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Easy Green: Modern Homesteaders Stake a Claim
With more options for raising chickens, growing edibles and keeping bees than ever, suburban and city folk are rediscovering a lost art
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/), my blog devoted to all of the things that make a house a home - decorating from the heart, living with intention, and savoring life's simple pleasures.
Houzz Contributor. You can also find me on Lolalina (http://www.lolalina.com/),... More »
No longer relegated to a farm way out in the boonies, modern homesteaders are just as likely to be found tapping away at a laptop with Wi-Fi in the nearest coffeehouse as they are to be collecting eggs from the backyard coop. Springing from the DIY and handmade movements, people everywhere from city apartments to grassy lots in the suburbs are finding ways to be more self-sufficient, without giving up all the modern conveniences many of us have come to rely on.
Whether you are itching to grow vegetables on your fire escape or are considering bringing a few chicks home to roost in your backyard, here are some ideas to bring a bit of the farm home without all the hassle.
Whether you are itching to grow vegetables on your fire escape or are considering bringing a few chicks home to roost in your backyard, here are some ideas to bring a bit of the farm home without all the hassle.
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Rethink the suburbs. Attitudes are shifting in most places, so what once would have raised eyebrows (peas in the front yard, pygmy goats out back) will now, more often than not, simply spark conversation and camaraderie with neighbors. Not sure where your neighbors stand on edible gardens or livestock in the suburbs? Try striking up a casual conversation to feel things out before you invest time and money in a project.
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| The unexpectedly low-maintenance pet. Earlier this spring we brought home our first chicks. During their first weeks they require close attention, but now that they are comfy in their backyard coop, we spend a maximum of five minutes each day on chicken care. I toss in a handful of feed, maybe some veggie scraps from the kitchen, freshen their water and I'm done. It's less work than having a dog! Note: Chickens are prohibited in some cities, so be sure to check local chicken laws and ordinances in your city to see if your area allows a backyard flock before bringing your birds home. |
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| Woo wary neighbors with fresh eggs. If your neighbors seem skeptical about your plans to keep chickens on your suburban lot, you can assure them you will be keeping the coop impeccably clean, you will be keeping only hens, not roosters, and you would be happy to share fresh eggs once the little ladies start laying. Other chicken-keeping perks include: free, organic pest control (they love slugs!), kitchen waste removal (see a list of what they will eat here) and wonderful fertilizer for your garden from composted poop. |
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| Seek out attractive digs. The look and feel of your coop can be incredibly important in keeping the peace with neighbors. You don't need to spend a fortune on a designer coop if you don't want to, but do pay attention to how it will fit in with other structures in your neighborhood. We found a low-profile A-frame chicken coop on Craigslist and with a fresh lick of paint ended up with a cute coop on a budget. See more about home chicken coops More chicken keeping resources:
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by Williams-Sonoma
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Bees are the new chickens. Once you get started with chicken keeping, chances are you will begin dreaming of more ways to add to your little homestead in suburbia, and bees are a great next step. They take up little room and can provide you with the freshest, most delicious honey around. I have even heard of urbanites installing hives in rooftop gardens in the heart of the city. And, hello, when Williams-Sonoma starts a new shop devoted to beekeeping, backyard chickens and DIY home skills, you know this is not a passing trend.
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| Tap into beekeeping resources. While chickens are extremely low maintenance, becoming a beekeeper takes a bit more preparation. For instance, knowing that you must provide your bees with a water source would be good to learn before they decide to take a dip in your neighbor's pool. Check out these beekeeping forums to tap into an active online community of apian enthusiasts, and visit The Barefoot Beekeeper for more on getting started as a beekeeper using natural, low-cost methods. |
| Try a patio garden. If you are looking to dip your toes into the water of edible gardening, try starting by incorporating a few herbs or vegetables into existing flower beds. Many veggies and most herbs have ornamental foliage and lovely fruit and flowers, and can blend in quite easily with standard flower-border fare. |
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| Give up unused lawn space to raised beds. If more production is what you are after, consider saying goodbye to a sunny piece of lawn and install raised vegetable beds instead. See how to build a raised bed garden |
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| Try ornamental edibles for a productive front yard. Twining vines of peas, deep purple leaves of kale, dramatic artichoke flowers, bright chili peppers and tender chives can all make lovely additions to a front yard. Gates and fences provide a natural support for climbing peas and beans, and if you mix perennial flowers in with your edibles, most people will walk by none the wiser. |
by Meeta K. Wolff
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Preserve your harvest. So, you have a bountiful backyard harvest. Now what? Time to learn a skill that was second nature to many of our grandparents: canning and preserving. Whether you decide to try one special chutney or jam, or make a big batch of tomato sauce and freeze trays full of berries and peas, canning is a lost art that deserves to come back. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a comprehensive resource for information on safe canning and preserving methods.
