Posts Tagged With: Urban Homesteading

What to Expect from the Lazy Homesteader in 2013

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Anisa

I’ve thought pretty hard about the “resolutions” I want to share on the blog for this year. I’ve had a hard time thinking of specific goals, and I’m not really into the “lose twenty pounds” type of resolutions. I’ve decided that instead of goals I wanted to focus on some themes that are both personal to me and yet very applicable to the homesteading way of life.

This year, you can expect to see posts (hopefully weekly, realistically a couple of times a month) having to do with one or two of the following themes.

Community – In 2012, I established a monthly potluck to help build community. I made some new friends and built connections. In 2013 I want to do this more. I want more connection, more real relationships. I have realized that no one can live this life alone. We need each other and I want more of it. I have a challenge in mind for this theme this year. I’m excited about it, though it’s going to be a tough one.

Preparedness – Colorado had the worst wild-fire of all time in 2012. There were hurricanes on the East coast. For much of the country, there were record heat waves and drought. Across the country there were poor harvest and food prices are on the rise. I’m not a panicky or prepper or anything like that, but I have started thinking about the benefits of being prepared in a real emergency.

Thrift – Expect to see more DIY posts this year. From homemade to making-do to doing without, I plan to share more thrifty ideas this year.

Food Connections – This is the thing that sent me down the homesteading path all those years ago; being connected to our food. I have plans to share about sustainable food sources, processing your own meat (including wild game and hunting), and of course the garden. This year I am going to explore as many aspects of food connection as I can. I hope to close some of the gaps we’ve had in our own food sources as well.

Grace – This year I plan to go easier on myself. You guys know I love a crazy goal. But I also need a little more balance, and my kids certainly need a sane mommy. So I plan to cut myself a little slack this year. I’ve realized that this journey to being green and crunchy and self-sufficient is just that, a journey. I don’t have to do it all at once. It’s ok to take small steps and find what is feasible for our family. I’m not throwing the baby out with the grey water or anything, but I am going to focus more on things like simplicity, peace, and well, the categories mentioned above. 🙂

I’m really looking forward to 2013 and what it will bring. And I’m excited to share our homestead with you as always.

Categories: Community, DIY, Simple Living, Thrift, Top 5, Urban Homesteading | Tags: DIY, Family, Green, Homesteading, Simple Living, Top 5, Urban Homesteading | 4 Comments

2012 Resolutions Revisited

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Anisa

It’s the winter solstice. The days are going to get longer and spring is on the way. 2012, you have gone by so quickly.

Around this time last year I set out a few resolutions for 2012. Here’s a recap of what those were:

Grow a giant pumpkin.
Grow enough in our own neighborhood gardens to feed ourselves for the summer.
Process chickens.
Harvest Honey.
Start a monthly potluck circle.

So how did we do with those? Well, we tried to grow the pumpkin. We planted it, we watered it, we fed it compost tea. But it only got to about the size of a volley ball. So next year, we will have to try again.

Number two, well… not quite yet. We’ll keep on that road. We did process chickens this year, as well as harvest our own honey, though.

The potluck. We started the monthly potluck in February. We have hosted one every month since then except in June (kids were all sick) and November (we were out of town, hunting). And this is one resolution we are definitely keeping up with.

I’m still thinking over what my resolutions for the new year will be. Do you have any resolutions for yourself yet? How about ideas for me? Something you want to see me try?

Categories: Community, Garden, Sustainability, Top 5, Urban Homesteading | Tags: beekeeping, Goals, New Years Resolutions, self sufficiency, Top 5, Urban Gardening, Urban Homesteading | 6 Comments

Ax Skills for the Homestead & Wilderness DVD Winner

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Anisa

Drawn by a random number generator….. Cass is the winner! I will email you, Cass, with instructions on how to get your DVD.

If you didn’t win, make sure you visit oldfedco.com and order a copy for yourself. Thanks again to Alex and Old Federal Ax Co. for this awesome giveaway!

