City-dwellers Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen have written a book on urban homesteading full of projects and resources to enrich the lives of city-folk. They self-declare it to be an essential handbook for the fast-growing movement of urbanites turning to self-reliance and localism.
Selections from The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City were published on AlterNet and it looks like a strong introductory book for people hoping to ween themselves off of destructive agribusiness and turn to self-reliance and community.
Though we have fantasies about one day moving to the country, the city holds things that are more important to us than any parcel of open land. We have friends and family here, great neighbors, and all the cultural amenities and stimulation of a city. It made more sense for us to become self-reliant in our urban environment. There was no need for us to wait to become farmers. We grow plenty of food in our backyard in Echo Park and even raise chickens. Once you taste lettuce that actually has a distinct flavor, or eat a sweet tomato still warm from the sun, or an orange-yolked egg from your own hen, you will never be satisfied with the pre-packaged and the factory-farmed again. Our next step down the homesteading path was learning to use the old home arts to preserve what we grew: pickling, fermenting, drying and brewing. A jar of jam that you make of wild blackberries holds memories of the summer, and not the air of the Smucker’s factory.
Photo used under Creative Commons – courtesy outsanityphotos.
