This book follows the Borsodi Family in their experiments in domestic production, living on a homestead in the 1920s, and it is one of the most wholesome explanations of the virtues of making more of what you use yourself that you are likely to find. Touting both the economic security that the Borsodi family enjoyed on their homestead in the midst of the Great Depression and the increased standard of living made possible by garden fresh food (including the best homemade ice-cream), Borsodi lays out the case for home production as a way out of society's greatest insecurities and also a way forward to a life that not only has less of the bad, but more of the good things in life.
" In the summer of 1920--the first summer after our flight from the city--Mrs. Borsodi began to can and preserve a supply of fruits and vegetables for winter use. I remember distinctly the pride with which she showed me, on my return from the city one evening, the first jars of tomatoes which she had canned. But with my incurable bent for economics, the question "Does it really pay?" instantly popped into my head. Mrs. Borsodi had rather unusual equipment for doing the work efficiently. She cooked on an electric range; she used a steam-pressure cooker; she had most of the latest gadgets for reducing the labor to a minimum. I looked around the kitchen, and then at the table covered with shining glass jars filled with tomatoes and tomato juice. "It's great," I said, "but does it really pay?" "Of course it does," was her reply. "Then it ought to be possible to prove that it does--even if we take into consideration every cost--the cost of raw materials, the value of the labor put into the work yourself, the fuel, the equipment." "
The shocking result of this experiment was that Mrs. Borsodi was actually outcompeting the leading canning companies by 30% in her home kitchen. This led Mr. Borsodi to an in-depth study of the areas where producing things at home not only resulted in a better product, but where it also was simply more economical as well.