Categories: DIY, Giveaways, Simple Living, Urban Homesteading | Tags: DIY, Giveaways, Simple Living, Urban Homesteading | 1 Comment

Giveaway: Ax Skills for the Homestead & Wilderness Survival DVD

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Anisa

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Alex Leavens, a survival instructor in the Portland, Oregon area, asking if I would review his DVD, “Ax Skills for the Homestead & Wilderness Survival.” He thought that my readers here might be interested in his DVD. After checking out his website, OldFedCo.com, I agreed.

The Review:

I’ve never seen such a detailed “how-to” DVD. Alex meticulously covers everything from safely handing an ax, chopping wood and making kindling, to sharpening your ax and replacing an ax handle.

I really loved how clear he was about safety. The graduated 4-Her in me also couldn’t help but think that the instruction on the DVD would really help in the making of a blue ribbon, Grand Champion 4-H project. I would be totally comfortable having Henry watch this DVD because it is so thorough and emphasizes safety so well. This is actually not that surprising though, since in his bio, Alex states he was an Eagle Scout.

I was totally impressed with Alex’s accuracy in splitting and reading wood. Since it’s easy to impress a beginner, I brought Rick in to watch the DVD with me. Rick has chopped a fair share of firewood. He’s not an expert on axes, but he knows a bit about sharpening tools and safety. I wanted his point of view on the accuracy of the information presented in the DVD.

It was cool watching the chapters on sharpening and safety and hearing Rick pipe up with plenty of “Yep! That’s the way,” as well as having him tell me what he was learning as we watched. I liked the chapters on hanging an ax (replacing the handle) because my grandpa gave Rick all of his old tools and this DVD will be a great reference tool on caring for and maintaining them.

It is obvious while watching the DVD that Alex really knows his stuff and is also passionate about teaching. The DVD is extremely thorough. There are great close-ups of what he’s doing to sharpen his ax, as well as shots from many different angles showing exactly what is happening and how to do it yourself. It made me feel like I could choose and buy an ax, use it with confidence and maintain it myself. Check out some of the clips of the DVD on Alex’s site for some examples to see what I mean.

The section on using an ax in the back country was really cool. I liked seeing how he set himself up using what was in the woods to split wood, make kindling and make stakes. He even shows you how to make an in-field sharpening station. Plus, I loved that even in the woods, he was very consistent and followed all his own safety rules.

Alex makes sure to cover every aspect of one topic before moving to the next. There is no rushing through anything, and the pace is good for a newbie. The chapters on the DVD are organized in a logical way, and once you grasp a skill, it’s easy to skip forward on the DVD to the next skill if you are ready to do so.

In the end, while pressing the eject button on the DVD player, Rick commented that he was pretty happy to have a good reference tool on the shelf next time he needed it. I’m excited to use some of the skills I learned about sharpening and maintaining hand tools on Vera, my grub hoe.

The Summary:

This DVD would be great for:

Beginners, new to homesteading and/or hand tools.

Those who want to add to their skill set, especially sharpening and maintaining their own tools.

People with a wood-burning stove or fireplace.

People with a giant wood pile.

Youth clubs like 4-H or scouts.

Homeschoolers interested in teaching traditional skills.

Survivalists, backpackers, hikers, hunters or others that spend time in the woods.

People interested in hand tools, restoring old tools, reusing instead of buying new, and/or geeking out with their grandpa’s hand-me-down tools.

People who are intimidated by using and maintaining an ax.

This DVD would not be good for:

Our great-grandparents who grew up learning these skills.

People who are into “more power” or using a chainsaw for everything.

People who want to do things quickly instead of correctly.

Disclosure: I received a free DVD from Alex to write this review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and my own.

The Giveaway:

In addition to being an authority on axes, Alex is a wilderness and survival expert. He is a former backcountry ranger, firefighter, and survival guide. He teaches classes in the Portland area, as well as offering ax sharpening services for locals.

Did I mention generous? Alex promised to give away a copy of the DVD to one lucky reader!

