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Our Little Patch Of Heaven-Urban Homesteading

Through the Green & Clean Mom Forum, I have met the most amazing women (and men) that have great ideas, are passionate about going green and learning and most of all are doing something. If you haven’t joined the forum, you’re missing out. One recent topic of conversation is Urban Homesteading. A forum member, Beth, got my attention when she posted this topic to the forum and after visiting her blog and seeing what she was doing, I asked her to compose a guest post about her experiences. I am positive you will love what she has to say…

Our Little Patch of Heaven:

Urban Homesteading in Idaho

By Beth of Coming Up for Air

What comes to mind when you think of a homestead? Perhaps a cozy little farm somewhere out in the country? What about a homestead in the city? Think it’s impossible to have a little farm inside city limits? Well it’s not! It’s called Urban Homesteading and it’s more prevalent than you might think!

My husband and I have embarked on such an idea for our family. Our journey into living “green”, being environmental stewards and growing our own food began last fall of 2007 when we began to make plans for a garden in our backyard. As we researched methods for gardening, we stumbled upon several websites that described a unique way of living. People inside city limits turning their suburban grass into food growing farms, big city apartment dwellers turning their balconies into small gardens by planting vegetables in planters and large corporations devoting the tops of their sky scrapers for food crops. Many cities, large and small, declaring vacant lots as community gardens and giving out “allotments” to citizens to grow food. Quite a few of these private property owners have chickens, goats and ducks! Many even sell some of their yields for profit to their communities. Of the websites we found, all were practicing organic farming and humane livestock practices.

We got excited! We didn’t have to move out to the country to have our own little “farm”! We could remain in our dream home and learn to be Urban Homesteaders. We live on roughly ¾ of an acre in the middle of Nampa, Idaho, 20 miles west of Boise. Plenty of room for a small “farm”! The first thing we needed to figure out was what type of garden we wanted to plant, what veggies and fruits to plant, and what kind of animals we could raise within our city codes. My husband and I chose to build raised garden beds with a plot of dirt beds for corn. The best thing to consider first is what types of veggies and fruits you like and can plant in your area. Then think about how much your family will consume and how you plan on preserving the food for future use. It’s also a good idea to talk with your city about what types of small farm animals are allowed within the city limits.


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  • http://whenicomeupforair.blogspot.com Beth

    Thanks again Sommer! :)

    Beths last blog post..Guest2

  • http://www.greenandcleanmom.org admin

    Beth,
    Thanks for sharing your story with my readers. I just lvoe to hear other experiences and this is so neat and inspiring. I’m so glad I met you through http://www.greenandcleanmom.ning.com

    Green & Clean Mom

  • http://www.thebigtradeoff.blogspot.com Karen

    Great post, Beth! I’ll gladly take any excess cukes off your hands!

    Karens last blog post..Hey, I’m going to talk about sewing again. What a surprise.

  • http://onecloverandabeeandrevery.blogspot.com/ Regina

    This was a wonderful post, Beth! Thanks so much for sharing your new adventure- I am inspired!
    Even though I am not a gardener, I think I can still find ways to live “off the land” buy supporting my local farmers more and using fresh ingredients as much as I can in my cooking.
    I love the idea of urban homesteading- and we all can do something- we just have to find out what that is and make the most of it!
    Thanks, Bethie!
    :)

    Reginas last blog post..7.

  • http://itsthelittlethinks.blogspot.com/ Allison

    Beth,
    Great post. I was thinking of not having a garden next year because we were going plant more permanent plants but I may have to convince my husband otherwise. Your journey is inspiring.

    Allisons last blog post..Meet Chef John

  • http://www.tothinkistocreate.com To Think Is To Create

    I’m absolutely in LOVE with this idea. In love. Thanks for this awesome post.

    To Think Is To Creates last blog post..This Community, This Family