Good urban gardening article from Alternet

[eridani]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/118483/?page=entire

Urban homesteading is an affirmation of the simple pleasures of life. When you spend a Saturday morning making a loaf of bread, or go out on a summer evening after work to sit with your chickens, or take a deep breath of fresh-cut basil, you unplug yourself from the madness. Many of us spend a lot of each day in front of a computer. Homesteading hooks us into the natural world and the passing of the seasons, and reminds us of our place within the greater cycle of life.

Our style of homesteading is about desire. We bake our own bread because it is better than what we can buy. We raise our own hens because we like chickens, and we think their eggs are worth the trouble. Erik bicycles everywhere because that's a thrill for him. There's mead brewing in our guest bedroom because you can't buy mead at the corner liquor store -- and because fermentation is the closest thing to magic that we know.

Maybe you aren't so into gardening, but would like to brew your own beer. Maybe you'd like to tinker with a greywater system for your house. Maybe you want to make your own non-toxic cleaning products. Try it! Start by doing just one project, one experiment, and you may well unleash the homesteader within.

[hippywife]

1. I'm so glad this is taking off the way it is.

I'm really so scared for a nation that doesn't know how to fend for itself even the slightest little bit, especially with the economy the way it is. If you can grow even a little bit of your own food, in containers if nothing else, the pay back is so rewarding in so many ways. Tens of dollars in seeds yields hundreds of dollars in produce and you get really yummy, wholesome food.

I think people get overwhelmed by the thought of doing it all now, turning their whole yard into a garden overnight. It really doesn't have to be that way. Starting small is even an improvement over what is going on in your life presently and it's easily expandable as you see the results and enjoy the outcome.

Like I've said repeatedly, start with one thing like planting a small plot or a few containers, making your own bread or yogurt. Just do what's immediately doable for awhile. Once it becomes part of the natural routine of your week, add the next thing you'd like to change. Trust me, I'm a basically lazy person, but we've been able to change so much around here for the better by doing things one step at a time, whatever seems doable at the time.

Thanx for posting this! :hi:

(I am using the term "you" here in a general way, not meaning you specifically.)

[Warpy]

2. I'm afraid there's a whole generation out there that

never learned basic stuff like cooking from scratch and repairing clothing. They're going to be on the steep side of the learning curve for a while, but they'll eventually learn it. Hell, I did.

Life isn't going to be a series of black boxes into which you feed money to satisfy your needs and wants for much longer.

[hippywife]

3. That's what worries me.

People are going to become marauding crowds looking for what they need, and can no longer buy, just to survive if this economy tanks any further, or hits bottom.