To be entered into the contest, please post a wilderness or survival question in the comments here before midnight, MST on November 21, 2012. If you are new reader here at The Lazy Homesteader, or have been lurking for a while, this is your chance to come out of the woodwork.

I’ll double your chances if you ‘Like’ Old Federal Ax Co. on Facebook and share this post with your friends (tag @The Lazy Homesteader or use one of the buttons at the bottom of this post). Come back here to leave a second comment telling me that you did so.

I’ll announce the winner in a separate post, so make sure to subscribe to the LazyHomesteader.com/feed or follow me by email or on Facebook/Twitter by using one of the buttons on the sidebar (above, right).

You have two weeks to enter and spread the word. Ready, GO!

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to Alex and Old Federal Ax Co., and congrats to the winner!

Categories: DIY, Giveaways, Hunting, Recommended Reading, Simple Living, Urban Homesteading | Tags: Giveaways, Homesteading, Hunting, Simple Living, Survival, Urban Homesteading | 22 Comments

2012 DBG Urban Homestead Tour – Part III

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Anisa

I’m excited to show off the last three stops we were able to get on during last month’s Denver Botanic Garden’s Urban Homestead Tour. These three homesteads were in the heart of the city.

Toni and Dennis Kuper shared their wonderful coop with visitors. Two years ago, Toni asked for chickens for Mother’s Day, and Dennis built the coop for her. It is adorable and efficient.

I love how they designed it to store their chicken care supplies right inside. It is adjacent to their dog run under a stand of shady trees in their beautiful back yard. They have an annual chicken party for friends and coworkers in their yard.

The Kuper’s yard is mostly shaded, but they have a lovely garden carved out in the only sunshine near the garage. I especially love the four-bin compost operation.

Our next stop took us into the Park Hill area, where we got to check out Michael Murphy’s coop and gardens. The first thing we saw was squash and cukes inter-planted with flowers in his front yard.

The side and back yard held lovely raised beds with some great whimsy. I love the brightly painted stakes and bird houses.

Murph made his coop primarily of recycled/re-purposed materials, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

There are two dogloos inside the chicken run. But I just can’t describe what I thought when Murph showed us how he set them up for the neighbor kids to gather eggs. See for yourself…

The igloos are on giant lazy-susans, and inside each dogloo is two coolers/nest boxes.

The hens both lay and roost in the coolers. The system is warm in the winter and easy to keep clean.

The coolers just slide out for egg collection or cleaning.

I love the engineering behind this coop and how much fun it is.

The last stop I wanted to share was literally packed full of growing things. The Blackett’s were the only homesteaders on the tour with a yard smaller than ours.

Driving up, you can see they had food growing in the hell strip between the sidewalk and the street. A lot of people refuse to plant here, but I love that they have turned it into a garden.

We walked down the side yard where the Blackett’s keep their chickens and compost bin.

The little red coop is built from scrap wood, left over from a previous project.

The side yard gives way to an entire back yard garden. I mean, the entire yard. There was no grass anywhere – just a path between all the food growing.

Diane was on the back porch, generously giving out samples of honey from her top bar beehive. The hive was at the very back of their lot, next to the garage, under the grape-vine.

I was very inspired by Diane’s garden. Rick and I had been feeling a little jealous about all the space that many of the homesteaders had. But Diane was growing more food than we were, in less space. It was very encouraging.

Diane blogs about her garden, bees, chickens and homesteading at City Garden Bliss. She has many more beautiful photos of her garden and covers topics like spinning, knitting, gleaning, and sewing as well as gardening, bee, and chicken keeping.

Thank you for letting me share the stops we went to at this year’s urban homestead tour. I hope you enjoyed it. I can’t wait until next year! This was so fun for our whole family.

Make sure to check out the photos of the other stops in Part I and Part II.

