urban homesteading — Transition Voice

But will she lay? Review of Keeping Chickens

By Ariana Coate September 18, 2012

For the past two years gardening has been my great obsession. I've planted fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers, with great hopes for how beautiful and nourishing they'll be both now and in the years to come. I've even taken on beekeeping and have one beehive near my back porch. The only things missing are chickens. I yearn for a few hens to provide me with fresh eggs as well as manure for the garden. Every time I look at the insects devouring my kale patch, I imagine how chickens would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: backyard chickens, biodynamic gardening, gardening, urban homesteading

Yes, you can bake bread

By Lindsay Curren February 23, 2012

My husband and I are on one heck of a family resilience bender. When we first got married almost three years ago, we focused on insulating our place from attic to basement, shaving 20% off of our heating and cooling expenses. This really adds up. But in the past six months our efforts have turned more to homemaker re-skilling. We've added a rain barrel and composter. He's learned to brew beer. And after getting into canning, I've also begun the art of real, regular bread baking. Rising to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Products, Re-skilling Tagged With: food, Lindsay's Yes you can series, reskilling, urban homesteading

Back in the day, urban gardens everywhere

By Erik Curren January 13, 2012

Have you ever walked through your neighborhood, noticed a vacant lot, and wondered why nobody had bothered to plant a garden there, instead of just letting the land sit around empty? Now, of course, plant and insect people will tell you that no land is empty. Even the humblest weedlot plays a role in urban ecology. But I'd wager that few vacant lots are under the control of a wildlife manager or urban forester. Instead, it's clear that most empty lots just sit there, waiting for the the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: gardening, Rob Hopkins, smart development, urban homesteading, urban orchards

Top 10 peak oil books of 2011

By Erik Curren December 12, 2011

Welcome to our second annual list of the top ten peak oil books. Most of them are explicitly about peak oil, while others deal with energy depletion as a significant factor in the economy or the environment. A couple titles focus on responses to the myriad conundrums that Richard Heinberg has dubbed "peak everything" and that are now converging to create a perfect storm for global industrial civilization. Along with Heinberg, we list books by peak oil stalwarts John Michael Greer and Dmitry … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: Dmitry Orlov, futurology, James Howard Kustler, John Michael Greer, Richard Heinberg, top 10, urban homesteading

The Greenhorns: No fear of farming

By Lindsay Curren July 12, 2011

In US culture, where food is denatured, communication is #txtd, and the majority of us spend most of our time indoors behind computer screens, going back to the land holds an undeniable charm. Many therapists and advocates for a more holisitic life, such as peak oil writer Carolyn Baker, argue that such a draw is healing, and essential to mitigate the most alienating aspects of industrial life. Just witness the uptick in rustic and green weddings, where city slickers don the trappings of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Films, Reviews Tagged With: activism, community organizing, cooking, farming, food, urban homesteading

Urban homesteaders offer reskilling

By Holly Parker June 20, 2011

Just as urban and suburban dwellers can fit a lot of projects and production into their modest spaces, Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living packs many ideas and examples into a modest and accessible book. As long time social activists, artists, urban homesteaders, and friends, authors Rachel Kaplan and K. Ruby Blume present in their book the example of a diverse group of people working to enhance their lives by meeting more of their own needs at home. At the same … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: homesteading, local economy, local food, relocalization, urban homesteading

Profiles in urban homesteading

By Lindsay Curren February 22, 2011

Across the Web yesterday, citified farmers united en masse to stake their claims to the age old art of urban homesteading. After reacting with horror and dismay over a move by the well-known Dervaes family of Pasadena, California, who issued an informational letter on their website—and to individual outlets—announcing that they had secured trademarks for the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading," the larger community of urban homesteaders flash organized, setting up a "Take … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: activism, community organizing, DIY, interview, local food, urban homesteading

Urban homesteeds, war horses with mulch

By Lindsay Curren February 18, 2011

Take our poll: Should "urban homestead" be trademarked? The war horses are out and snorting a dust-up in the world of, uh...how shall I say this?...of, er, city-dwelling folks who garden and stuff. The brouhaha pits long-time (and apparently official) urban homesteaders the Dervaes family of Pasadena, California against...well, just about everybody else who would lay claim to the term "urban homestead" or "urban homesteading." From what I can glean, the Dervaeses, notable pioneers in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: DIY, farming, food, local economy, local food, urban homesteading

Homesteading for the rest of us

By Holly Parker October 1, 2010

BOOK REVIEW The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition): Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process Self-reliance Series) By Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen Process Press, 2010, $17.95 I read gardening and back-to-the-land books like many people read romances or the sports pages, and lots of books just don’t cut it for me. But this book was a very pleasant surprise. While many books have a narrow focus, are very simple or just nothing new, The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: cities, DIY, homesteading, Oct 2010, relocalization, urban homesteading

Readers and authors talk

Elisabeth J. Potts on Climate collision course: CO2 levels about to hit 400 ppm » As of this week, we have already reached the 400ppm milestone. Here's the thing: We all need some sp...
Ed Johnson on Roundup of distressing climate news » Thank you all for your comments and commitments. I too sense this with out all the research backgrou...
Lee Samelson on The climate change mountaintop » It seems like the stages occur in reverse order for climate hawks Climate hawks or climate activists...
Steve on For sale, habitable planet, too late » Doug, I am in a similar place to you, I think. I have probably never really faced up to the reality ...