Urban Homesteaders

[RichnSteph]

Peeking my head in here - is this thread still alive? Anyone still around?

Newbie here, just starting my urban homestead. I'm in San Antonio TX and have a small lot - just .17 acres- so space is at a premium! Last summer we started with compost, and this spring we started planting with potatoes in containers. Not sure they are going to make. Still composting - I never realized before starting composting just how much stuff breaks down - I can have our barrel nearly full, and go out in a few weeks and it's almost empty {but converted to good soil}. We also are getting chickens this week, so hopefully by this fall we'll have eggs too. I'm also toying with the idea of rabbits - the compost would be lovely. I'm ok with raising them for meat but my daughter isn't, so probably we'll end up selling any babies.

My goal is to convert as much of the backyard as possible into garden and chicken area. Garden will be all on one side, chickens in the middle, then a row of dwarf fruit trees on the other side. Going to rip out the hedge in front of our home {it needs removing due to overgrowth} and replace it with some type of berry hedge hopefully. And when the trees in the front yard finally come down, they'll be replaced with more fruit trees.

Welcome to the fun! We're a little south of San Antonio on a small piece of land and are attempting similar things. So far we have chickens and a compost bin along with a small garden and pond. Our end game is to produce 50% of our own food by the end of this year with increases every year after. I'd like to do rabbits and quail but need to clear some trees out first.


RichnSteph

 

[Bassetgal15]

I have 2.5 acres in Lake Helen, FL and although not in an urban area my approach is more similar to what you have going on. I just don't have time, funds or knowledge to go crazy with animals and such. I have 5 grown hens, one cat, one dog and a plant bed with herbs, blueberries and some ornamentals. I also have some home made topsy turvies with tomatoes and jalapeños that are doing great. We planted a few citrus trees but they are not doing too good yet

 

[captivatedlife]

I've been "urban homesteading" for the past 7 years or so with varying levels of commitment. I've just finished my masters program and am looking forward to recommitting myself to this. For me it means: doing something about food (even if it's just herbs on a windowsill, though we grow everything from zucchini and tomatoes, herbs, onions, lettuce, garlic... yum!) - garden, poultry, goats, etc., and the whole reduce, reuse, recycle (my daughter thinks I can fix anything - ha! not really!) and the whole make it yourself thing - from the kitchen to the chicken coop. I cannot even think of diy on the chicken coop so cooking and sewing are my diy!

Looking forward to hearing from people on this topic!

~Kim

 

[wyoDreamer]

For you urban homesteaders - how do you deal with the two-legged moochers?

A friend of mine had someone pick all the peaches off his tree one year. Right in his front yard, about 12 feet from the garage - 30 feet from the street... cheeky devils had to bring a ladder to get the ones on top of the tree too.

 

[Latestarter]

Game cams and legal action, like arrest for theft. Large dogs that don't allow intruders on the property. Signs saying to "smile you're on hidden camera" I guess there are a lot of ways to try before actually shooting the trespasser and burying it in the back field...

 

[bluto in mo]

I tried to get the kids in the neighborhood to "steal" my spinach but no taker except my girls that "steal" it. They take it to the Other Kids, like they are stealing. it's funny to watch.

 

[FrugalmamaTx]

For you urban homesteaders - how do you deal with the two-legged moochers?

A friend of mine had someone pick all the peaches off his tree one year. Right in his front yard, about 12 feet from the garage - 30 feet from the street... cheeky devils had to bring a ladder to get the ones on top of the tree too.

Well we're home 90% of the time, so they'd have to get past us AND the neighbors dogs that bark at anything that moves. That being said, I'd probably fence in the front yard and put no traspassing signs up

 

[captivatedlife]

That's annoying. We lost a watermelon last year (we had 2) and it's really discouraging. I guess it is just a part of the urban part of urban homesteading. We deal with people who "need" it more than we do. It's upsetting to me, but honestly i don't know what we can actually do. If you can catch them in the act you can video them and go to the police, maybe.

 

[FrugalmamaTx]

Worked on our chicken run and coop today - it's coming together nicely. I found a bunch of rebar that the previous owner left along the back fence {buried under the leaves} and it is completing my run nicely. I had to do some figuring to get the pieces to work as I didn't have anything to cut them with, but with some careful bending they are working fine. I did have to trench part of it to bury the extra bent length though, and MAN is my yard rocky. I think the builders 40 years ago must have just dumped rocky fill to finish the yard. Now it's just waiting on zip ties to hold all the joints and then hardware cloth to cover it all.

 

[chantels1]

I'm glad I found this thread. We just built our coop at our new house, and I bought hens and chicks. The hens were pure breed, and fertile, so I'm collecting the eggs to go in the incubator tomorrow. We live on a small plot in town in Northern California. I don't have a lot of room to garden, but I am doing what I can. I grew cantaloupe, squash, zucchinni, pumpkins and cherry tomatoes this year. My garden exploded, and the two cherry tomatoes I bought covered an area 10' long by 8' wide! With the vigorous growth, I must say I over crowded my plants. I lost many fruit from over crowding and simply not being able to get to them. Next year I will be clearing a larger space.

We have also started a bit of prepping. Worked a lot on our food storage the last few months. We are a lot better off than most of our neighbors now.

It will be nice to share thoughts and ideas with those who think alike.

One question, what do you do with your hens which are no longer laying? The meat is old, and presumably tough. Is it stew worthy?

I bought heritage Light Brahma hens, so plenty of meat I would hate to waste after they quit laying.