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 … [Read more...]
Profiles in urban homesteading
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 … [Read more...]
Urban homesteeds, war horses with mulch
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 … [Read more...]
Homesteading for the rest of us
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 … [Read more...]