urban homesteaders?!

i turned 30 and my brother bought me a book, "the urban homestead" by kelly coyne and erik knutzen. i think if someone would have told me that i would have chickens in my backyard when i was 30 i would have laughed.

so what is urban homesteading, i discovered as i read that we are doing it, didn't know it but i am an urban homesteader. a friend had told me about rural homesteaders and i thought there is no way i could ever do that. i guess its my draw to civilization, people, streets, buildings that makes me the urban kind. it just kind of happened to us one step at a time. a friend is a great gardener and taught us about chickens and gardening. we have tried some seeds and failed. we already had a couple fruit trees and added more when a gardening store was going out of business.

but i was encouraged by the book to share this idea with others because it isn't just about chickens, its about growing some of your own food, recycling, energy conservation, composting (they do talk about a composting toilet and i am so not going that way...) they offer gardening solutions for people who live in apartments, use pots or guerrilla garden and use the dirt area between the sidewalk and street. anyone can do some part of it.

from my fun birthday book: "Urban homesteading is an affirmation of the simple pleasures of life. When you spend a Saturday morning making bread, or go out on a summer evening after work to sit with your chickens, or take a deep breath of fresh cut basil, you unplug from the madness."

this week I picked basil, brought it in to rinse it. Placed the green leaves into the food processor with olive oil, pine nuts, and cheese - fresh pesto. My kitchen smelled incredible. my friend Taffy and I enjoyed fresh pesto and mozzarella sandwiches made panini style. so good.

urban homesteader. in the heart of bellflower. it's been amazing to see how much we compost instead of putting down the disposal, and starbucks gives us all their coffee grinds to add to it. here are a few of our current garden eats, so beautiful, fresh and organic. be encouraged to try to grow something, if I can do it anyone can. i have to say ryan gets the most credit for our garden, he does all the hard work and i pick the bounty. thanks for the book dirk i've discovered something new about myself.


our molting chicken - we just eat the eggs...


my basil bush


dwarf orange tree


pomegranates


red lettuce