the perspective of a family who has already made this transition, Making Home shows readers how to turn the challenge of living with less into settling for more―more happiness, more security, and more peace of mind. Learn simple but effective strategies We must make fundamental changes to our way of life in the face of ongoing economic crisis and energy depletion. Making Home takes the fear out of this prospect, and invites us to embrace a simpler, more abundant reality. Sharon Astyk is a writer, teacher, blogger, and farmer whose family uses eighty percent less energy and resources than the average American household. She is a member of the board of directors of ASPO-USA, founder of the Riot 4 Austerity, and the author of three previous books, including Depletion and Abundance and Independence Days .

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment, Family, Sustainability

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2012

About the author

Sharon Astyk is a writer, teacher, blogger, and farmer who raises vegetables, poultry and dairy goats with her family in upstate New York. She and her family use 80% less energy and resources than the average American household. Sharon is a member of the Board of Directors of ASPO-USA and the award-winning author of three previous books including Depletion and Abundance and Independence Days.

from http://www.newsociety.com/Contributor...

Reviews

[Bonnie Brzozowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I assumed I would love this, but I thought it would be more how-to and less ranty narrative. I even agree with many of her political views, etc, but I hate being beat to death with someone's politics when all I really want to do is learn more about improving my home and self-sufficiency. Perhaps if I were approaching this subject anew, I would have enjoyed it, but I already have (what I feel are) solid reasons for pursuing greater self-sufficiency at home, so it just annoyed me. I thought this would be on par, if not better than, Just In Case by Kathy Harrison, but I tired of sifting through to try to find the useful bits.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I received this book for free after winning a contest on Ms. Astyk's blog.

I never expected Making Home to be as perspective-changing as Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front, which really rocked my world, pardon the cliche. This book comes very, very close. Sharon Astyk's insights into American culture were fascinating. I am continually struck by her very no-nonsense, practical reaction to the challenges the world faces in the coming decades. Her arguments seem to me to be palatable to folks of all stripes and political leanings. I find her thoughts on preparing for the future realistic and inspiring.

In short, yes, I am a fangirl. I've said before that I love Ms. Astyk's brain. But get past my raves, and read the book. You will find her notions about appropriate responses and community-building to be a breath of fresh air -- and contagious.

Highly recommended.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book with very timely (Hurricane Sandy--this week) and wise advice. I admire all that Ms Astyk and her family have accomplished.

However, I do have one comment. Ms Astyk seems to be very negative if not downright hostile toward dogs. I wonder if she had a bad experience at some time in her life? I feel very angry about her attitude and incorrect information.

Examples:

"Dogs are more dangerous than any livestock." Incorrect!!! Anyone who has lived around horses will affirm that they can be very dangerous. I live in a rural area and in the past several years, 2 well-known and experienced people have been stomped to death by their "pet" horses.

"Dogs can transmit many diseases to humans." Incorrect! Dogs have been domesticated and lived with humans for so many centuries that the risk of illness from dogs is almost nill. Of course, there is always the threat of rabies, as there is with many types of animals, but since rabies vaccines are widely available at low cost, this should not be a great problem.

She also stated that dog owners are the affluent in our society. Incorrect!!!! When New Orleans and the Gulf Coast were devastated by Hurricane Katrina a few years ago, the greatest damage took place in the poorest areas of New Orleans. Thousand of folks refused to leave their homes despite the great danger because they would not leave their pets. OF course, there are always the "Paris Hilton types" with their fluffy, very spoiled dogs, but I know that these situations are the exception.

Thinking of everyone who is suffering from the horrors of Hurricane Sandy and hope that all will be well soon.


AUGUST 2013

I just finished reading this book for the second time. It has such great information that I wanted a "refresher". I do agree with my review in 2012, but I would like to add that Ms. Astyk can be didactic when dealing with situations involving people such as children. I find this to be disagreeable. I believe that her comments are arrogant.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not as good as I remember Depletion and Abundance to be, but it was still an inspiring and informative read by a favorite of mine. She walks a pleasant line between hippie homesteader and Prepper and, I think, easily appeals to the sensibilities of both with her pragmatic, easy style. Complaints about this book: it could have benefited from another round or two of copy editing (too many grammatical errors to feel "finished," and some fact-checking issues); also, they seem to have left out the bibliography that Astyk frequently refers to in her text. The bibliography for Depletion and Abundance was so thorough and such a great resource, that I lamented the oversight in this book. I relished the inclusivity of this book as compared with many on the same topic; Astyk really takes into account the circumstances of poverty, state violence, queerness, and disability that other homesteader-writers often ignore.

