With The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading, just about anyone can learn how to live sustainably and responsibly. This homesteading guide will show people how to grow their own food and reduce their carbon footprint without spending a fortune. It includes how to grow organic foods and preserving them; composting; raising small livestock and chickens; generating electricity and biofuels; and other ways to cut costs and live green. If you want to start homesteading, check out my article on gardening ideas for small spaces.
Table of Contents
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading
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From the Publisher:
With The Complete Idiot’s Guide(r) to Urban Homesteading anyone can learn how to live sustainably and responsibly-and save money and time-in any urban environment. Expert urban homesteader Sundari Elizabeth Kraft shares her hands-on knowledge of: growing organic foods and preserving them; composting; raising small livestock and chickens; generating electricity and biofuels; and other ways to cut costs and live green. This book has all the information required to become a successful urban homesteader in any city.
Urban Homesteading Review:
I have always been jealous of my sister, who lives in a rather rural area and is allowed to have chickens and ducks. It is easy for her to find pick your own produce places and many local farmers have fresh milk, honey, meat, etc.
Living in the suburbs makes it a lot harder to be self sustaining but The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Homesteading was quite an eye opener in terms of things I really CAN do, despite not having a lot of land.
The Layout
First off, the layout of this book makes it very easy to navigate and find the information you are looking for. There is a detailed table of contents that can direct you to the exact topic you are looking for. There are also small icons (pictures) throughout the book that draw your eye to useful tidbits you might want to know about. They are summarized as small steps, definitions, road blocks, and urban info.
These are quick snapshots of stuff you need to keep in mind while reading that particular chapter. Each chapter ends with a section called ‘The Least You Need To Know’ which I LOVE. A quick bullet point summary of what is contained in each chapter. The end of the book contains a glossary, Internet resources, and a garden planning guide to back up what is within the chapters.
Other Sustainable Living Tips You Might Like
- 5 Cheap and Natural Organic Gardening Solutions
- Edible Gardening Tips for Beginning Gardeners
- Gardening for Geeks is the Perfect Gardening Book for Science Lovers
- Wildcrafting: Finding a meal in your own backyard.
Everything You Need to Know about Homesteading
I cannot even begin to list all the topics covered in this book. It is not just a gardening book (although there is lots of info on that) but will also tell you how to raise animals, make homemade yogurt, can your food, create your own beauty products and tons of other stuff.
I was fascinated with the section on aquaponics…basically having a fish habitat/plant garden that help each other thrive. I told my husband I thought we should try raising our own fish!
Of course, my home owner’s association may have something to say about that. Homemade cleaning products, wild crafting, and bee keeping are also included. The author discusses issues that may face renters vs. owners and apartment dwellers vs. those who live in a house with a yard.
Regulations Regarding Homesteading
This guide to urban homesteading actually an entire chapter that deals with the laws and regulations you will need to investigate before you start your urban homestead. This is my biggest roadblock but there is a ton of information on how you can attempt to change existing legislation.
The writing style is simple and encouraging and titles and subtitles within each chapter make it easy to find the information you are looking for.
Overall, this is an amazing resource for anyone looking to live a more sustainable life. And if you are wondering WHY you should try and live a more sustainable life, the author covers that in chapter one! I highly recommend this book. If homesteading is something that interests you, check out my post on what to plant in November and make your yard a year round food source.
Are you ready to start homesteading?
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Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
Now that we moved from an apartment to a townhouse I was able to grow my own tomatoes this year. Next year I want to have more than one plant and maybe try growing some other stuff. We live in a suburb/rural area so we get a lot of our produce from local farm stands!
Wow, very cool. I would totally love this book. We don’t totally live in an urban area, but it would still be super useful.
Definitely sounds like a book I need to read!
Sounds like an interesting book. We are jut starting our fall garden, so this is one to read!
Sounds like an interesting read! My grandma used to subscribe to a homesteading magazine, and it was always fun to flip through it.
Sounds like a great book. I try to do what I can to live a sustainable life and I’m sure there are many good tips to be learned here.
I like the fact that it has a “Least you need to know” section..sounds like a good book!
Would love to have this book. Our small community (6500 pop) just passed a new city ordinance that allows us to raise our own chickens within the city limits if we follow the guidelines set out. more and more people see the need for both health and economy. It sounds like this book would provide some great ideas for expanding on that!
sounds like a really inspiring book. I’ve always wanted to start gardening and a book to have on hand with great tips is certainly what I need!!