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Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own
With humor and poise, Jenna Woginrich describes her adventurous self-education in homesteading. Poignant offbeat observations on learning to farm by trial and error punctuate the story of her quest to find a permanent home for herself and her chickens, geese, sheep, ducks, rabbits, a goat, and a turkey. Alone and on a shoestring budget, Woginrich takes on cranky neighbors and small-town politics without ever losing her trademark humility or comedic style.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2011
54 people are currently reading
1885 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Woginrich
12 books130 followersFormer urbanite, future shepherdess and current farm writer — Jenna Woginrich has big plans. Plans that include living a more self-sufficient life with dogs at her side and wi-fi in the barn. She drives an orange pickup and shares her Vermont cabin and gardens with working sled dogs, a small flock of sheep, a hilarious goat, a flock of gregarious chickens, two awkward geese, wooly angora rabbits, and a hive of bees. She's also the author of Cold Antler Farm, a blog about her life as a beginner homesteader and several books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
July 8, 2012
Disappointing. The author is smug and immature. This "memoir" chronicles one "gotta have it" after another. She wants to be a farmer, she wants to be a shephard, she wants a truck, she wants a goat to walk like a dog....it's one chapter after another describing her impulsive and momentary obsessive desires. I found that she equates real farm animals to toys, and once the novelty of the goat wore off, on to the next new toy/animal. I don't recommend this book to anyone looking to her for sound, grounded advice. She doesn't stay with anything long enough to quantify herself as a farmer, shephard, etc.
Readers wanting to share and bask in her dream: this is the book for you. However, those of us who know first-hand the challenges, realities, disappointments, joys, sweat and real-life drama of running a home, big or small, working, keeping a farm running well, keeping animals safe and healthy, will recognize immediately that the story will not end as rosey as the book is hyped up to portray. The entire story lacks integrity.
Readers wanting to share and bask in her dream: this is the book for you. However, those of us who know first-hand the challenges, realities, disappointments, joys, sweat and real-life drama of running a home, big or small, working, keeping a farm running well, keeping animals safe and healthy, will recognize immediately that the story will not end as rosey as the book is hyped up to portray. The entire story lacks integrity.
May 30, 2013
At first I enjoyed this book (yay! Farmy stuff!!!). But the book quickly devolves. Each chapter seems to run along the same lines: author wants something, author complains about never being able to have what she wants despite it's righteous roots, the stars align and author gets what she wanted through means of both "hard work" and incredible kismet ("wow! it's like the universe knows Me and is rewarding me!") author talks about how awesome she is and how even seasoned farmers thinks so. Of course it is also peppered with a lot of "why doesn't anyone love me?!" "Nobody wants to be my friend!" "ALL Vermonters snub me because I'm an outsider!" And my personal favorite, "here is a chapter about how much better I am than the guy down the street...because he built a barn and didn't put animals in it, but rather a recording studio! What a prick! How dare he go to the trouble of matching the landscape! Why didn't he just gift the barn to me?! I would use it responsibly! The world is so backwards!" Oh. My.
I understand that many people find her inspiring, which is great. I did not get that from this book. Her first book, although a bit corny was better than this. She comes off incredibly conceited and whiny here. The end.
I understand that many people find her inspiring, which is great. I did not get that from this book. Her first book, although a bit corny was better than this. She comes off incredibly conceited and whiny here. The end.
July 3, 2013
Some spoilers ahead so be warned.
I find that I gravitate to memoirs of homesteaders or wannabes and I am pleased about 50% of the time. Unfortunately, this book falls below the mark of a wannabe homesteading memoirs that fell a bit flat for me. A quick read, this book was light and somewhat informative about a topic I appreciate. But I didn't LOVE it and I couldn't put my finger on it until the episode with the neighbor Casey happened - when he accused Jenna of animal abuse/neglect - and it all fell into focus for me. Jenna's experience and her writing of her experience is a bit "green". She writes from the perspective of a 25 year old and it shows. No real depth or maturity in her writing - just a sense of "I want to do it, and I think I should, so I will!" I find that I agree with the older adults in her life. I think it was pretty entitled and haughty of her to bring so many farm animals to a small RENTED cabin. And her attitude and justification was - I want to do it and I'm really good at it, so what if my landlord doesn't want me to do it? I want it and this farm is just *insert whiney voice* so perfect for homesteading.
I mean - she lets her animals "free range" all over her RENTED property thus creating quite a lot of poop and mess everywhere. When she is called to accountability from her landlord and neighbor, she throws a fit and spends quite a lot of a chapter justifying her actions and reactions. But honestly? They had a right to be angry and she had taken way too many liberties from her landlord's original generous agreement of letting Jenna bring two dogs and chickens onto the property.