[Florence Millo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just knew I was going to love this book. I agree so wholehearted with her premise of adapting our lives where we are, with what we have. I should have loved this book. But I didn't. I found it gratingly wordy with not one useful thing that I can apply in my life. Maybe it is written for people who are much younger and who have just begun to think about how climate change, population, and the ongoing financial crisis will affect them and how they can respond. Secondly, it so general that there was no take away for me. I enjoyed reading about the people she interviewed and how their lives reflect their response to present and future difficult times. But it was an Oakland book to me. (When you get there, there's no there there.)

[Sarah Guldenbrein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, the author comes on real strong with the preparing for end times perspective. I'm not sure I agree with her assumptions about the future, but I do agree with a lot of what she's doing about it. I'm uncomfortable with prepper-ism, as it seems to assume a hyper-individual, colonial, and violently patriarchal worldview. But Astyk preps with an eye towards disability justice, community care, and a broad definition of who counts as family. This won my sympathy. As such, I'm considering some of her offerings, particularly the idea of adding a composting toilet to our one-bathroom house, looking into some solar chargers, and committing to meeting our neighbors. All good ideas even if the economy doesn't collapse.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should state at the outset that I had the e-book version of this, which automatically reduces the amount of attention I'm willing to give to a title. I didn't manage to get very far into this book at all, because what I did read was just a long thesis on why conservation and preservation is important to embrace and how our society is or is not doing so. I am already convinced that conserving energy is imperative to the survival of our earth, or else I would not have chosen to read this. Unfortunately, I didn't make it far enough to see any of the author's actual recommendations to put into use around my own home.

[Wendy Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

While at times awfully dang smug, this is overall a terrific read. Astyk wants us to prepare for the poverty that will come when our economy and our environment tank out on us in the all-too-near future. Reading this in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma was kind of spooky.

One thing this book does better than a lot of homesteading-for-the-future books is address aging, caregiving, and community issues. There's lots to chew on in this book, and I expect to revisit it again before too long.

[Mary Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a farm wife not far from where Sharon and her family lived when I first read this book. I was locked into traditional farm practices when I read her book, but I loved so much of the non-traditional farming practices she explored. I admired her but that was as far as it went back in that day. Today, I would contact her and talk with her and learn from her. But I was not that woman in 2013.
The is a fascinating book and I strongly recomend it as good, creative, trying out new farming practices in upstate NY more than a decade ago.

[Marie S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book falls into a category I'd like to call: "I'm going into detail, but without giving too much detail".
It wasn't a bad book at all, but I'm not sure I gain a lot. She mentions a few times she's diving deeper into chapters in her other book, so I'm going to pick it up.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of really practical advice for adapting and making eco friendly changes and embracing community.

[Theresa M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prepping your life with what you have, where you have. A prepping book for the not-prepper, but excellent for the initiated. Excellent.

Written by a climate change, Zero Oil POV.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book about homesteading.

[Joe Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Making Home Adapting Our Homes and Our Lives to Settle in Place, Shannon Astyk invites us to practice a new way of life that we both need and will inevitably be forced to acquire. She calls this new way of life “adapting in place” and bluntly describes it as “the only thing left that can save the world.”

...read the full review here!

[Fernleaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book both inspiring and frightening, Astyk talks in detail about what she has termed 'adapting in place.' Making your home a place of comfort and refuge and support should the worst happen, whether that is a week-long power outage or a total collapse of the economy. Powerfully written in a clear, no-nonsense voice Astyke outlines steps that can be taken now, plans that can be made, practiced and enacted and the difficult conversations that need to be had. This will certainly be a book that I return to.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of Making Home are thought-provoking or informative, while other parts are scattered and/or reprint information I've already read on her blog. Despite her own advice to bring sustainability to your family in fun ways, Astyk pushes peak oil and doom and gloom pretty hard. On the other hand, she definitely walks the walk, and has lots of low-cost, useful advice. (Did you know four-poster beds were a way to keep warm at night with minimal heat? Just hang cloth over the sides and top.)

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharon has written a few useful books that provide advice, more philosophical than practical details, on how to build roots in a place and adapt our homes and talents to survive in an uncertain future.

[Martha]

read again in Mar 2016

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal look at adapting to a changing reality, strengthening neighborhood ties and developing a skill set. Somewhat slow in the middle.

[Kate W · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Astyk finds a way to balance out the doomsday visions of our energy-less future with pragmatic actions we can take today that will make life better today and in the darker future.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/7/13-5/21/13

[Mary]

Very informative.

[Trace]

Adding this back to my to-read list because it was due back at the library. I'm really enjoying it though - and don't want to forget about it!

[Zippy Apple Brain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything that has been written by Sharon Astyk. I read this book every year or so to remember all of the excellent advice.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ranty, overly professorial, not easily applicable to my life. Pass on this one.

[Bobbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I really did. However the authors tone left me angry most of the time. The tone of superiority just didn't sit well. I loved the idea behind it, but just couldn't finish it.