Sunday, April 17, 2011

Self-Sufficiency, etc.

Ah... early tulips popping up between the river rocks. My eyes rejoice at the sight.

Well, I'm off to an early Easter dinner with the in-law contingency, (such a fun group,) but I wanted to leave a few choice links on the blog for those who are starting to think about turning their urban or suburban home into a healthy organic food-growing machine. Anyone can do this. I mean, look at my rhubarb showing spirit and it's only mid-April. Scroll down to the post from April 7th and you'll see it was only a little red nub in the dirt 10 days ago. Now look! That's a rhubarb pie growing there in that tiny patch of earth.


The garlic is looking pretty happy too.


And the bunching onions are now arriving on the scene.



Backyard farming isn't a new idea by a long shot. Here's a link to a 1976 article in Mother Earth News by Julie Reynolds. The Integral Urban House, was a profile of a Victorian home in Berkeley, which Reynolds states was (and I quote) "one of the country's most innovative and successful "urban home-steads.""

See, homesteaders have been reaching into urban centers for well over 30 years, so what are you waiting for? Start with something easy like a pot of patio tomatoes, carrots or strawberries. It's so much fun. For the serious city homesteader there are books a plenty on the subject. Like Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's 2008 tome, (revised in a 2010 edition) "The Urban Home-stead."

The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition): Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process Self-reliance Series)

Apparently the New York Times mentioned that it was "the contemporary bible on the subject."

Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living
Still afraid you'll make a mistake? Take a course. The "Institute of Urban Home-steading"in Oakland, California teaches courses on the practice of sustainable living and they also now have a book out on the subject,"Urban Home-steading, Heirloom Skills For Sustainable Living."

If we all start looking to yards as our potential Eden instead of merely a weed-free chemically treated lawn that (sigh) needs to be mown and edged, then we come so easily to the realization that we should be filing those spaces with fruits, vegetables and herbs that feed our tables. Your yard should work for you, instead of against you. I'm passionate about this. Can you tell?

Have a peaceful Sunday.

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