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Impress friends with your new skills. Once you discover the joy of sipping your morning coffee while watching your hens forage in the backyard, or pick the freshest, sweetest peas from your own backyard for dinner, you will hardly be able to restrain yourself from sharing your new hobbies with friends. Try hosting a canning party, a batch cooking club or even a neighborhood group with others interested in suburban or urban homesteading to make connections with others in your area.
Ideabook published on June 25, 2012.
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It is rewarding to have a close relationship with your food, the animals, your environment. We have all the modern convienences, iPad, computers, iPods etc, but we use them as tools more than entertainment. Baby goats playing on a kiddie slide is the better than TV! I love my life, aches, pains, joys,sorrows, even the collapse in a heap tiredness!
And as artzi mentioned above, caring for animals and tending a garden is a lot of work - and entertainment! I know I've found myself watching less TV now that I have chickens! :)
Do note, by living in the suburb you are not reducing your carbon foot print. Your travel to and from your little mecca, the heating of your little "Mac Mansion," the fertilization of your grass are not helping the world at all. Simpler and though out use of space is sometimes better than big and vastly. New gadgets sometimes are well worth having as well, if you use them, not purchase them because Ruth or Gus has one. Too many, is again a waste of valuable natural resources and way of cluttering up space. Why does one need a hot dog maker, five different types of food processors, three different types of toasters, and the list goes on.
I am committed and I have developed some great raised bed planters. Not only are they great for the county they are great for the city. My planters allow any area to grow almost any vegetable, fruit, herb, or small fruit tree grow including vast under used patios and carports.
See them: http//www.rollingplanter.com
I agree with Jan, please research very carefully before getting farm animals, and PLEASE adopt them from rescue groups and shelters. Don't buy them. Too many people have jumped on this currently cool bandwagon without taking full responsibility for the outcome. Remember the dalmatian craze? The purse dog craze? We will witness the end of the chicken craze, and where will all those animals go? This isn't Disney, folks.
The small chicken coup in the pic could keep out most critters so long as the chickens are closed in at night. I think the builder said the coop was lined with hardware cloth. I am assuming he also meant the coop floor.
We have .47 acres, a ton of garden beds, 27 chickens in an old coop building that was already on the property and a massive compost pile. The chickens for us are as much for the eggs as they are for their poop. In our 6-7 month long winters (shawnaleeah you too can do this stuff..it gets to -40 here) the heat that the chicken manure gives off keeps our compost steaming. I also forgot we also have a million pet red worms in the compost. As for rescue animals, where does one go about researching that?
Our family lives in a rural neighborhood, but is still considered residential zoning even though we have 1 acre. We have a few hens, which we love, but they can be a bit loud, so beware. We also joined the Market Rabbit 4-H project and started raising rabbits for meat. We just successfully finished breeding, raising, and processing (i.e. butchering helpless baby bunnies) our first litter of rabbits and look forward to sharing our bounty of organically and ethically raised rabbits with our friends and family. The nice thing about rabbits is they are quiet, for the most part smell-free, and their manure makes great compost. The neighbors would never know we had them unless we told them. Butchering is not for the faint of heart, but my husband has some hunting pals who are happy to do the dirty deed for some of the meat. And other people are lining up to trade us venison, fish, and game birds for some of the meat also. Something to consider for the omnivores out there :)
As far as the rodents, we haven't noticed an increase in mice, but our cat is a pretty good mouser for any who do pop up. The flies however can become a problem -- particularly in summer. We have to be much more vigilant about cleaning the coop when the weather gets hot and sticky.