Functional Kitchen for an Urban Homestead
Urban homesteading is sparked by a yearning to return to a simpler and more self-sufficient lifestyle. This is not only deeply satisfying to the soul, but it makes sound financial sense. While almost any kitchen can support a microwave and any microwave can handle frozen dinners, drying and preserving foods at home requires reliable equipment that can handle the increased workload of preserving foods in bulk. Whether you are growing and preserving your own produce or looking to support local growers while avoiding the chemicals and additives of commercially preserved foods, your first step is to make sure your kitchen is up to the task. This doesn`t mean you need to spend a fortune on commercial-grade equipment, though if you can do so it will pay for itself in the long run. Still, a tight budget needn`t stand in your way. With a little planning and a few smart purchases, you can have a functional urban homestead kitchen at a price any pioneer would love. The most important piece of equipment you will need is an excellent cooker. Get the largest one that you can afford and that will fit in your space. The more burners you have, the more you can have going on at once, which is crucial when preserving end of season produce. A large oven allows you to dry several trays of fruits or vegetables at one time and also ensures that you`ll have plenty of room for home cooked meals such as roast chicken. If it is possible to vent your cooker to the outdoors, invest in a large range hood. This helps to keep the kitchen from overheating when you`re sterilizing jars, boiling preserves, cooking down homemade stock or making your own beer. Look for hand-powered appliances that can do the work of electric ones to save on power bills. A food mill separates seeds and pulp from stewed fruits and vegetables as efficiently as an extractor does but uses a hand crank instead of an electrical cord. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the herbs you`ve dried before storing them in small glass jars. Counter space is usually at a premium in urban homes, so look for ways to increase it. Store pots and pans on hanging racks to save cupboard space for small appliances to get them off your counters. Store large mixing bowls on top of cabinets so they can be as decorative as they are functional. Choose sustainable, easy to clean surfaces for your cabinets, counters and floors. Cork is highly prized for floors because of its affordability and sustainability, but it can be difficult to keep clean if not properly sealed. No matter how self-sufficient and how far off the grid you might want to be, don`t skimp on professional services when it comes to safety. All electric and gas appliances need to be installed and hooked up by professionals to ensure that they will function safely.
How to Buy with Environmental Responsibility and Sustainability
Replacing your electrical conduits with solar panels or bicycling to make enough power to toast bread is environmentally romantic, but that level of dedication is beyond the financial and physical means of most people. Most green consumers are people needing to tighten their belts and wanting to do so responsibly. Living both sustainably and affordably is not as difficult as you may think. Just change a few habits to embrace some very simple and absolutely practical principles. Buy ingredients instead of meals. The less packaging you purchase, the less trash you produce. This is not only environmentally sound, but it also makes economic sense. For example, if you buy a frozen chicken dinner, you have one meal with a leftover plastic bag or box. Purchase a fresh, whole chicken and you not only have several meals, but you can make broth with the carcass and skin and compost whatever`s left. Purchasing staples such as flour, pasta, beans, grains and nuts in bulk saves you money and reduces packaging. Keeping the freezer stocked with frozen poultry, meats and seafood and the refrigerator stuffed with fresh fruits and vegetables ensures that on busy nights you can toss together a healthy and hearty meal from what`s on hand instead of sending the person standing closest to the car off to the drive-thru. Make sure that most of what you buy is grown or produced locally. It doesn`t do the environment much good to buy organic if the organic produce is shipped in or flown in from some place far away. When you do want to eat out, eat locally. This doesn`t necessarily mean eating expensively. Many small restaurants purchase from local farmers, which means they are not paying fuel costs to have things trucked in. Patronizing smaller, local businesses is also good for the community because people who are successful where they live are far more likely to give back than chains or franchises owned or licensed by multinational corporations. Read labels to check for sustainability. Look for energy ratings on anything that consumes power. Check for Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC, certification on anything made from wood. This guarantees that the piece was made from sustainable wood. Purchase as many products made from recycled materials as possible. Tailor your purchases to where you live. In areas where there is a scarcity of water but good recycling programs, it makes sense to use recycled paper towels and plates and recyclable plastic utensils and cups rather than washing dishes, utensils, glasses and dish towels. If you live in a place with abundant water but no real recycling, use only washable items. Buy things that last so you can repair them instead of replacing them. Investing in well-tailored clothing for toddlers makes no sense unless you`re expecting several more to come along. But spending a few extra dollars on coats, shoes and other apparel made well from sustainable materials means that you don`t have to keep replacing them. Doing so eases the strain on your budget and helps to keep small, local repair shops in business. Purchase as much of what you need used when you can. This not only offers you a bargain, but it helps someone else by putting a bit of cash in their pocket. Think `people` when you think sustainability, because what use is it to save the planet if everybody`s struggling so hard to survive that they can`t enjoy it? Locally, you can help your fellow human beings by supporting small businesses and being a `locavore`. Globally, look for Fair Trade items to ensure that what you are purchasing was made by people who are working in safe conditions and being paid fairly for their labor. The green consumers at The Backyard Chicken Farmer suggest contacting experts such as those found at Caffe Society to start your day off right with the most delicious Fair Trade coffee available.
