On 29 Jan 00, at 18:13, Paul S. Hetrick wrote:
> Everybody can't homestead or farm. Many of the people I know
> claim to homestead actually lead very unsustainable lives. A
> quiet place in the country is a nice lifestyle, but driving
> two hours each way into the city to work is hardly
> sustainable.
I know a lot of people who do this. We do not own a car by choice.
Living carless is an option we would have to give up if we
attempted to move to a rural area now.
>
> I really hated living in the suburbs.
I have never lived in what I would call a suburb. Although, some
would call the high density rental housing development we lived in
prior to our current place a suburb.
I rented a room
> in a house most of the time I was there, so I couldn't
> even use what yard there was. What really got to me
> was all of the chemically-induced pool-table-top yards
> that never got used as anything but money drains. If
> even a tenth of the people who have the space would put
> in a garden it would make a difference to our world.
> Get off the grass, a yard is a terible thing to waste.
I know that I have had a profound influence on this in the urban
townhouses I have lived in prior to moving to this apartment. I was
the first person in one of the developments to put a garden in the
small backyard. By time we left 6 years later about a third of the
units had gardens. We were not at the next place long enough for
us to see the influence we were having, but I know from some of the
comments from neighbours that I had really got people thinking, not
just about gardening but about gardening organically. Previous
tenants in that townhouse had been unable to grow anything there
using standard chemical gardening. I got a lot of attention for my
composting and the resulting garden. The gardens were always a
mixture of ornamentals and edibles, and given the small spaces
and in your face closeness to neighbours, I always paid attention to
making things attractive. It worked. I got a lot of positive comments.
>
> Not long ago I chatted with somebody that raised almost
> all of their own vegetables for a family of 5 on a 1/4
> acre suburban lot. He also was starting to raise meat
> rabbits in the garage.
I have gotten as high as 75% of my family's annual produce needs
on a combination of a 50 by 50 foot allotment, 25 by 50 foot
allotment, and miniscule townhouse backyard. When I gave up the
car I moved to a closer allotment that was smaller. I currently
manage between 1/3 and 1/2 of our family's produce needs. If I can
get a house with a reasonable lot size, I can reduce my travel time,
make better use of early spring and late fall, and increase to nearly
a hundred percent of our produce needs.
>
> When I was living in the near-in suburbs of Washington,
> DC I met a couple guys running a honey bee display at
> the county fair. I said I wished I had a place to put
> a hive or two. One of the guys had two hives on the
> balcony of his 5th (or so) floor apartment in downtown
> Bethesda.
Very cool. I like challenging people's idea of what space is needed.
I envision a future when every major office tower has allotment
gardens on the roof. Summer cooling requirements would go way
down, and a lot of food and pleasure gardening would be
happening. Probably not in my lifetime, but maybe my children's.
>
> There is a web site at http://www.cityfarmer.org/
> that deal with city farming and sustainablety. I think
> even rural people should take a look at that site.
This is a good site.
>
> There is a web site at
> http://www.geocities.com/~newliberty/earthstar/index.html
> by a couple who raise much of their food on their
> windowsills. It looks like they are in a rural area,
> but their ideas will provide fresh greens for anybody
> with a window.
I grew a couple of pounds of sweet potatoes, several litres of cherry
tomatoes, and lots of herbs and greens on my balcony this summer.
Basil did especially well. If we were staying I would have tried
melons this year.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
