Just saw this...maybe of interest to some here.


"The Urban Homestead is the essential handbook for a fast-growing new movement: urbanites are becoming gardeners and farmers. By growing their own food and harnessing natural energy, they are planting seeds for the future of our cities.

If you would like to harvest your own vegetables, make homemade jam or bread, raise chickens or convert to solar energy, this practical, hands-on book is full of step-by-step projects that will get you started homesteading immediately, whether you live in an apartment or a house. It is also a guidebook to the larger movement and will point you to the best books and Internet resources on self-sufficiency topics.

Projects include:
• How to start seeds
• How to compost with worms
• How to grow food on a patio or balcony
• How to preserve food
• How to divert your grey water to your garden
• How to clean your house without toxins

Written by city dwellers for city dwellers, this illustrated, smartly designed, two-color instruction book proposes a paradigm shift that will enrich our lives, strengthen our communities, and helps save our planet.

Authors Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen happily farm in Los Angeles and run the urban homestead blog www.homegrownrevolution.org."



Here - link

Hey there,

Any one interested in this topic should also check out the Dervaes family in Pasadena, CA. They have a similar urban homestead project.

The family's web site: http://pathtofreedom.com/
A new film about the family: http://www.homegrown-film.com/trailer.html

Cheers,
Logan.

I had recently seen other mentions of the Dervaes family, and had checked out their web site and several videos on YouTube.
What they are able to do on such a small piece of land is very impressive.

The one thing that concerns me about their quest for self-sufficiency, is their admitted reliance on the municipal water supply. With only about 21" of annual rainfall in Pasadena, I assume that there is no way they could ever collect enough water to keep their operation viable (in the event of a longterm city water interruption).

I'm not knocking them... they are certainly way ahead of me when it comes to self-reliance and self-sufficient living; but, access to a water source (other than the city pipes) seems like a major flaw in their overall plan.

Several caveats to go with urban homesteading, most all having to do with code enforcement. Then there's the issue of water collection again...

In most cases, it would be nothing more than novel due to the limits imposed. Imagine trying to get away with planting your own garden in, say, Central Park??? There are community garden areas around, but my experience is they are either too crowded or too expensive or too hard to access to be worth the trouble.

Suburbia still seems to be the best compromise. If you don't have a yard to work with, don't expect much.

I know my big limiter is that I can't create or grow anything. I am truly a destructive person. Need something broke or take apart or separated, I am your man. I am however an expert problem solver. That being said, I have never been able to grow or fix or create things. I know a garden would be something that would push my comfort zone in this regard.