Comments on: Handmade at Home: Keeping the Skills Alive

By: farmergranny

farmergranny — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:19:23 +0000

For those interested in learning food preservation techniques (canning, dehydrating), Iowa State University has an excellent program called Preserve the Taste of Summer through their extension department. The mini classes are on the computer, and, for those within driving distance, there are some hands-on workshops. Although I’ve canned some (very little), I’ve learned much from the site.

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:17:22 +0000

My husband and I cook from scratch. I make homemade bread and butter. I can (jams, pickles, relishes, beets, apple sauce, apple butter, etc.). I make laundry detergent and my own soap. I sew (curtains, blinds -not clothes -I am not that talented), knit and crochet. Still to come -growing vegetables, herbs and hops in order to create my own yeast, and making my own yogurt. We exercise frugality by stockpiling our pantry and buying our clothes (both adult and children) second hand.

By: Laurel

Laurel — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:14:09 +0000

I would add spinning, embroidery (which you could stick under sewing but hand sewing and hand embroidery are somewhat different from machine sewing), baking bread, and raising animals for food to the list. Funny, thanks to an art school education, an incessant curiosity, and an obsessive reading practice– i know how to do a lot of these and am learning others…

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:18:40 +0000

Tsh, I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned it, but this is my absolute favorite post of yours and I read it frequently. It’s inspirational. After moving away from college and out on to my own for real, I realized the skills that I have and the ones that have fallen away. I am so thankful for my mother teaching me to sew, garden (albeit, I’m just getting back into it again), cook from scratch (I’m definitely still working on improving my skills), and practice hospitality.

Then there are the things I wish I learned better, like crocheting and knitting. Let’s just say that when you don’t need another scarf, learning to knit one isn’t interesting, but instead, learning to crochet an afghan, now that sounds like a fun (and daunting) project! I also wish I knew how to can (mostly so I could do some awesome spaghetti sauce). I recently learned that my mom used to can when I was a baby, but since the canning stockpiled too much, she stopped. I hope that one day I can ask her to teach me how. Woodworking is another big one. My father has always built things for our houses and I come from a very DIY type of family. I didn’t realize until I went to college, how odd it was that my dad could make things from wood.

I have to agree with some of the other commenter’s too, general maintenance has disappeared. I will admit, I don’t know how to fix things when they break and I can’t change my own oil. Could I learn? Of course. So when the time comes, I plan to learn it (even if that means that I end up handier than my bf).

The final thing I’d like to add is budgeting. In a way it is a bit of a lost art. There are so many people out there with huge amounts of debt. It scares me because I so desperately don’t want to end up in that group. I even learned about money growing up and I still feel like I suck at making a budget and sticking to it.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:08:02 +0000

wonderful simple post! we are on to most of those things in our home, and have recently added dairy to the list- as in butter, sour cream, and cheesemaking! we purchased a raw milk share from a local Amish farm, and at the moment there is a huge surplus of milk. since we cannot drink it all, we have learned very quickly to make: butter, mozzarella (and then ricotta always from the leftover whey) creme fraiche, sour cream, kefir, and yogurt. the first batch or two of many of these things were disasters, but we used the mistakes in bread and pancakes! now we have learned a bit more, and will have this training for a lifetime. nothing can possibly be as good as homemade biscuits with FRESH REAL buttermilk and fresh real butter that you've painstakingly churned yourself! its been fun and easier than we thought. Sarahs last blog post..The Sins of Our Fathers...

By: Almost Frugal Carnivals, Festivals and Link Love — almost frugal

Almost Frugal Carnivals, Festivals and Link Love — almost frugal — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:55:19 +0000

[...] Mom has a post on the resurgence of ‘homemaker’ skills such as sewing, canning, gardening etc. This is more than an interesting post however, she also [...]

By: good productivity and finance blog articles | simple mom

good productivity and finance blog articles | simple mom — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:35:31 +0000

[...] Handmade at Home: Keeping the Skills Alive [...]

By: Some Law Student

Some Law Student — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:35:51 +0000

Great post! I have to admit the only one I’m really doing religiously is cooking from scratch — or at least cooking all of our meals at home. Much easier to control the diet when you’re the only one preparing the meals. I’d like to start gardening, however, for the green effect. I tend to have a black thumb, so this will be an adventure.

Some Law Students last blog post..Thursday Thirteen

By: Catherine

Catherine — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:47:49 +0000

I don’t make my own clothes, but I do hem pants and fix holes when they need it. It is cheaper and quicker to patch up a seem than to go shopping for a new shirt/pants/etc. It is also not wasteful which is probably my favourite part.

By: simplemom

simplemom — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:28:54 +0000

@Janice – I think you should invent one of those in your spare time.