Urban homesteading: A wannabes introduction

Bethany J. Royer Garden Island Newspaper Originally published Jan. 11, 2011 The irst ti!e I e"er heard o urban ho!esteading was in an o #handed sort o !anner. It was in the late 1$$0s and I was a librarian. The library dire%tor as&ed i I'd be interested in &eeping our s%ien%e i%tion reading patrons appeased and passed !e a boo& buyer's guide. I did this tas& with a great deal o relish and pi%&ed uni(ue titles ro! un&nown#to#!e authors that in%luded Jean )egland's Into the *orest. The New +ge ,%ien%e *i%tion genre and post#apo%alypti% topi% intrigued !e. -hen the boo& arri"ed I too& it ho!e irst thing and not so !u%h read as de"oured the story in a single e"ening. To say the least, !y li e has ne"er been the sa!e. -hen I was done with that boo& I si!ply %ould not loo& at !y lower pots o spring#ti!e annuals in the sa!e way. Not a ter a story o two teenage %hara%ters struggling to sur"i"e in a de"astated +!eri%a. -here they were or%ed to plant a garden in order to eed the!sel"es and learned to %an their har"est e"en as they bought the sad re!ains o ood ro! a near#barren shopping %enter. I guess you %ould say I was s%ared into gardening, though this wasn't !y irst introdu%tion as I'"e !any a a!ily !e!ber who has in"ested hea"ily in their gardens. .et, I'd ne"er loo&ed at what I assu!ed was an e/pensi"e hobby as a way o li e, a !anner in whi%h to sur"i"e. 0e initely !a&es you loo& at garden %enters in a whole new light. + ter Into the *orest I started to ta&e ho!e !ountains o boo&s in the e"er#aweso!e 100 se%tion o the 0ewey 0e%i!al syste!. I poured through "olu!es on how to trans or! a postage sta!p yard into a burgeoning, !ass#produ%ing garden to the %o!ple/ tending o ull#s%ale ar!s. 2eanwhile, I li"ed in a one#bedroo! apart!ent with e/a%tly one window and a de%& 3ust large enough to turn around on. .et, the green#drea! was born and I soon %a!e to reali4e one needn't a%re#upon#a%re to li"e the li estyle. It had a na!e and it is urban ho!esteading, where any si4e property, any type o ho!e stru%ture, e"en a spa%e as s!all as a patio, %ondo de%&, or big %ity apart!ent roo top will do. One si!ply has to ha"e the passion, dri"e, and %o!!it!ent to !a&e it possible.

,o I pose this in"itation to you, as I share !y li e and the %urrent %hallenges I a%e to dis%o"er !y drea!, a %han%e or all o us to learn how to %reate an urban ho!estead in our "ery own ba%&yards, whether that spa%e is big or s!all, or e"en non#e/istent. Right here, right now, where"er you !ay be. 5et's do it6 5et's learn together through su%h tea%hers as a our#!e!ber a!ily in 7asadena who has !anaged to turn a tenth o an a%re into three tons o garden#produ%ed ood ea%h year. They ne"er ail to inspire !e. )ow about a down#under ho!esteading blogger who has learned to li"e well on less8 +nd !any !ore6 2aybe I'll e"en be able to throw in !y own wit 9n wisdo! along the way. The latter being !ore wit than any wisdo! I would i!agine. : The !other o two !un%h&ins, Bethany J. Royer is an independent %ontra%tor, wannabe urban ho!esteader and writer %urrently studying psy%hology with the *lorida Institute o Te%hnology. ,he is a%ti"ely see&ing a publisher or her irst post#apo%alypti% no"el while ta%&ling se"eral other writing pro3e%ts. ,he blogs proli i%ally at !othero the!un%h&ins.blogspot.%o! and %an be rea%hed at the!othero the!un%h&ins;yahoo.%o!.