Is the Urban Homesteading Trend Over?

December 14, 2015

...ikes that coincide with canning at the end of summer. Unsurprisingly, most homesteading topics revolve around seasons. Seasonality, by the way, is one of things I really like about this movement. A digression here–the flatness of time (see Charles Taylor)–is one of the things I don’t like about modernity. “Home canning” searches “Home canning” searches show a more dramatic decline. “Backyard Chickens” searches People research backyard chickens in...

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The New Urban Forager

Mr. Homegrown

April 22, 2008

Food, Foraging

...On a hot, humid day along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou, in the shadow of four abandoned concrete silos, a maggot infested corpse of a pit bull lies splayed across a sheet of black plastic. Nearby, a pile of asphalt roofing material blocks the path I’m taking down to one of the most polluted waterways in Texas. Not a promising beginning to an urban food foraging expedition. (Read the rest of our foraging essay via Reality Sandwich)...

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An indispensible urban tool: the titanium spork

Mrs. Homegrown

January 23, 2015

Domesticus, Thoughtstylings, Tools

15 Comments

...preparation for a long hiking trip, but it soon proved its utility in the urban environment. It’s always in my bag, a permanent part of my “everyday carry”, and I use when I’m eating food from home as well as in situations where I’d otherwise be forced to use plastic flatware. I love its simplicity and utility. The prongs of the spork are substantial enough to work as a fork, but aren’t hard on the mouth when it’s used as a spoon. I have another...

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107 Urban Beekeeping with Terry Oxford

Mr. Homegrown

August 9, 2017

Animals, Bees, Podcasts

...systemic neonicotinoid pesticides such as Imidacloprid. Terry’s website is Urban Bee San Francisco. We get into a lot of topics including: Keeping bees on rooftops in San Francisco Ants and small hive beetles Natural beekeeping Splitting Natural beekeeper Michael Bush’s website Pesticide activism Treatment of nursery trees with neonicotinoids Senate bill 602 that would have required labeling of nursery plants treated with neonicotinoids How the Ca...

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Your Urban Homesteading Vocabulary Word of the Day: Slumgum

Mr. Homegrown

May 22, 2017

Animals, Bees

6 Comments

...of slumgum. Don’t leave your slumgum outside like I did. It turns out that urban night critters such as skunks and raccoons also love slumgum. Some mammal dragged mine off and ate it! Side note: check your library’s online digital resources. The Los Angeles Public Library offers the Oxford English Dictionary, and many more online reference resources, for free to anyone with a LA library card. Stay tuned for a longer post on beeswax processing in t...

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