Tips for Urban Homesteading and Gardening
You can cut costs and save your dollars in the concrete jungle by adopting these practical strategies:

• Container gardening: Grow tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes and squash in pots, miniature barrels or oblong containers. Use hanging baskets to grow zucchini and strawberries. You don’t need a large greenhouse or plenty of acreage for your own supply of organic vegetables. With proper planning, your balcony could hold quite a few plants.

• Rearing fowl: You can hatch chicks from fertilized eggs by using an electric skillet on low, some water to moisten the air and a soft towel to cushion the eggs. You can then keep the hens in your backyard for a daily supply of eggs. Most US states will allow urban dwellers to raise a maximum of six hens.

• Using heirloom seeds: Your local farmers market will probably have hybrid, pest resistant tomatoes and squash plants.  These are genetically modified plants that have been grafted to make them resistant to bugs, pests and drought.  However, the vegetable will be seedless – which means that you won’t be able to re-plant any.  I would strongly advise against any hybrid seeds!  Buy heirloom seeds instead for growing your vegetables.   Heirloom plants have retained their specific traits through open pollination and are suitably resistant to extremes in weather and bio-diseases.  You’ll have plenty of seeds for frequent re-planting!

Getting Suitable Supplies

For city gardening, you can make do with containers that can be comfortably accommodated within your apartment.  If you’re in the suburbs and have a nice backyard, then you can even erect a small 12×12 greenhouse to cultivate your plants.

Space constraints will dictate the variety and abundance of vegetables and greens that you can tend.  You can utilize coffee grounds as organic fertilizer and obtain soil from the market.  If you’re rearing chickens, the coops are best maintained in an airy space and cleaned regularly.

By embracing homesteading and gardening, you’ll take full advantage of spectacular reductions in your expenses and elevated levels of vigor, energy and vim.  Maximize your intake of organic leafy greens and vegetables, and augment your health exponentially!

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If you’ve not been homesteading long or are just beginning, it may be tempting to go to your local farmer’s market and buy some of those nice, pest-resistant, hybrid plants that are supposedly easier to grow. After all, they are ‘made’ to be more user friendly right? Well, that depends.

They are often genetically modified plants (GMO) that have had artificial genes grafted into their make up to make them resist draught or blight or bugs. That’s why some tomatoes don’t really taste like a tomato.  Not only that, but by being hybrids, they are sterile or infertile for next year’s seeds. The plant you grow this year will not produce seeds for next year’s garden. You get to go spend money again on another hybrid seed.

Heirloom seeds will give you seeds to use each year from the crops they grow. Eat them this year, dry and save some for next year. Repeat. Now that’s money in the bank!

Take a look at this place that offers heirloom seeds with fast, free shipping:

Grow a Patriot Garden

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, GMO, grocery savings, Growing Vegetables, heirloom seeds, homestead, homesteading, hybrid, Organic Gardening and Growing, save money, seeds, sterile, tips, tuesday's tip, vegetable garden

Once you’ve gotten the homesteading ‘bug’ it is almost impossible to get rid of it. We had a short stint in Southern California suburbia that down-right almost killed me! Who mows the lawn with an electric PLUG IN mower? Yikes!

But that ‘bug’ can also make you bite off more than you can chew. Those dreams of land spreading out so far and wide, possibly crops or livestock, rolling hills or wide open prairies, mountains to climb or root cellars in the ground, stream, creek, river or lake, it doesn’t matter, your mind can wander all day long once you’ve gotten the homesteading ‘bug’ – but if you can’t keep up with that land (and yes, any homesteader knows it really doesn’t just SIT THERE) then you will lose sight of your dreams as they give way to tired bodies and aching muscles. So start small.

Our first journey into homesteading was my back yard garden in a quiet suburban neighborhood. I didn’t know what I was doing, I just know I loved the smell of the dirt, getting dirty and then reaping the rewards.

Next we moved to about 7 acres and expanded to some fruit and nut trees, figs, two rows of grapevines, and a much larger and more productive garden. Closer to the house we built a small chicken coup with a run outside (although the chickens roamed freely all day) and a bunny cage with four bunnies (for fertilizer purposes, they were pets). We also managed to have an acre out back for some sheep and goats. This was quite manageable even with small kids and work, this was enough room, yet not too much to manage. It was a very, very productive little homestead.

Currently we are on 15 acres of which about half of it is woods. Don’t let those woods fool you, they too need occasional tending. When they are yours, and a stray cow or neighbor’s livestock wander into your woods, you need to know you can get through there to find it. Also, woods tend to attract ‘wayward’ hunters and their hunting dogs (that will wreak havoc with your livestock if they spy them through the trees). So don’t assume a lot of woods mean ‘care-free’ land.

On what can be utilized we have expanded our fruit and nut trees, have other grapevines and the garden is about 20 times the size what was in the first back yard garden. Our livestock did not make the move here, so we are slowly rebuilding the chickens, bunnies, goats and sheep. The grain business keeps us busy as well.