Another instance of entitled twenty-something behavior is when she gets the sheep dog, Sarah. After the dog bites the FIRST time, Jenna finds all these justifications and reasons why Sarah would do such a thing. Jenna wants to be a shepherd and she must have a sheep dog and she made such a rash, uneducated decision. She brings the dog into a bookstore in order to "get it used to people". It was only after the dog bit THREE MORE PEOPLE that she finally learns her lesson and gets rid of the dog.
The book contains NO information on gardening although we read a lot of her breaking through sod with a hoe. And building like 15 raised beds ON HER RENTED CABIN'S PROPERTY (wouldn't you be upset if you were the landlord? I would, even if I said my tenant could garden.) But nothing about organic gardening and how integral it is to a homesteading lifestyle.
Listen, I'm not faulting the mistakes of youth. We all have them. But the whole tone of the book is that of a young person making choices that lack maturity. This book is readable and not a waste of your time if you need a light read that takes a day or two. But I didn't appreciate the haughty tone from someone who must have it and have it now no matter what the consequence. I think there are much better, much more thought out homesteading memoirs out there.
I find that I gravitate to memoirs of homesteaders or wannabes and I am pleased about 50% of the time. Unfortunately, this book falls below the mark of a wannabe homesteading memoirs that fell a bit flat for me. A quick read, this book was light and somewhat informative about a topic I appreciate. But I didn't LOVE it and I couldn't put my finger on it until the episode with the neighbor Casey happened - when he accused Jenna of animal abuse/neglect - and it all fell into focus for me. Jenna's experience and her writing of her experience is a bit "green". She writes from the perspective of a 25 year old and it shows. No real depth or maturity in her writing - just a sense of "I want to do it, and I think I should, so I will!" I find that I agree with the older adults in her life. I think it was pretty entitled and haughty of her to bring so many farm animals to a small RENTED cabin. And her attitude and justification was - I want to do it and I'm really good at it, so what if my landlord doesn't want me to do it? I want it and this farm is just *insert whiney voice* so perfect for homesteading.
I mean - she lets her animals "free range" all over her RENTED property thus creating quite a lot of poop and mess everywhere. When she is called to accountability from her landlord and neighbor, she throws a fit and spends quite a lot of a chapter justifying her actions and reactions. But honestly? They had a right to be angry and she had taken way too many liberties from her landlord's original generous agreement of letting Jenna bring two dogs and chickens onto the property.
Another instance of entitled twenty-something behavior is when she gets the sheep dog, Sarah. After the dog bites the FIRST time, Jenna finds all these justifications and reasons why Sarah would do such a thing. Jenna wants to be a shepherd and she must have a sheep dog and she made such a rash, uneducated decision. She brings the dog into a bookstore in order to "get it used to people". It was only after the dog bit THREE MORE PEOPLE that she finally learns her lesson and gets rid of the dog.
The book contains NO information on gardening although we read a lot of her breaking through sod with a hoe. And building like 15 raised beds ON HER RENTED CABIN'S PROPERTY (wouldn't you be upset if you were the landlord? I would, even if I said my tenant could garden.) But nothing about organic gardening and how integral it is to a homesteading lifestyle.
Listen, I'm not faulting the mistakes of youth. We all have them. But the whole tone of the book is that of a young person making choices that lack maturity. This book is readable and not a waste of your time if you need a light read that takes a day or two. But I didn't appreciate the haughty tone from someone who must have it and have it now no matter what the consequence. I think there are much better, much more thought out homesteading memoirs out there.
August 4, 2012
I was really looking forward to this book, but when, on page 17, the author bragged about not having a TV, I knew I was in trouble. Later she starts a sentence with "As a Buddhist, I...". I groaned so loudly at this that Frank came into the bedroom to see if I was okay. Also, I think it's pretty ding-dang irresponsible to start an entire homestead on rented property (without even getting your landlord's permission for some of the animals you bring home) and not have a back-up plan (or more than $600 in savings) should your lease not be extended. I guess I was hoping for an updated version of Living the Good Life, but instead I got a lot of blogger nonsense. I did enjoy the anecdote about the goat, though, and there were like two interesting sentences about USDA mortgage loans.
December 20, 2013
I am completely obsessed with farming memoirs. This may be because I am a goat farmer and love reading about like minded people. I have to say though that I really did not like this book. I found Jenna extremely immature and pretty judgmental for someone who was constantly complaining about being judged. She was not in the position to have the farm she was trying to establish, and just because you slightly exceed animal control's care requirements does not mean you are taking good care of your animals. If anyone questioned her methods of housing and caring for her animals she accessed them of not being educated in the ways of farming. As a goat farmer I can say that the way she cared for her goat was not acceptable. No goat should be kept on a chain. When the short chain was questioned by a neighbor she defended herself by saying if it were any longer the goat could jump the fence and choke itself... If that is the case you do not have the space necessary to have a goat. She took on a lot and was constantly moving on to new projects. It didn't seem like she gave any one thing enough attention. There are far better farming memoirs out there.
