When I talk about major changes is a result of our global economy and global warming what I'm actually talking about is the change in our daily lives.
And this is what I'm talking about most. "Ten Winners in the Recession - #1"
While we are used to having a supermarket around the corner, it is only a matter of time until most people on the street are growing their own vegetables and even their own meats.
Our neighbors have chickens and a pair of roosters that sometimes escape into our yard. Does anyone remember victory gardens? Growing your own vegetables is fun, it's easy and it's only a tiny piece of what is coming to be known as urban homesteading. Instead of buying complete products at the market we can do the processes ourselves.
We would no longer have food that is grown for its ability to ship well, we'll have food grown for the quality of the taste and nutrition. (remember quality over quantity?) That can only happen with homegrown food.
It's just unfortunate that some cities don't even allow chickens. You can own a dog that barks all night (not to mention it might kill a baby) but a chicken that clicks and gives you food is illegal? Laws like that NEED to change.
It doesn't stop at vegetables and chickens. it goes beyond that. Try brewing your own beer. Try mending your own clothes. Instead of flushing all that water out of your washing machine, use a safe cleaner and reuse that water to water your garden. Why not? it's such a waste and you'll save a couple of bucks.
If you don't know where to start, the folks at the Homegrown Evolution blog can help you out, they even have a book out called "The Urban Homestead" which I had mentioned in a previous post
If there's one thing I am more than an environmentalist it's that I'm cheap(though that may be a result of circumstances). If it doesn't save me money I probably won't do it. That's why I only hit Trader Joe's and the like when there are sales. (It's a different story for specialty shops because they ARE cheap).
So get some private vegetables and share your seeds and chicken eggs.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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5 comments:
going to start the garden here soon
I've got one plant/tree of each: Mandarins, Lemons, Plums, Oranges, Grapes, Pomegranates, Apples and Tomatoes in my garden. I don't get everything year round, but the season I do it saves me plenty of money. I too am thinking about adding more edibles, but my yard is not big, and I enjoy relaxing in my backyard and enjoying the open space. I just need to incorporate more veggies & fruit with style. I dont want it to look like those yard where people have corn stalks and crap everywhere you can barely enter the yard.
I'm not disagreeing with the concept, but using gray water is illegal in many areas, just something to consider. In general, unless you could guarantee its quality I would probably not use it to irrigate edible plants, but it would be useful to irrigate other plants.
Nice post. My vegetable garden is busy working as we speak.
ed, actually i think that is part of the point i'm trying to make. grey water is illegal in many areas. but if you use Grey Water safe labeled detergents for your laundry and you are walking in toxic areas with toxic pants you should be good. also things to avoid in detergents are.
sodium perborate
sodium tryptochlorite
boron
borax
petroleum distillate
alkylbenzene
"whiteners"
"softeners"
and
"enzymatic" components
. same thing goes for sinks and the like. i just wouldn't go as far as black water (sewage)
there's more of that info in the book i mentioned.
interesting fact is that the guy he has the patent on the only legal grey water system in Los Angeles is the same guy who introduced the ordinance. sounds fishy if you ask me.
You'll just have to trust me on the gray water safety if you switch your detergents. I studied it under Dr. Stephen Lyon (but then anyone could say that)
Thanks for the additional info. You've convinced me to grab the book. I guess I should admit to collecting washing machine water many years ago.
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