Homestead Buzz

If you're anything like us, you're a day late and a dollar short when it comes to keeping up with the Jones'. Not that the Jones' are doing much city homesteading these days.

Or are they....

Though we've not found any hard evidence that suggests an upswing in the citified countryside style of living, there does seem to be at least a modest interest in self sustainability. We guess that can be attributed to the lousy economy.

Sure would be nice to see more crazy people like us around.

Hope all is well!

Food Co-op

A couple of years ago, before the big switch to city homesteading, we participated in a local food co-op.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a food co-op is a collectively owned purchasing group that focuses on making local or natural foods more affordable for its' members. In most groups, you should expect to work some volunteer hours at least a few times a year. Depending on the co-op you choose, you might pay online before a prearranged payment deadline or pay at the pickup site.  There are many different ways to make it work, however most ways are based on two types of co-ops:

In a private food co-op, shopping is limited to members only. You pay an up-front fee and possibly a set amount to purchase a share. You will act as part of a governing board responsible for making decisions as to the what, where, who and when.

In an open co-op, anyone may shop but only members get discount prices. The up-front fee is pretty much the same, but unless you are directly involved in the providing of the food, you will not have a lot of say in the process. Volunteers might help at each distribution site and members would be offered extra/leftover produce in return for their volunteer time.

The one we participated in was open. We paid a one-time administrative fee of $3.00 and then whatever the contribution was for the basket we wanted for the week. For instance, if we wanted a conventional produce basket the contribution was $15, or $25 for a 100% certified organic basket. Depending on the time of year and how far we want to drive to get the basket, we may have a huge variety of extras to choose from. Bread, herb packs, Mexican ingredient packs, tortilla pack or even a cookies pack to name a few. Early on Saturday morning we would drive to a local park where the baskets are distributed. Wait in line to confirm our participation has been paid for, pack it up and off we went!

Now that we are growing so much of our own produce, we've not as much need for a co-op. If you are interested in finding a local co-op near you, try Local Harvest.

The Good Life

If this tantalizing bit of information about us ever got out, news channels would converge on Casita from all over the world. Interviews would be set up with our family and friends who would say "We had no idea! We're utterly flabbergasted!" We would have to walk to the minivan, or as the Black Magic Woman calls it, 'The Uterus on Wheels' with paper bags over our heads. We would inevitably be cornered and forced to confess....we love British sitcoms. 

Yes...it's true. "The Vicar of Dibley" "My Family" "Black Books" to name a few. One of our favorites of all time is "The Good Life" which was broadcast from 1975-1978. There were 30 episodes starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington. 

Basically "The Good Life" or "Good Neighbors" as it was called in the U.S. was about two couples who live next door to each other. Tom Good quits his day job and he and his wife Barbara make an attempt to live completely off the grid in suburbia. Jerry and Margo Ledbetter, the neighbors, are not on board with this adventure. In fact, they are down right horrified. This direction makes for some classic comedy. 

There is a surprising amount of really good homesteading information brilliantly written into the dialog. Some of the story lines include the pig switching scandal, the effluence digester in the cellar and the leek thief. If you are a fan of fine classic comedy and city homesteading, this is your ticket.

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.

Edible Flowers

When making the transition from casual gardening to homesteading, one of the hardest things was dealing with the aesthetics of it all. Because we live smack dab in the middle of the city and want to keep farm animals, we have to be very careful with how Casita is planned and maintained. Though we have very cool neighbors who have been supportive thus far, they may change their tune if they come home one day and we've replaced the front lawn with a goat pen.

One way we have overcome this issue is by utilizing edible flowers throughout the year. For instance, in the summer we plant the father of all edibles, the sunflower. We try to choose southwest natives but any sunflower will do. The only other summer flower we've tried is marigold. In the cooler season, we use nasturtium, pansies and cornflower.

You can find a detailed list of edibles here.

For the record, that is the first time I have ever written "smack dab." It's kind of fun. "Smack dab." Everybody now: "Smack dab!"

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.

Farmer's Market

Imagine waking up early on a Thursday morning. You slap on some dirty jeans and t-shirt, an old cowboy hat and walk outside into the garden. You are greeted by the chickens who, no matter what time you get out there, seem to already be standing next to the gate waiting to see what yummy stuff they may get from last night's dinner. Most days it's all about the feeding and watering getting done early, before the nine-to-fiver starts. But Thursdays are different. Thursdays from 3-7 is the Chandler Farmer's Market. You've been planning all week what to harvest and now it is time to pull, clean and pack. For one day a week, the world works. All is well. You are a local food source.