February 28, 2012
I love the topic. Not too much "how to" in here, but a lot of "what I did" and a lot of her "what I did" seemed a little "jump the gun". She's saving for a place of her own, freaking out that she might get laid off from work, getting an eviction notice from her landlord and nasty notes from her neighbor and she puts money down on a dog? She returns one sheep to the people who wanted it back and gets another little black lamb? Come on! She shouldn't have been acquiring new animals when she was in that situation, she knew she had to leave and had no idea where she was going. It kind of soured me towards her because that seemed pretty irresponsible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2018
Though I can identify with the author's struggle to make her farm dreams happen, not every dream realized makes for a good read. She seems completely intoxicated by her own newfound identity as a hobby farmer, and overly enamored with her every step along that path. Her unending superlatives and self-congratulations about her life style quickly start to fall flat, even when I more or less agree with her point. Ultimately the story lacks perspective, which might be a result of a person writing a memoir about their twenties while they're still in their twenties.
July 30, 2014
This book suffers from the blog to book symptoms of needing a better edit. It didn't flow together very well and the final chapters felt rushed.
Overall, I was put off by the smugness. She at one point seems amazed that someone would be concerned about the view from their window rather than the use of the land. She also has a lot of judgey things to say about her neighbors not using their properties "correctly."
I love reading about folks throwing themselves headlong into a dream, but I wish she'd given this project a bit more time for reflection. I think it would have made for a better book.
Overall, I was put off by the smugness. She at one point seems amazed that someone would be concerned about the view from their window rather than the use of the land. She also has a lot of judgey things to say about her neighbors not using their properties "correctly."
I love reading about folks throwing themselves headlong into a dream, but I wish she'd given this project a bit more time for reflection. I think it would have made for a better book.
October 1, 2018
Self-congratulatory and disjointed, lacking in substance. Some problematic language (sorry, no you can't say Indian-style). The moral of the story is that sometimes you want things you can't have, and even though you REALLY WANT THEM, it's still not a good idea to get them immediately.
October 21, 2020
This is the second book I have read by Jenna and while I don't feel the need to seek out land and be a homesteader, her books have inspired me to grow my own veggies and be more mindful of sustainable meat processing practices. These books are easy to read and you're always rooting for Jenna to triumph in her battles with landlords, locals and farm challenges. I look forward to reading Jenna's next book.
August 29, 2013
This book was great. For someone with much the same aspirations as the author, it gave me an in-depth picture of how my dreams could come alive or sometimes die. I would recommend this book to anyone who "suffers" from the longing to live in a more rural setting, or maybe even to their friends who think they are crazy. I'm sure that the line between those who dream like Woginrich and those who don't is very distinct, but I bet that understanding how an aspiring farmer/homesteader feels can clear up any kind of confusion or stereotypes. This book was a great read for me because it inspired me to pursue my dreams and enjoy my hobbies to the fullest. Even when times were hard for Woginrich she still kept farming, never giving up on her dreams even when she was nearly broke. This book shows that perseverance really does pay off. When everything started going downhill, she gave up the luxuries she had and was forced to survive on the bare minimum while she searched for a way out. Luckily, she caught a break! Anyone who needs a little inspiration in their lives should read this book. Woginrich is the prime example of stick-to-itiveness. Follow your dreams and you'll go far!
January 6, 2012
Barnheart
Jenna Woginrich
The incurable longing for a farm of one’s own
Jenna is a witty, well rounded homesteader with a knack for finding the funniest things about farming and living off the land. I loved her book Chick Days and when I saw she had a memoir out I knew it would be a memorable read.
Jenna as she mentions in her intro goes from urban designer to rural shepherd. She starts her memoir with a chapter on “How to know if you are infected”. Infected with what you ask? Barnheart.. the desire to be a farmer but due to circumstances it just isn’t happening at the current time. Don’t fret, hold tight and know you are not alone.
Having recently moved off our farm to a much smaller property I can seriously relate to Jenna. I had a farm and no longer do, having gone from a full farm to just a few chickens and rabbits. My heart longs for the goats and cows again and the title homesteader.. but circumstances just don’t allow it right now. If I had read this prior to the move I don’t think it would have the significant impact that it did now. I have more empathy for those who desire the rural life and haven’t arrived there yet.
Taking off to Vermont Jenna plays her fiddle right into the heart of New Englanders, despite her quirkiness. I think she was just what they needed! It isn’t always smooth sailing though, as Jenna learns lessons about living on a real farm. Not the story book kind of farm, but the downright dirty and hectic farm that is a ton of work and not always a huge payout.
Jenna blogs at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com about her life of homesteading. She is always encouraging others to join in the fun and embrace the country life. Reading her memoir is like sitting down on her country porch talking with her about her farm and critters. Fantastic memoir for those who suffer Barnheart and for those who just love hearing about the antics of the farm life.
I received a copy of this book from Storey in exchange for an honest review. Get your copy today!!
