The Urban Homestead

This is what I'm reading right now. I LOVE this book. For a while it was on my Amazon wish list. Then I decided that before I finally bought it I might want to see if I would actually like it. So I looked it up at the library. I am now purchasing it on Amazon (and you should see what other nifty books pop up when you run a search for it!).

This book embraces everything which I would like to bring to fruition in my own life.

It should be the guidebook for every American, how we should live, eat and survive in our modern world. It bridges the gap between the survivalist frontiersmen to modern cityfolk who want for nothing but a breath of clean air.

It is cleverly written by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, who run an equally cleverly put-together blog at http://www.homegrownevolution.com/. Check it out! It is wonderful and tips you off to how perfect this book is.

I have had the book in my posession for two days. I have nearly finished it. That's saying a lot coming from me. I did skip through a few chapters here and there. I nearly skipped the Urban Foraging chapter altogether, because I am pretty familiar with that, and also uninterested. I skimmed through the Urban Livestock chapters, I'd love to one day have chickens, but I have personally banned any new pets from our home for now. I fear if I read too much into the chapter I might be tempted to repeal, and I don't want that.

The first chapter introduces you to the idea of urban 'farming', explains permaculture, and makes a strong case for why you should grow your own food.

The second chapter is extremely engrossing. It is a collection of well thought out instructions for all sorts of things, from composting and vermiculture to making 'tater tires'. This chapter alone is reason enough to buy the book! The instructions are incredibly easy to understand, with some humour thrown in. They really put emphasis on how easy these things are to do, and how important they can be to our own sense of self and responsibility.

The third chapter is Urban Foraging, good if you want to learn to to identify different types of edible fruits, plants and vegetation that you might find growing in the city, or in friend's yards.

The fourth chapter is Urban Lifestock. Its a great introduction to chickens, ducks and other critters you may want to consider on your homestead. It answers many questions. Why you would want them. What to feed them. How to house them and care for them.

Chapter five is Revolutionary Home Economics. Much of this I have some familiarity with, but I found it to be an excellent guide to canning, cooking, baking, preserving and drying your produce, cheese and yogurt making, and brewing at home. It also has a great section on making your own household cleaners. What applied most to me in the here and now was a few short mini-chapters on what to look for when seeking an urban homestead.

Chapter Six is easily summed up in the title. Be Your Own Utility: Water and Power for the Homestead. In my case, it would be the chapter that I hand over to David. He delights in those subjects, and while I would love to have solar energy and a grey water usage system, I just don't have the slightest interest in making them work.

The seventh chapter covers transportation. It covers the most responsible ways to get around, and has some great tips.

The book has a one-page conclusion that is both humorous and heartfelt. It emphasizes the shift in consciousness that will have to happen in order to improve the lives of present mankind, and mankind to come.

If I had a star rating, I'd give it 5. If I used thumbs, it would have to be two.
I love this book. Everyone should read it, if not own it.

Wicked

I finished reading Wicked (by the illustrious Gregory Maguire) just before Christmas.
Although this is not along the lines of something I would have read in the past 10 years of my life, it is something I really enjoyed!
It was just UNbelievable timing for me, reading this.
I am sort of going through this identy ordeal, within my family. By that I mean that I am realizing that I truly am the black sheep, the oddball, and coming to terms with that outside feeling that black sheepness gives you. Its really the letting go of any idea that I have of ever fitting in with them, realizing that being an outsider is quite a permanent position. It's when you begin to ask yourself the question that your family members have been asking for years, "Where the heck did she come from anyway??"

I loved the story. It was a wonderful design for a book, showing the Wicked Witch of the West's side of the tale of the Wizard of Oz. The original tale doesn't say much about WHY she is portrayed as wicked, and it gives you that kind of 'what if' ideal.What if there were reasons the Wicked Witch (or Elphaba) seemed wicked? What if her motives were good? What if there were things that pushed her to the brink, and she really was no more wicked than any of us? I really identified with her. So many traits she had, myself and many of us probably share. She grew up in an unusual distant place, was raised by a single father who was incredibly religious, had a mother that was an addict that left her life early, was the black sheep of the family (or should I say green...), was the 'less important child'. She grew up with some very strong convictions on civil rights and detested the 'holier than thou'ness of the highly religious.I think it is a great book, though an odd one. It gets you engrossed in the intricate societies of Munchkinland, and the Emerald City, and parts of it really appeal to the conspiracy theorist within me. The author comes up with intriguing answers to many questions. Who is the wizard, and was he really wonderful? Where did those ruby slippers come from? Who is Glenda, (or Galinda) anyway? Whats with the yellow brick road? Why do the monkeys have wings?Though he never addresses the horse of many colors. In the end, you must decide if she was truly wicked, and if you yourself wouldn't have come to the same ends.Very interesting.