OK, we have not really made it that far as homesteaders. In fact, we have not successfully been able to produce enough for our family of five. But, boy wouldn't that be cool!

Farmer's markets are the mainstay of the local farmer's existence. They tend to be a good reflection of the area's culture and economy. Some are very strict, others are operated right from Aunt Tilly's front porch. Whatever the market, the idea is the same: fresh food grown locally. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Though a booth at the market would be cool, in reality, the urban homesteader is not well-equipped to compete with local farms. In fact, I'm not sure I would want to. These farmers are there to make a living. I would not want to take away from that unless it were my living that was in the making. You never know though, keep working hard, trust in the good Lord above and see what happens.

Psst....don't buy Tilly's prickly pear jelly. Just trust me.

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.

Urban Homesteading and Meat

One of the dilemmas facing a city dwelling farmer is how to produce meat. Basically, the question is whether to raise, buy or eliminate meat altogether.

Raising meat is the most attractive option to any homesteading family, however, for obvious reasons, also the most difficult. If your farm is anything like ours, you have your pick from chickens or rabbits. There are a few other candidates that may work such as ducks, goats, pigeons or pigs depending on how much room you have. For rabbits, you would need a set of parents whom you will not slaughter. They should produce about 6-10 babies every 12 weeks. Doing the math, this puts rabbit on the table about once every other week. Not bad. Chickens are not even close to as productive. Using the same formula, you could expect chicken dinners about once every 10 weeks. Of course, the numbers can change dramatically based on the number of animals you keep. Double the parent rabbits or chickens and you will get twice as many dinners.

Buying meat is also a complicated venture for extreme homesteaders. While high quality meat is available at most grocery stores, you really have very little way of knowing anything about where it came from or how it was processed or raised. Usually, you can be sure that it is relatively safe to eat and this may be all that matters to you. If asked, we would say our chickens and rabbit are high quality, but we're a little biased. They eat our leftovers and vegetable scraps, so perhaps they share our nutritional content.

Going vegetarian is great, but anyone who has tried it who was not fully committed to it knows how long meat abstinence lasts. We've tried it a few times with moderate success, however, for reasons unknown to beast and man, we always jump off that wagon at some time or another. For those who have the will power and won't miss the taste of a mouth watering, juicy, salty, meaty, oozing with goodness steak, (you can see where our problems lie), this is likely the best route for the dedicated homesteader.

In the long run, we have resolved to implement all three strategies. Taking the seasons of plenty with the seasons of not-as-much and deciding which best fits our current situation. Adaptation, if you will. It is the way of the urban homesteader.

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.

Am I Really an Urban Homesteader?

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday morning and I'm standing in Home Depot halfway between the seed aisle and the veggie transplant aisle.

On one shoulder sits the angel homesteader, whispering in my ear, "Seeds are the only way to go. You cannot be a real homesteader if you are buying those awful transplants. After all, they came to this huge chain store on a huge truck that required a huge amount of gas causing a huge carbon footprint on...on...well on wherever carbon walks." On the other shoulder sits the devil homesteader, yelling in my ear, "Don't listen to that self righteous, tree-hugging hippy. It's so much easier to just buy the four pack of pumpkins, stick them in the ground and use the rest of the day watching chicken olympics in a lawn chair with a six pack, (of home brew of course).

There are so many factors that go into self-sustainability. Sometimes the hardcore homesteader in me takes over and I'm all set to pull the plug and jump head first off the grid into the 18th century. Plow the front yard, we're planting corn. Then there are times like that morning in Home Depot, where the chickens need wormed, the bean poles fell prey to the wicked monsoon storm and the aphids have considered Casita to be ground zero.

I make sure nobody is looking and quickly grab that four pack of pumpkins put them in cart under the tomato cages and head for the checkout.

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.

Carrots Like Turtles

What is it with carrots in the desert?

I've been growing carrots for about two years in Arizona. The one thing every harvest has in common is the incredibly long wait.

Okay, I know that they are a long-germinating plant, but seriously, how long am I supposed to wait. I know they also have issues with weed competition, which is a problem with the particular bed they are planted in.  I guess I can't overlook the fact that they absolutely hate clay soil which is pretty much all the low desert has to offer.

Umm...

Nevermind.

What's your turtle plant?

For more info on us, click Arizona homestead and homeschool.