Urban Homesteading and Homeowners Associations

October 4, 2013

...ne. I’m curious to hear from readers who live in an HOAs. Did you get into urban homesteading before or after moving to an HOA? Have you ever gotten in trouble? What did you do about it? Do the benefits of living in an HOA outweigh the restrictions? And there are less restrictive HOAs. I once met a couple who live in an HOA in Orange County, CA that allows chickens. Flagpole antenna. Source: The Doctor is In Some HOA residents take a stealth appro...

Read…

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...

Read…

054 Digital Design Tools on the Homestead

Mr. Homegrown

July 22, 2015

Design, Podcasts

1 Comment

Our topic this week is using digital design tools such as Sketchup to conceptualize and build simple projects around your house or apartment. Our guest is designer John Zapf, proprietor of Zapf Architectural Renderings and the genius behind our chicken run. During the podcast we discuss: Why you should draw up plans before you build something Architectural Graphics Standards Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) technology John’s Cat Bed 7 (pictu...

Read…

How to Design and Fabricate Homestead Projects

Mr. Homegrown

January 14, 2016

Design

6 Comments

I’m a horrible designer. My music degree (I have a master’s degree in un-listenable noise from UC San Diego), did not prepare me for the rigorous design and fabrication needs required for our two books and this blog. But, over the years, I’ve bugged our art, design and architecture friends for advice. Luckily, I’m also married to a talented artist (also with a UCSD degree–go Tritons!) who can provide 24 hour emergency art and art history advice....

Read…

Homestead Academy: A Two Day Course in Kitchen Self-Reliance

Mr. Homegrown

June 24, 2013

Events

4 Comments

...ead baking, vinegar brewing, yogurt making and more. The event, which will take place on July 6th and 7th is presented by Growcology and the Emerald Village and will take place in Vista, CA. This weekend intensive is designed to catapult you into a life of self-reliance through homesteading. Join Growcology and the Emerald Village Volunteers as we share the simple and effective ways to make: yogurt, cheese, butter, bread, home cleaning products, b...

Read…