Jenna Woginrich
The incurable longing for a farm of one’s own
Jenna is a witty, well rounded homesteader with a knack for finding the funniest things about farming and living off the land. I loved her book Chick Days and when I saw she had a memoir out I knew it would be a memorable read.
Jenna as she mentions in her intro goes from urban designer to rural shepherd. She starts her memoir with a chapter on “How to know if you are infected”. Infected with what you ask? Barnheart.. the desire to be a farmer but due to circumstances it just isn’t happening at the current time. Don’t fret, hold tight and know you are not alone.
Having recently moved off our farm to a much smaller property I can seriously relate to Jenna. I had a farm and no longer do, having gone from a full farm to just a few chickens and rabbits. My heart longs for the goats and cows again and the title homesteader.. but circumstances just don’t allow it right now. If I had read this prior to the move I don’t think it would have the significant impact that it did now. I have more empathy for those who desire the rural life and haven’t arrived there yet.
Taking off to Vermont Jenna plays her fiddle right into the heart of New Englanders, despite her quirkiness. I think she was just what they needed! It isn’t always smooth sailing though, as Jenna learns lessons about living on a real farm. Not the story book kind of farm, but the downright dirty and hectic farm that is a ton of work and not always a huge payout.
Jenna blogs at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com about her life of homesteading. She is always encouraging others to join in the fun and embrace the country life. Reading her memoir is like sitting down on her country porch talking with her about her farm and critters. Fantastic memoir for those who suffer Barnheart and for those who just love hearing about the antics of the farm life.
I received a copy of this book from Storey in exchange for an honest review. Get your copy today!!
November 29, 2022
This is another one of those ranty, rambly reviews that definitely could have been much shorter, so go ahead and enjoy the rest of your day if you don't want to put up with me venting. I get it.
I started off thinking I was going to LOVE this book. Jenna Woginrich has a beautiful way of capturing the feelings of longing and passion and excitement that come with those early steps of exploring a homesteading lifestyle. The earliest chapters could flat-out stop me in my tracks with how much I could see myself in her words. It caught my breath how much I could feel myself leaning into the pages, saying, "YES, this is what it feels like!" Her descriptions of the property she ended up buying for her farm sound exactly like a little piece of heaven. I had to laugh at her portrayal of TD - short for "Thanksgiving Dinner," her turkey (and I was sucked all the way into the family drama surrounding TD's inevitable fate). I appreciated her pointing out her realization that well-cared-for animals can ethically be used for meat rather than clinging to staunch vegetarianism that stemmed from having a heart in the right place but not considering all the factors that go into raising meat (though, she is absolutely right not to want to eat factory meat). Homesteading grows a person as much as it grows crops, meat, wool, honey, and other useful products.
But, well. All good things must come to an end, right?
It all came to a halt with the sort of efficiency a three-car pileup has in stopping traffic on the highway. I was cruising along on the high of finding one of "my people," and then, out of nowhere, she hits me with some self-righteous complaints about how other people in her community use their property and their money, simply because it's not the same way she would. I understand that when you're a gardener or a livestock farmer, it can be fun to daydream about what you would do with that beautiful sunny patch in the neighbor's front yard, or to imagine how that hillside would look with a little shed and pasture tucked against it.
However. Someone obviously never told Jenna that just because someone doesn't use their money/property as she would, it doesn't make them any less qualified or any less valid as a land owner. It should in no way affect her that the horse farmer with an antique car hobby built a separate barn for his cars (more on that later). And hey, if the other folks want to use their property as a vacation home, that's none of her business, especially because Jenna could still continue to homestead on her RENTED property without the vacation homers interfering even a little.
And just as a personal soapbox: The reason you should absolutely NOT get your knickers in a twist over the fact that the car collector/horse farmer built a separate barn for his cars is a darn good one - horses eat hay. Hay is flammable. Cars run on gasoline. Gasoline is explosive. If, God forbid, one or the other catches fire, you will have catastrophic damage and a bunch of dead horses. It doesn't seem that hard to understand, but she went so far as to call it "a slap in the face" simply because she was sniffy about the fact that he had more money than she did and used it in a way that she thought was too showboaty. Really, all he was doing was demonstrating an understanding that keeping horses and cars together in the same building is a stupid thing to do.
That was annoying enough all on its own, but after I had cooled down enough to keep reading, I read the following passage in the very next paragraph: "My green-living, composting, sustainability-driven small farming probably annoyed the hell out of the conventional dairy farmers trying to scrape by. Seeing a girl with a decent-paying job throwing her money into a backyard farm so she doesn't have to buy the conventional food they're struggling to produce must make them shake their heads." Excuse me, that is the snottiest thing I have read in ages. It seems she wants everyone to be just the same as her, and she'll look down her nose left and right at everyone who's not. She says, "We're all just trying to live the lives we aspire to," but if everyone isn't aspiring to live the life that she wants for herself, they're doing something wrong. It also seemed kind of, "Look at these chumps trying to earn a living. I already earn a decent living, and I'm doing what they're doing. I'm just doing it better. I'm not struggling."