But I share all this to say it is a process. Don’t shoot for your dream 288 acres right out of the gate! You might just get overwhelmed and give up and regret giving up! Build those homesteading skills like any other skill – with fundamentals and practice.

Take into consideration what you want to do, start small and build on it. Most people who truly want to homestead know the patience of growing things and the seasons it takes for planting, growing and harvesting are in order. So, don’t jump the gun and bite off more than you can chew (how’s that for combining two clichés?) and get overwhelmed!

Two books that I highly recommend are listed below. You can find them online.

Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management by Maurice G. Kains

Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming  

by Edmund Morris

Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!

Donna Miller

 Donna Miller is a work-from-home wife and mother. She delighted to share her trials and triumphs of learning to homestead anywhere. The Millers own and operate 

Millers Grain House  which offers Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

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Development

The Western Malleable and Gray Iron Manufacturing Company, produced the first garden tractors. The first one was developed in 1937, and was sold by Montgomery Ward. Two years later, in 1939, the first riding tractor became available, and then in 1950, the first riding lawn mower came into existence.

Gradually the size of the tractors went on getting reduced, while the features and facilities, increased. A smaller sized model farming tractor was designed in 1972, and that’s where today’s compact garden tractors found their roots.

Usage

Garden tractors are farming tools to be used for diverse farming activities :

- The job of pulling heavy loads can be physically tough. They can assist you with the job at hand. Let these heavy-duty machines do all the hard work.

- Cultivators, provided with garden tractors, may be used for plowing, thus making your farms more fertile. Tilled land, according to the experts, is always a good idea if quality crops are to be expected.

- Often used for mowing lawns in gardens. Trimming with the help of tractors, helps reduce odd grass lengths, bringing the parts of the surface back in sync.

- Plowshares embedded in garden tractors, are mostly used for purposes other than gardening as well. A stack of snow may be cleared with the help of plowshares.

Handle with Care!

Garden tractors are machines after all! Proper care must be taken while operating the system, to keep ourselves safe and our good investment safe as well. Here are some guidelines :

- One should always turn off the engines before moving out of the driving seat.
- Servicing should never be attempted while they are in operating mode.
- Garden tractors, with running engines, should never be left in closed garages to avoid accidents.
- Neither the driver nor the idle sitters on the tractors, should smoke there.
- Your body should always be kept at a distance from the operating machinery.
- Speed of the miniature machines should be taken care of.
- It is always advisable to regularly check whether the brakes are working properly.
- Untrained drivers should not be allowed to experiment with the machines.

Buying Tips

You need to be cautious when buying. Following are some guidelines to help you:

- Guarantee of the product purchased and warranty period associated, should be checked.
- Getting your new purchase insured proves to be a good move. Do so when it is time for the warranty to expire.
- It is always better to ask in advance if servicing will be provided at some extra cost, or the price you pay would take care of it.
- Be wary while choosing the brand. Verify that the parts are available close to your location. Getting compatible parts at a later date can get difficult.
- First aid treatments should be learnt to help you in case of of accidents and emergencies.

No doubt with the right care and handling your Garden Tractor could last for years.

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Planning your garden is one of the most important parts of vegetable gardening, and it’s quite simple. Whether its a vegetable garden, a flowerbed, indoor houseplants, or some combination, successful gardening requires planning, patience, and a little detective work. Whatever you do, do not choose garden soil, no matter how rich it might be, for indoor vegetable gardening! No matter what gardening zone your garden is located in there are catalogues with myriad variety of vegetables. Use these vegetable gardening tips to prepare your garden and keep your home full of fresh vegetables. Preparing your garden soil for planting is the most physically demanding part of vegetable gardening and may also be the most important part.

The patios and balconies of apartment buildings and condominiums often have good exposure for container vegetable gardening. Container gardening makes it possible to position the vegetables in areas where they can receive the best possible growing conditions. Container gardening can provide you with fresh vegetables as well as recreation and exercise. Although vegetable production will be limited by the number and the size of the containers, this form of gardening can be rewarding. Soilless mixes such as a peat-lite mix are generally too light for container vegetable gardening, since they usually will not support plant roots sufficiently. MEDIA A fairly lightweight potting mix is needed for container vegetable gardening. Soil Conditions The right type of soil for the right type of plant is key to successful vegetable gardening. Clay and sandy soils must be modified for successful vegetable gardening. Proper fertilization is another important key to successful vegetable gardening.

Buy seeds, seed starting kits and gardening supplies for vegetable gardens. If you are new to gardening, starting vegetables from seed may be too huge an undertaking, instead purchase plants. Practice crop rotation in your vegetable gardening by planting tomatoes and other vegetables in a different spot every year. Mulches can be used effectively in all types of gardening situations from vegetable gardens to flower gardens and even around trees and shrubs. I know an eyebrow or two might be raised at the suggestion of indoor vegetable gardening, but it can be done, within limits.

Added to the pleasure of gardening will be the satisfaction derived from relishing vegetables freshly picked from your very own plot. Learning is a process, vegetable gardening needs time. As in so many other pursuits, so it is in the art of vegetable gardening: practice does make perfect.

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