Urban Farming: A Growing Industry
With the concern about food safety, farmers markets popularity is increasing as people look for organic fruits and vegetables. From college campuses to city blocks, farmer’s markets are a staple of our culture. Large Cities Going Green In rural New York, farmers travel to Brooklyn farmers markets to sell their crops. With the demand for safer food, urban farming provides consumers with food from a trusted source while decreasing the amount of food affected by genetic enhancements. This growth of farmers markets leads to increases in urban farming. In addition to supplying healthy organic food, in some areas, urban farming utilizes unused city resources, like abandoned buildings and lots; spaces are converted to urban farms, like the greenhouse on an abandoned dock in New York City. In addition to reclaiming abandoned property, many urban farms are located on city rooftops. This helps keep buildings cooler and saves energy by lowering the cost of air conditioning. Many Benefits Environmental waste from transporting food by trucks leaves a carbon footprint on our environment. By offering food locally to farmers markets and grocery stores, urban framing saves money and lessens environmental waste. The demand for urban farming provides jobs and education, with many farming programs opening in major cities. Children and adults learn about the benefits of growing local while working on a farm; giving them the knowledge of what it takes to start their own urban farm. Even with the benefits of urban farming, there are concerns as well. Cities often contain more pollution than their outskirts which raises concerns the pollution will contaminate the city soil and its crops. While the crops help make the air cleaner, some cities are too polluted for harvesting healthy crops. The New Trend is Not So New Urban farming is becoming noticeably trendy in the United States; however it’s not a new concept. Beginning in Ancient Egypt, urban farming is centuries old. Using available resources, Egyptians used excess waste as the plot for seeds. Following the Egyptian’s lead, Grange Farm in Brooklyn, New York makes use of resources found in unusual areas. Grange Farm utilizes over two acres of rooftops, in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Since opening in 2010, they’ve sold more than 40,000 vegetables to their. Their goal is to bring delicious vegetables to their community while building New York into a more sustainable place to live with positive effects to the environment. Grange Farm sells locally to restaurants as well as operating farm stands at farmers markets throughout the boroughs. They also sell privately to CSA members but do not sell beyond the boroughs of New York City. Their business however transcends the island of Manhattan as they consult on urban farm set ups throughout the United States. Grange also offers a non-profit program called City Growers. With learning on the farm and in the classroom, this program educates students about urban farming, health, and sustainability. The program’s goal is making future generations more environmentally conscious while learning ways to make a greener New York. Other Urban Farming Operations Zenger Farm, in Portland, Oregon, was established in 1913. Established in 1913, Zenger Farm in Portland, Oregon is a family tradition, passed from Ulrich Zenger to his son, Ulrich Zenger Jr. The farm has remained independently owned since it began. While continuing to produce crops since Zenger Jr.’s death, the farm is also a non-profit for educational out reach. Along with keeping crops sold independently, they educate children on sustainable living. The basis of the educational program at Zenger comes from the idea that healthy food comes from healthy soil even in the city. This educational program teaches about food, farming, and wetland conservation and how these things make for a healthy, thriving, city environment. Zenger Farm offers farm field trips where students can visit and learn about the farm and the importance in keeping a green community and a one-week summer camp where students actually work on the farm. Weekend workshops are also provided—in workshops adults are taught farm skills by working on the farm and learning about buying healthy organic food on a budget. Zenger takes pride in their community outreach and sharing the importance of their urban farm in improving the Portland community. B&T Farm, based in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hacienda Heights, began in the backyard of Brett Wyatt. After raids at the Buddhist monastery he was studying at, he began working at a farm in Thailand. It was there he met his wife Tanya and decided to continue their passion for growing in the United States where they specialize in oyster mushrooms and sell to customers at farmers markets on the weekends. Oyster mushrooms require a rigorous process of boiling the seeds to ensure no other mold grows around the mushrooms. The Wyatts also grow crops native to Thailand as well as crops more prominent in the United States, such as spinach and broccoli. Detroit’s Hantz Farm boasts the largest Urban Farm in the United States. With Detroit’s economic downturn from the failing auto industry, thousands of houses stand empty. Once the properties were vacated, the land reverted back to the city. No revenue could be collected and these lots set vacant so many were sold. Hantz Corporation began buying the land from the government to build into urban farms and community gardens. In doing this, Hantz is creating jobs, offering healthy food choices, and revitalizing the land while helping the city of Detroit. In addition to their urban farms, Hantz is planting trees to help the environment and beautify the city. By helping the community through growth, Hantz is bringing the communities together while helping each other and getting involved in restoring the city. Urban farms help improve a city’s environment, economy, land, and community. Many major cities have community farms where anyone can start a plot and plant what they want to grow. If you’re interested in getting involved, check with your city. No matter how dense the population, there may be a plot