These above two points all happened in the span of several pages, but it was enough to tick me off and sour my feelings about everything that followed. I quite honestly read the rest of the book through a wrinkled nose and gritted teeth.
So, there's my review. It could have been a good book were it not for the sudden nosedive into the narcissistic ramblings that never seemed to get any better.
I'm adding these as a postscript, mostly as a way of tracking my thoughts, mostly because the whole horse barn/car barn thing was already a rant and a half.
Other cringey moments and my accompanying rants:
- referring to a pack goat as her "own personal Sherpa" - The Sherpa are a Tibetan ethnic people living in mountainous regions of Nepal, known for their mountaineering skills. They are NOT human pack animals who are only good for schlepping your crap around while you climb mountains. So please don't equate your castrated male dairy goat to a Sherpa.
- maybe this is because the book is episodic in nature, and to the best of my knowledge, not exactly linear . . . but as presented, it seems Jenna often gets swept away in the excitement of a new animal like it's a Christmas toy, at which point the new animal is just as quickly forgotten. She went on and on and on about that goat like it was going to be her best friend and then we heard practically nothing at all about him after the chapter or two set aside to describe the process of getting him. I won't get too far into how I feel about the fiasco with the sheepdog, especially because it seemed like she learned from her mistakes there, but overall, I got the feeling she was treating her animals like collectibles, snapped up for no other reason than it seemed cool to have one.
- her false modesty. I got so tired of her patting her own back wrapped up in humble packaging. Here's a tip, if you're telling a story about yourself and mention multiple times all the compliments other people give you, you're really just complimenting yourself. It's not that subtle. It's even worse when you project all the compliments you're assuming that everyone else must be thinking about you into their thoughts, which she does an awful lot in this book.
- ...I confess, the chapter where it all blew up in her face and her neighbors tried running her out of town on a proverbial rail gave me a huge sense of schadenfreude, which is a personal shortcoming on my part, but really... so satisfying. I can only imagine her neighbors were as tired of her self-righteous smugness as I was by the end of the book. I had to laugh when she was like, "Oh, gee, I wonder if they're going to miss me and my animals when I'm gone." LOL, no they're not.
I started off thinking I was going to LOVE this book. Jenna Woginrich has a beautiful way of capturing the feelings of longing and passion and excitement that come with those early steps of exploring a homesteading lifestyle. The earliest chapters could flat-out stop me in my tracks with how much I could see myself in her words. It caught my breath how much I could feel myself leaning into the pages, saying, "YES, this is what it feels like!" Her descriptions of the property she ended up buying for her farm sound exactly like a little piece of heaven. I had to laugh at her portrayal of TD - short for "Thanksgiving Dinner," her turkey (and I was sucked all the way into the family drama surrounding TD's inevitable fate). I appreciated her pointing out her realization that well-cared-for animals can ethically be used for meat rather than clinging to staunch vegetarianism that stemmed from having a heart in the right place but not considering all the factors that go into raising meat (though, she is absolutely right not to want to eat factory meat). Homesteading grows a person as much as it grows crops, meat, wool, honey, and other useful products.
But, well. All good things must come to an end, right?
It all came to a halt with the sort of efficiency a three-car pileup has in stopping traffic on the highway. I was cruising along on the high of finding one of "my people," and then, out of nowhere, she hits me with some self-righteous complaints about how other people in her community use their property and their money, simply because it's not the same way she would. I understand that when you're a gardener or a livestock farmer, it can be fun to daydream about what you would do with that beautiful sunny patch in the neighbor's front yard, or to imagine how that hillside would look with a little shed and pasture tucked against it.
However. Someone obviously never told Jenna that just because someone doesn't use their money/property as she would, it doesn't make them any less qualified or any less valid as a land owner. It should in no way affect her that the horse farmer with an antique car hobby built a separate barn for his cars (more on that later). And hey, if the other folks want to use their property as a vacation home, that's none of her business, especially because Jenna could still continue to homestead on her RENTED property without the vacation homers interfering even a little.
And just as a personal soapbox: The reason you should absolutely NOT get your knickers in a twist over the fact that the car collector/horse farmer built a separate barn for his cars is a darn good one - horses eat hay. Hay is flammable. Cars run on gasoline. Gasoline is explosive. If, God forbid, one or the other catches fire, you will have catastrophic damage and a bunch of dead horses. It doesn't seem that hard to understand, but she went so far as to call it "a slap in the face" simply because she was sniffy about the fact that he had more money than she did and used it in a way that she thought was too showboaty. Really, all he was doing was demonstrating an understanding that keeping horses and cars together in the same building is a stupid thing to do.
