About book The Urban Homestead: Your Guide To Self-sufficient Living In The Heart Of The City (Process Self-Reliance Series) (2008)
I really want to try to make stuff myself this year, so I had to read up on everything DIY, didn't I? And when it comes to growing your own food, it seems you can't avoid this book, so I gave it a try.In the beginning, I was a bit skeptical if this is the right book for me, because there are many chapters that just don't apply to me (like keeping chicken, for example). After reading the first few chapters on growing your own vegetables and fruit, though, I was completely hooked.The content itself is quite thourough, although there are very little pictures (at least in the kindle version). This doesn't really matter though, as the instructions for building stuff are easy to follow. What really made this book for me, though, was the writing style. I was afraid this book was written by some anti-system modern hippies and prepared for the worst. I was delighted to find that the authors are just normal people, with a knack for gardening and DIY. They also know how to write in a light tone, that is easy to follow and doesn't get boring. To my surprise, it was actually fun to read page after page on composting. All in all, I can just really recommend this book for anyone even jsut slightly interested in DIY and gardening. Its contents are thorough, although there's so much, that you probably won't read everything (keeping livestock, for example). This doesn't take away from the overall awesomeness of all the other content. I found the writing style and overall feeling I got from this book to be very motivating. And if you are looking to get into urban homesteading I'm sure will you. A while back, a friend of mine was telling me about her dream of developing an urban homestead/communal living block. Just a few days after that, I stumbled across this book at the library, so of course, I had to check it out.Overall, I enjoyed the book--it has lots of good tips on how to set up and manage an urban homestead, but so many of the chapters seem irrelevant or out of reach for the average apartment dweller, especially ones with roommates. (I know, they say that anyone can do their strategies, but I don't really think my landlord or my roommates would appreciate an attempt to take the apartment off the water/sewage grid. Although whoever had the book before me was very interested in the "Be Your Own Utility: Water And Power For The Homestead" chapter.)I found the most helpful--and practical, for my situation--tips to be for container gardening, food preservation, and transportation.* Plant sprouted garlic cloves in a pot and cover with about an inch of soil. Keep slightly moist but not soggy. Shoots will appear in about a week; use as you would scallions. They have a lifespan of about a month, so use them when they appear. (21)* Design a polycultural veggie bed: a community of various sizes and varieties of plants, like lettuce, radishes, carrots, green onions, cabbage, parsnips, and kale. (91-93)* Principles of transportation: the journey is the journey, transportation should be low-tech, your transportation should give you exercise, and transportation should promote community.
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Want to own this one - it's got a lot of things that I'll want to refer back to later.
—Cymor
Gramatically painful in sections, but good information.
—12jam