Homesteading: An Introduction to Homesteading
Homesteading home·stead n. 1. A house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land. 2. Law Property designated by a householder as the householder’s home and protected by law from forced sale to meet debts. 3. Land claimed by a settler or squatter, especially under the Homestead Act. 4. The place where one’s home is. v. home·stead·ed, home·stead·ing, home·steads v.intr. To settle and farm land, especially under the Homestead Act. v.tr. To claim and settle (land) as a homestead. On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, providing public land grants of 160 acres to American citizens, able to pay a small registration fee. The settlers agreed to live on the land for 5 years. After the agreement time was over, they were granted the land deed. The Homestead Act continued until President Franklin Roosevelt unofficially ended it in 1935, withdrawing public domain lands for a nationwide land conservation program. 783,000 men and women, proved their claim and received a land title. In 1976, under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Homestead Act officially ended. While the term homesteading applies to anyone following the back-to-the-land way of life, adopting a sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle, much has changed since the mid 1800’s. With large parcels of land no longer available in most areas, homesteading has adapted to the “urban” way of life. 21st century homesteading is self-sufficiency, wherever you live. Modern “urban homesteading” practices similar skills found during early homestead days: growing crops, keeping livestock and making much of the basic home essentials like, furniture and clothing. Modern homesteading is possible almost anywhere; whether you live on an acreage or you’re an apartment dweller. While you may not be able to raise livestock, you can practice simple, living. • Container gardening-This is possible anywhere you have access to sunlight for a minimum of 5 hours each day. If you have a patio or a backyard, you can fill it with containers of tomatoes, lettuce, squash or just about anything your family likes. If you live in a neighborhood, start a bartering group with like-minded neighbors; trade your vegetables for ones they grow that you don’t. Containers for your garden don’t have to be expensive; you can use almost anythingfor your garden. We found free machinery crates for our garden. They are the perfect size with good drainage. You can also use old tires, kiddie pools and plastic storage bins or anything you can think of, making sure it has good drainage or something you can add drainage holes to. • Laying hens and meat chickens-Today, many cities allow you to have a few chickens within the city limits. All you need is a couple of good laying hens for fresh eggs and/or meat chickens. Be sure to check with city officials in your area before becoming a backyard chicken farmer. • Buy food in bulk-Anyone, if they have a kitchen, can buy food in bulk then preserve by freezing, canning or dehydrating. • Make your own soaps and lotions-Soap and toiletry making is a lot easier than you would imagine. You can use everyday items you have around your house and find many ingredients at the grocery store. You will find all kinds of instructions on the Internet or check with you local home extension office. • Sewing-While material can be pricey, you can still make quality clothing for less than buying at the store. Look for good, inexpensive sewing machines at discount stores or used ones on Craigslist, EBay or at your local thrift store. Homesteading does take an investment. If you plan to raise animals, you need to consider buying the animals, the feed and upkeep and cost to build enclosures. We own under two acres and can raise our own beef as long as it is only one cow at a time. Or, we can raise two or three goats for milk and currently have around ten hens and one rooster. When the cows are ready for butchering, we have a local meat processor while processing our own chickens. How to build a portable chicken coop. To learn more, click here.For preserving your garden yields, the startup costs can be significant. When planning, you need to consider the cost of the equipment. A good pressure canner and water bath canner, are a must and can be expensive; canning jars and lids will set you back about $10 to $13 a case. Talk with people you know about what you are planning to do. Sometimes, they have these items and no longer use them, willing to give them away. Also check Freecycle, Craigslist or other resale avenues for inexpensive or free equipment. I bought a large pressure canner for $5 at a yard sale and I’ve been using the same canner for over ten years. I like Craigslist for free or inexpensive canning jars. If you want to start canning, I have several articles with good tips and some basics to get you started. I also included some recipes. If you can’t grow your own fruits and vegetables, look for area produce stands, farmers markets or a “U-Pick” farm. Many times you can get your vegetables in bulk for home preserving. Before we started growing our own blackberries, we went to a local blackberry farm and picked our own for half the cost of store berries. Plus, the taste and quality were far superior. Your investment will eventually pay for itself. Depending on how you manage the expenses will affect the time it takes to reach your goal. We bought our items slowly over time; making a plan of what we wanted to do first and what it would take. We used tax returns and bonuses for big items like our lawn tractor, tiller and small storage barn. The smaller items we bought whenever we could afford them. Piece by piece, our homestead took shape. If you plan to homestead on a large scale, becoming fully self-sufficient, there are things to consider before