Self Sufficiency in the City

There is still much to do now more than ever as we prepare the garden for fall/winter crops. The earlier the better I have learned. As our tomatoes, peppers, cukes, eggplant, beans, corn, and squash come in by the handful, we have enjoyed many dishes in which there are only a few ingredients we bought from the grocery store. (The main things being staples such as rice, flour, milk, butter, sugar etc..) At one point, when we were harvesting our "bucket potatoes" there was an entire meal made almost exclusively from the fruits of our labor. With such a bounty as summer can bring, one wonders how much more we can do to sustain ourselves without relying on store bought items. Dreams of never having to go grocery shopping dance in our heads. 

Speaking of which, one family in Pasadena really is taking the initiative and showing the world what urban farming/sustainability can be. I came across their website a few months ago when I was searching for water efficient irrigation techniques and was mega impressed by their clay-pot "olla" method of drip irrigation (and like, a million other great ideas!). People like the Dervaes are an AWESOME inspiration to this movement and give us hope in choosing a better path. :D

Of course there's always the things that might be hard/impossible to achieve on such a small amount of land. Things like grain, for example, need a lot more than 1/5 acre to feed a family. In order to keep our consumption of these vital goods more healthful and eco-friendly as possible, I am researching the most local providers I can find. And for those things that are grown/produced in other countries (CHOCOLATE... am I missing anything else?) will a time come when we will have to just LIVE WITHOUT IT? Hmm... definitely weird to think about.

Other things a happening here on our little urban homestead in the making:

-getting ready to build the chicken/animal area for all our urban farm animals (hopefully ducks soon!)

-the fence out back is almost complete and will allow for our chickens/dog to roam freely without getting squished or eaten. 

-more garden beds being put together. 

-plans to start canning and putting up our surplus summer crops (hopefully) for storage soon

-getting ready to try our hand at solar baking! (especially me!)

-having a family meeting to talk about planning the urban vineyard and buying tickets to go see Food Inc now playing at our local theatre. 

-still trying to figure out the drainage in the backyard patio area and realizing what a big project this is. 

City Farming

Since I/we started this project, I cannot believe how totally fulfilling it feels to take steps, day by day, towards urban self sufficiency and having less reliance on the system without "running away to the forrest" as I used to threaten to do as a teenager. Gardening and farming with my family has always held a special place in my heart and are always my fondest childhood memories. I hope to be doing this for the rest of my life. 

Public Transportation

As a new semester looms on the horizon, I am again filled with dread thinking of the nearly hour long drive to the college I attend. The past couple of school sessions almost killed me (and my pocketbook) to think of all the gas I was using every (school) day on the almost 80 mile round trip to Sacramento (about 10 dollars). This season I am calling it quits and taking the public bus. While helping with two family businesses, our urban micro farm, the countless projects we have up in the air, and now having to devote another term to school, its going to be challenging to give up the convenience of using my own personal transportation. Still, I can't wait to try it and see it as quite an adventure. My brother, George, took it a step further (and smarter?) and is attending college online.  ...

School of Life

We, my brother and I, started college with the bright expectations that many people have of "doing the right thing" and "job security".  Perhaps there was also a sense of promise thrown in as our parents worked extremely hard to give us kids the chance. Although I have personally cherished the educational experience and have found this opportunity rewarding, it sometimes strikes me as not being all it's cracked up to be. (Especially during this economic crisis and the best college grads can't even find jobs!) As I've persued this "higher education" and being the first person in my family to get a college degree it's strange to note that my real-time experience enrolled in the "School of Life" has proven far more valuable and useful to me than all the countless hours/dollars I've spent in the classroom. On top of that, it's frustrating to know that, at my age, both my mother and father, Charles and Marcella, had far more interesting life experiences than I can imagine. Hey, sailing a boat around the world and other such adventures (I'll have to write a more detailed family history sometime) sounds like exciting livin' to me! 

For now, I'm happy to content myself with this little corner of Earth with my family until I can decide what to do after college. Who knows, I may even choose to continue with school for a time longer until I can really make my mind up about it. (One of my friends who actually has a PhD came out of school wanting to garden and commune with nature!) There are so many paths to choose and ways to go about it but at the moment it's comforting to know that this is a good road to travel and I'm all the more grateful for it.

Pictures!

With my computer out of commission at the moment and all our data/files lost in the "matrix" (what I usually refer to any electronic device as.) it will probably be a week or so until I can afford the file backup. Wish us luck that countless hours of work and priceless memories are still existing in this thingamajig! :D Posts with pictures to come, promise!