2012 DBG Urban Homestead Tour – Part II (lazyhomesteader.com)
2012 DBG Urban Homestead Tour – Part I (lazyhomesteader.com)
Homestead Failures: Confessions of What I Didn’t Do (lazyhomesteader.com)

Categories: Beekeeping, Chickens, Community, Garden, Urban Homesteading | Tags: Chickens, Denver Botanic Gardens, Food, Garden, honey bees, Urban Gardening, Urban Homesteading | 5 Comments

2012 DBG Urban Homestead Tour – Part II

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Anisa

The next two stops on the Denver Botanic Gardens Urban Homestead Tour that I want to share were two of my favorites.

Lori in Aurora was growing a great variety of vegetables. In the circle in her front drive way she had many varieties of winter squash, summer squash, cucumbers and melons. She was very generous and gave us two good sized spaghetti squash to take home.

In her back yard, she was growing in raised beds.

Her kale and tomatoes were fantastic, and we exchanged tips on season extension and overwintering greens.

But Lori had something completely different up her sleeves. Aeroponic gardening. Her website explains this a lot better than I can, but basically you can grow a large amount a vegetables in a very small space in about half the time as traditional in-ground gardening.

Above is a newly planted tower garden. It holds water in the reservoir at the bottom. The water is pumped through the tower which both waters and oxygenates the plants. It can be plugged in to a regular outlet or converted to solar.

Below you can see water pumping through the tower. We lifted the lid at the very top of a full-grown tower to see.

This tower was planted July 27th. The photo was taken September 22nd. Look at the size of that melon in only 8 weeks!

This would be an incredible option for those wanting to grow a sizable garden in a very small space (apartment dwellers, perhaps). Also great for those who can’t do a lot of bending. It is all grown vertically – the tower stands about five feet tall and is on rollers.

This tower is growing greens in the heat of the summer, a tomato plant, cucumbers and heirloom watermelon all in an area of 2.5 x 2.5 feet. The towers are a bit spendy, but they do use water and space very efficiently, and the company offers payment plans. This was the second planting of the summer for Lori and her family in this tower.

Check out Lori’s website for more info on aeroponic growing: DenverTowerGarden.com

Where Lori’s gardens are so compact, Brenda and David Zserdin’s garden is completely opposite.

Up in old Lakewood, the Zserdin’s are growing on a half-acre, a very eclectic and sprawling mini-Eden. Their little white coop houses 24 chickens, a mix of Bantams and full-size hens and roosters.

Inside the coop is a tree-branch roost that runs the length of the whole left-hand wall. On the right are nest boxes, feed and water and space to store supplies. The Zserdin’s had to give this coop a little TLC to make it warm enough for the winter by adding insulation and heat lamps.

It’s easy to see that Brenda and David’s birds are spoiled and happy.

H and E quickly found a friend in the Zserdin’s son, who also happened to be wearing a cape that day. They ran off to play while we toured the homestead.

Their garden is just amazing. Lots of re-purposed materials for garden structures as well as fun decorative elements make it a joy to walk through.

I loved the pole beans growing on actual poles and walking over wooden planks, past the cukes and melons trellised on old pallet wood.

Vegetables were planted in a tractor tire, old tubs and in the ground. We wound our way through the tomatoes to the grape vines at the back of the garden.

Rick was quick to spot the Three Sisters planting among the extensive culinary and medicinal herbs that Brenda has growing.

I was in love with the compost bin set-up they had.

Brenda and I found a lot of common ground talking about chickens, homeschooling and preserving the harvest by canning and freezing. David and Rick hit it off too, talking wood cutting, home brewing and whatever else men talk about while their women are off discussing the merits of sand for litter in the chicken area.

David and Brenda work from home doing an embroidery and screen printing business, Flutterby Designs, as well as homeschool their children. The Zserdin’s were very gracious hosts. They chatted and offered snacks and drinks and made us feel completely at home, like old friends. We exchanged phone numbers and email and are excited to count them as new ones.

Later this week, I’ll show you the last three stops that we were able to get to on the tour. In the mean time, make sure to explore the photos I posted in Part I.