That was annoying enough all on its own, but after I had cooled down enough to keep reading, I read the following passage in the very next paragraph: "My green-living, composting, sustainability-driven small farming probably annoyed the hell out of the conventional dairy farmers trying to scrape by. Seeing a girl with a decent-paying job throwing her money into a backyard farm so she doesn't have to buy the conventional food they're struggling to produce must make them shake their heads." Excuse me, that is the snottiest thing I have read in ages. It seems she wants everyone to be just the same as her, and she'll look down her nose left and right at everyone who's not. She says, "We're all just trying to live the lives we aspire to," but if everyone isn't aspiring to live the life that she wants for herself, they're doing something wrong. It also seemed kind of, "Look at these chumps trying to earn a living. I already earn a decent living, and I'm doing what they're doing. I'm just doing it better. I'm not struggling."
These above two points all happened in the span of several pages, but it was enough to tick me off and sour my feelings about everything that followed. I quite honestly read the rest of the book through a wrinkled nose and gritted teeth.
So, there's my review. It could have been a good book were it not for the sudden nosedive into the narcissistic ramblings that never seemed to get any better.
I'm adding these as a postscript, mostly as a way of tracking my thoughts, mostly because the whole horse barn/car barn thing was already a rant and a half.
Other cringey moments and my accompanying rants:
- referring to a pack goat as her "own personal Sherpa" - The Sherpa are a Tibetan ethnic people living in mountainous regions of Nepal, known for their mountaineering skills. They are NOT human pack animals who are only good for schlepping your crap around while you climb mountains. So please don't equate your castrated male dairy goat to a Sherpa.
- maybe this is because the book is episodic in nature, and to the best of my knowledge, not exactly linear . . . but as presented, it seems Jenna often gets swept away in the excitement of a new animal like it's a Christmas toy, at which point the new animal is just as quickly forgotten. She went on and on and on about that goat like it was going to be her best friend and then we heard practically nothing at all about him after the chapter or two set aside to describe the process of getting him. I won't get too far into how I feel about the fiasco with the sheepdog, especially because it seemed like she learned from her mistakes there, but overall, I got the feeling she was treating her animals like collectibles, snapped up for no other reason than it seemed cool to have one.
- her false modesty. I got so tired of her patting her own back wrapped up in humble packaging. Here's a tip, if you're telling a story about yourself and mention multiple times all the compliments other people give you, you're really just complimenting yourself. It's not that subtle. It's even worse when you project all the compliments you're assuming that everyone else must be thinking about you into their thoughts, which she does an awful lot in this book.
- ...I confess, the chapter where it all blew up in her face and her neighbors tried running her out of town on a proverbial rail gave me a huge sense of schadenfreude, which is a personal shortcoming on my part, but really... so satisfying. I can only imagine her neighbors were as tired of her self-righteous smugness as I was by the end of the book. I had to laugh when she was like, "Oh, gee, I wonder if they're going to miss me and my animals when I'm gone." LOL, no they're not.
June 29, 2011
Remember when I said I was giving up on blog memoirs for good? I suppose I overstated. I am only giving up on blog memoirs that devolve into "how I became famous on the internet." This book did not do that, so it passes the blog memoir test.
My not-so-secret dream in life is to keep sheep and a farm in Vermont. Guess what this book is about? A mid-twenties girl who creates a little farm (with SHEEPIES!) on a rented property in Vermont. Jenna's blog is probably more interesting than this book. In fact, I will assume that anyone who has read her blog may find this book a little short on details. BUT for a girl who is taking her first foray into Jenna's world, this was satisfying enough. I plan to add her blog to my RSS as soon as I'm done reviewing.
My not-so-secret dream in life is to keep sheep and a farm in Vermont. Guess what this book is about? A mid-twenties girl who creates a little farm (with SHEEPIES!) on a rented property in Vermont. Jenna's blog is probably more interesting than this book. In fact, I will assume that anyone who has read her blog may find this book a little short on details. BUT for a girl who is taking her first foray into Jenna's world, this was satisfying enough. I plan to add her blog to my RSS as soon as I'm done reviewing.
November 27, 2017
It was interesting to read about this woman's quest for a farm, but I had reservations - she seemed to go from one thing to another, in a somewhat immature, self-centered way, and judged other people who didn't live up to "her standards." (the guy who put a recording studio in his barn), rather than just accepting that's what he was into. Tried to do too much in too short of time, such as getting the sheep dog, without having the right sheep who would accept that. The dog bit something like 3 people before she finally accepted that she needed to get rid of it.
June 13, 2019
2.5 stars. This is not an inspirational story and not a path anyone should follow. This is a very light read about the mistakes one determined young lady makes in obtaining her dream of a farm. I hope things worked out for her and her animals but I'm not confident.
