Monday, February 28, 2011

How to Become Popular

Once you buy a gun, everyone who does not own one clamors for you to take them to the range. Even people who don't LIKE guns. Life is so amusing at times.

Monday, February 21, 2011

I AM AN URBAN HOMESTEADER - URBAN HOMESTEADING IS WHAT I DO!!

In celebration of Urban Homesteaders Blog Like a Pirate Day (oops, I mean Urban Homesteaders Action Day), I will talk about my urban homestead.

I love my urban homestead.

I love BEING an urban homesteader.

This I have wanted to do for a long, long time...at least, have a farm. But I finally decided since I never seem to have the money for a farm, I would just farm here in the city. Which, as far as I can tell, is traditionally (meaning, from probably back before WWI?) called urban homesteading, among other things.

I have backyard chickens, a rainwater catchment system, a composter and a compost heap, I use a wood stove for (supplemental) heat in the winter, thus why I have a log pile, racks of wood, and a rack of kindling. I have 3 raised garden beds in the backyard with 2 hardy kiwi plants and a butt-load of strawberry plants, a peach tree, and a VERY prolific raspberry bush, straight from the Smoky mountains (a gift, along with the chickens. We urban homesteaders help each other out! For free! I know, this is an odd concept to some folk who might like to trademark common, everyday words....but I digress). Near the driveway, I have an asparagus bed READY TO HARVEST THIS YEAR! YAY! I have more beds, there, too, and a huge rosemary plant. In the front yard, I have another rosemary bush and more raised beds, along with a blackberry bush and 2 blueberry bushes (both struggling). In the house for now but soon to be back outdoors I have dwarf lemon tree (which perhaps I didn't hand pollinate properly...we'll see I guess) and an dwarf orange tree undergoing serious medical treatment. Which I may also not be doing properly, but since he's still hanging on, I will continue to practice my primitive plant doctoring skills. Let's all murmur a few words of encouragement to the universe any which way you think may help, eh? Thanks....

Friday, February 11, 2011

Lessons

Exquisite instruction from a friend, teaching 11 how to split a log of wood properly:

"Keep your eye on the crack!"