Categories: Chickens, Community, Garden, Urban Homesteading | Tags: Chickens, Denver Botanic Gardens, Garden, Urban Gardening, Urban Homesteading | 3 Comments

2012 DBG Urban Homestead Tour – Part I

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Anisa

Two weekends ago was the first annual Denver Botanic Gardens’ Urban Homestead Tour. I was able to go on the tour and be a community sponsor. It was so much fun to see what others around Denver were doing at their homes. Each home that we visited was doing something different, and I thought everyone else might be as interested as I was to see our movement moving in the Mile High City.

The first homestead that we visited were neighbors of ours… we could have walked there, but I had no idea this place existed. We live in an urban area. Our lot is pretty small (in fact only two of the places we visited had lots as small or smaller than ours). So I was surprised to come upon the gem that Leigh and Diana have created in my ‘hood.

Leigh is quite the craftsman. He built the house on the acreage (!) himself, including the above green house. The big trees were all on the property already, but the cherry, peach, plum and apple trees were all planted by the Bray’s.

Inside the green house they are growing bananas, among many other beautiful plants that we’d never get to survive otherwise in Colorado.

The Bray’s purchased the property from an elderly neighbor (Leigh said she told him she’d never sell), they worked with the city to narrow a portion of the ditch from 20 feet wide to 8 feet wide and at the same time got a the lane behind their property turned from a road into a walking path.

The Bray’s have a large garden area. The older garden is in the background, and a newly dug garden, for 2013 is in the foreground.

Beyond the trees is where the ditch flows. Calling it a ditch seems silly – it’s a beautiful, clean creek banked by green grass. They even have two bridges over it and a little row-boat. The bee hives are on the other side. I wish I had taken a picture of it.

The Bray’s invited my boys to use the rope swing over it; I didn’t let them, it was our first stop. But they did take them up on the offer to play in their tree house and zip-line in the yard.

The Bray’s daughter (pictured with my little super hero-cowboys) convinced her parents to get chickens.

Leigh naturally built the coop himself. It’s a great design; wired for brooding chicks and a heat lamp for the winter. Egg boxes that are easily accessible and a fully enclosed run.

See that second coop in the far background? (click on the picture for a better view). Leigh and Diana sell the coops that Leigh makes. They offer three fully assembled sizes to house from 2 to 12 hens, AND free delivery up to 50 miles from Denver. They can even be rigged with solar panels to power the lights. Check out their website: chickencoopsofcolorado.com

The next stop took us into the heart of downtown Denver. Matt McClusky of Foodie Call Catering opened his 2500 square foot garden to visitors.

Matt is using his lot to its fullest. I loved the hanging tomato plants all along his porch at the front of his house.

Just beyond the fence, all along the front of the house Matt has veggies growing:

If you walk around the side of the house, you’ll see how he keeps pest out of the garden and nutrients in. My boys were totally scared of the scarecrow, and this is just one of the many compost bins I photographed on the tour.

All along the North side of Matt’s property, he was growing a lush vegetable garden. I lost track of how many varieties, which included beautiful eggplant and broccoli plants taller than Henry.

Here you can see how he uses trellises along the fence line.

And here are more beds running the full length of his lot.

Finally, here are the super tall pole beans with a beautiful herb garden growing at the base.

The gardens and homesteads we saw on the tour were just amazing. This is the first of three posts that I plan to share about the tour. I’m so grateful that all the participants agreed to let me photograph and share their homesteads here, as well as opening their yards to the public.

Edit: I mistakenly stated in my original post that the Bray family had the city ditch moved, however, the ditch was hand dug in 1863 and it has been in the same place since that time. Instead, the Bray’s worked with the city to narrow the ditch at the corner of their property back to its original size (8 feet wide) as stated above. I apologize for my mistake.

Categories: Beekeeping, Chickens, Community, Garden, Urban Homesteading | Tags: Chickens, Denver Botanic Gardens, Garden, Urban Gardening, Urban Homesteading | 6 Comments

Posts Tagged With: Urban Homesteading

What to Expect from the Lazy Homesteader in 2013

Top Seven Posts of 2012

2012 Resolutions Revisited

Ax Skills for the Homestead & Wilderness DVD Winner