August 4, 2020
An interesting memoir of a woman bitten by the farming bug. She rents a small cottage on a piece of land in Vermont close enough to commute to work, and starts out with some chickens and rabbits, eventually getting a few sheep and a goat, as well as growing a vegetable garden. In the beginning it was a bit repetitious as she explains how this desire to be a farmer is a pressing need, but once she actually starts on her experiences it's quite bemusing and amusing, and sometimes even fascinating. There are moments when you feel kind of like you're watching a train wreck about to occur, but overall the simplicity and the honest yearning for this kind of life is what makes this book.
February 17, 2012
While I didn't like Barnheart as much as I liked A Homemade Life, it was still pretty good. Jenna Woginrich takes a job in Vermont, which means moving across the country from Idaho. She finds a small house to rent that has some land and the landlord agrees to let her have some sheep and chickens in addition to her two dogs. Jenna takes her landlord's OK pretty far - she ends up with 3 sheep, a goat, a flock of chickens, 2 ducks, a turkey, a beehive, and her 2 original dogs. She also manages to maintain 12 raised beds of vegetables! As someone who has 3 raised beds of vegetables behind my townhouse I can't imagine how 1 person maintained all those beds by herself! She comes into some trouble when one of her neighbors complains about her small farm and her landlord asks her to move out. In the end Woginrich's barnheart is finally fulfilled with a farm all of her own.
For some reason this book just didn't grab me the way A Homemade Life did. I don't know what it was, but I only really enjoyed the last few chapters of this book. I do still appreciate that Woginrich shows not only her successes, but also her failures and she doesn't sugarcoat the farm life. Even though she is incredibly enthusiastic, she is also realistic about the amount of work it takes to run even a small farm.
For some reason this book just didn't grab me the way A Homemade Life did. I don't know what it was, but I only really enjoyed the last few chapters of this book. I do still appreciate that Woginrich shows not only her successes, but also her failures and she doesn't sugarcoat the farm life. Even though she is incredibly enthusiastic, she is also realistic about the amount of work it takes to run even a small farm.
March 22, 2019
This book made me really grateful I didn’t write a memoir in my twenties. The writing is bright, snappy and episodic. The books lacks a strong narrative arch and congruity. Whatever happened to the goat she was going to train to go on hikes?? We don’t know. But we do find out about the multiple other random animals the author falls in love with and purchases. This book gets three stars for multiple chicken references. It loses two stars for the author’s immaturity and lack of self-reflection. The worst was wading through the chapter where she complained about how all her neighbors used their properties with a “holier than thou” attitude and then completely dismissed her neighbor’s concerns that she was building what we can reasonably assume to be a hideous structure in the path of his back deck view. She, a renter, moves in and decides she needs a sheep barn and takes issue with the fact her property-owning neighbor doesn’t want a giant structure blocking his view. What makes the whole situation painful to read about is how little she seems to be aware that other people have valid feelings and opinions that might differ from hers. Truly sorry for the woman she rented this cabin from. I imagine clean up after Jenna moved out was horrendous.
January 21, 2013
This book was a birthday gift (thanks Lauren !) that I really enjoyed reading. It is the memoirs of a single girl that wants (emphatically so) to start her own farm, and the follies she encounters moving across the country and doing just that in a rental cabin in Vermont. It's really very engaging, despite the fact that I fell of it just a bit because of the overly stated obvious plot 'I want a farm and I shall do anything to get it'. Certainly this book is as the title states "The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own" - it is very well written and shies away from most subjects that do not involve the farm in some way i.e. you don't get chapters about preaching, I hate my ex-boyfriend, all I wanted for breakfast was pancakes and I had to settle for sautéed mushrooms etc. I find that other memoir type books certainly go down that path all to easily and I was glad she shied away from that. Also, she lives about 45 minutes drive from my house, so all of the information on livestock events etc. pertain to me as well, so bravo Ms. you have done well.
January 6, 2014
I've read her blog and another one of her books and enjoyed both, but this was disappointing. Another reviewer wrote that this book came across as smug, and I'm apt to agree. She starts the book with a description of "Barnheart", how if you have all these "symptoms", then you're just like her. As I read the book though, I found that I could not relate to her AT ALL. I'm definitely someone who wants their own farm someday, and while I haven't done most of the things the author has towards that goal, I can say that I found her attitude immature, and some of her decisions downright irresponsible. Overall there's a tone of superiority, and I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was being looked down on for not being a farmer (yet), or a Vermonter, or a fiddle-player, or the kind of person that just makes lifelong friends with everyone she meets. Also, every other chapter was peppered with something about not having a man. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for you. Buck up.
December 6, 2019
In all ways possible, a Good Read. Encouraging for starting my own homestead practices and knowing that you can jump in and make it work. There is no perfect moment, just like in love and all of life. But like you might find in other people's comments - her tone about her work and what she did was a little bit rambunctious and starry eyed. *Spoiler* She definitely violated her rental agreements and took on much more than she should have. Even if she was tired and happy this wasn't the place to do it. She endangered her animals not physically, but in a way that seems irresponsible to live in fear of someone taking away your space. If you care for others, animals included, you need to do it on grounds that give them a consistent life. She was highly irresponsible in my opinion. But the story was what it was, and I appreciate that she's not perfect. Just don't farm on rental property and make things your own when they aren't. Duh.
July 22, 2014
Notes:
she is trying so hard to find a connection with this place she has been for a year. Finding "home" at a corner convenience store.
If I ever met this woman I don't know if I would hit her or just walk away. No doubt she would still be talking about her connection to the rustic peoples of rural Vermont. Gah!
She has no place to live and a butt load of animals. What should you do? Buy another freaking dog. Good idea, lady.
So irresponsible. All of it. Her whole life is flying by the seat of her pants, adding to the mess by buying more sheep, goats, dogs, and poultry. Admittedly broke but buying more to the point she buys a farm she can barely afford.
Really. I get the point of the book and what she was trying to get across by writing it but she comes off as a spoiled child who moves from one shiny object to the next.
she is trying so hard to find a connection with this place she has been for a year. Finding "home" at a corner convenience store.
If I ever met this woman I don't know if I would hit her or just walk away. No doubt she would still be talking about her connection to the rustic peoples of rural Vermont. Gah!
She has no place to live and a butt load of animals. What should you do? Buy another freaking dog. Good idea, lady.
So irresponsible. All of it. Her whole life is flying by the seat of her pants, adding to the mess by buying more sheep, goats, dogs, and poultry. Admittedly broke but buying more to the point she buys a farm she can barely afford.
Really. I get the point of the book and what she was trying to get across by writing it but she comes off as a spoiled child who moves from one shiny object to the next.
April 24, 2014
Overall an enjoyable and light read. I enjoyed the author's adventures and trials and connected with the feeling of wanting land and space of one's own. Her tone occasionally became pretentious which got a little tiresome (Yes, you're a special snowflake, we get it already), and her total lack of financial responsibility had me yelling in horror at times (you have HOW LITTLE? On THAT BIG of an income?!?). Despite being the same age (as she was when she wrote it), I found her somewhat immature, and was admittedly unsatisfied with the ending. I'm not sure what else I wanted from it (maybe a little personal development?), but it just wasn't there. A good read for a casual summer's day by the pool or during lunch break.
March 15, 2015
I enjoyed reading this book. The author writes about her journey to owning her own farm. She is passionately in love with farming and starts by renting a cabin and building a vegetable garden and raising poultry, sheep, and rabbits. The book ends with her finally purchasing her own small farm and going home. It has been a long time since I had the energy and enthusiasm that she exudes. The only criticism is that I find her attitude a bit condescending and judge mental toward those of us who do not grow our own vegetables and raise our own Thanksgiving turkey. To each their own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2015
I bought the book and then read these reviews about mid-way through the book. I didn't understand the scathing reviews then, but I do now. I'm impetuous by nature but nothing like this author. She had a dream but instead of setting a goal and working towards it, she made sure to litter her path with little trinkets. Her immediate needs mattered more than her dream, snd it caused her unnecessary stress. If the point of this book was to warn us of this potentially destructive behavior, job well done. If it was to show the reader the ins and outs of homesteading; not so well done.
May 2, 2015
Jenna Woginrich is annoying. Stop bragging about how awesome you are and how much you looooove farming and how you're a vegetarian and how you live in a cabin and how you don't watch TV and how you feel bad for the people struggling to make a livelihood doing the same thing you pretend to do while you're blogging about doing it and how you feel bad about feeling bad, and just BE. I thought I was going to love this book, because I TOTALLY have a longing for a farm of my own, but I couldn't finish it.
March 6, 2015
If you're like me and live in the city / work in a cube, then you may have also had a fantasy of moving away to the country, finding a cottage on a hillside, and spending your days digging holes, feeding chickens, and wandering around in the nature. Well, this girl did exactly that. And while the details of her farming adventures are interesting filler for my pastoral-life fantasy, I wasn't much diggin' this narrator or her writing style.
October 12, 2014
This is a great read if you're looking for a bit of escapism without the farm chores. However, it does seem irresponsible how Jenna lives on a knife's edge financially, on rented land, despite having a job that pays fairly well. It was fun to read about her experiences as a new livestock owner, but I would recommend Barbara Kingsolver if you are looking for a better picture of how hard a job it is to raise food, both of the vegetable and animal variety.
January 29, 2021
This was absolutely awful. The author makes an endless string of thoughtless and terrible decisions that she touts as fArM cUlTuRe. She’s also incredibly judgmental about anyone who doesn’t subscribe exactly to her lifestyle. In addition, there’s almost no useful or Illuminating information about actual homesteading or farming. She spends entirely too much time trying to rationalize her horrible decisions and how she can’t get a man. I should have DNF’d it.
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