A comprehensive and inspiring guide to self-reliance, sustainability, and green living for city dwellers. Read it and reap.
The urban homesteading movement is spreading rapidly across the nation. Urban Homesteading is the perfect "back-to-the-land" guide for urbanites who want to reduce their impact on the environment. Full of practical information, as well as inspiring stories from people already living the urban homesteading life, this colorful guide is an approachable guide to learning to live more ecologically in the city. The book embraces the core concepts of localization (providing our basic needs close to where we live), self-reliance (re-learning that food comes from the ground, not the grocery store; learning to do things ourselves), and sustainability (giving back at least as much as we take). Readers will find concise how-to information that they can immediately set into practice, from making solar cookers to growing tomatoes in a barrel to raising chickens in small spaces to maintaining mental serenity in the fast-paced city environment. Full of beautiful full-color photographs and illustrations, and plenty of step-by-step instructions, this is a must-have handbook for city folk with a passion for the simple life. 100 color illustrations
Urban Homesteading
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Fully illustrated, this is a user-friendly guide with visual appeal and lots of detailed information, making it a truly useful resource for those curious about or participating in today’s resurgent interest in “small is beautiful” ex/sub/urban homesteading.” (Booklist )
“
“A reality check for dreamers… ” (Chicago Tribune )
“Urban Homesteading is perfect for the beginner seeking inspiration and information, or for the established homesteader wishing to deepen her craft. ” (Common Ground Magazine )
“This book is ridiculously good, a stunner. The authors outdid themselves, and everyone else who touches upon this field. It is a manifesto, a guide, a book of prayers, a much-needed tutorial. It has goodness on every page and light throughout, yet it is erudite, exact, definitive, and practical. What a rare thing. You have my thanks and unconditional praise for what you have accomplished--a masterpiece where there has never been one before.” (Paul Hawken, Founder of Smith & Hawken )
“Provides a wealth of information about actual projects you can take on to green your footprint and increase your self-reliance. While none of the chapters will make you an expert, they give just enough information so you can figure out which projects will be most likely to be a good fit for you. And they remind us that you don’t need to be an expert to simply get started living more sustainably. Even apartment dwellers can do the majority of these projects, and many are fun to do with children. The entire book is packed full of diagrams and dense information that will help you live closer to the land.” (Christian Science Monitor )
“Kaplan and Blume’s manual for farming your yard is part master’s thesis, part philosophy text and part manual for living with creatures and plants in a confined space… Kaplan is long on making it work and leaving a light footprint on the earth. If you are pondering a more sustainable lifestyle, Urban Homesteading is a good way to survey the possibilities.” (Vancouver Sun )
“This comprehensive guide is full of beautiful full-color photos and practical information about self-reliance and green living, as well as inspiring stories from people already living the urban homesteading life. It embraces the core concepts of localization, self-reliance, and knowledge of where our food comes from, as well as basic sustainability. . . . A great addition to the genre.
” (Wendy Priesnitz - Natural Life )
“
A how-to guide for city folk on everything from growing your own food to building your own composting toilet (“…think of all those quiet hours you could have…at your outdoor toilet, listening to the sirens go by…”).
” (New York Post )“A reality check for dreamers… ” (Chicago Tribune )
“Urban Homesteading is perfect for the beginner seeking inspiration and information, or for the established homesteader wishing to deepen her craft. ” (Common Ground Magazine )
“This book is ridiculously good, a stunner. The authors outdid themselves, and everyone else who touches upon this field. It is a manifesto, a guide, a book of prayers, a much-needed tutorial. It has goodness on every page and light throughout, yet it is erudite, exact, definitive, and practical. What a rare thing. You have my thanks and unconditional praise for what you have accomplished--a masterpiece where there has never been one before.” (Paul Hawken, Founder of Smith & Hawken )
“Provides a wealth of information about actual projects you can take on to green your footprint and increase your self-reliance. While none of the chapters will make you an expert, they give just enough information so you can figure out which projects will be most likely to be a good fit for you. And they remind us that you don’t need to be an expert to simply get started living more sustainably. Even apartment dwellers can do the majority of these projects, and many are fun to do with children. The entire book is packed full of diagrams and dense information that will help you live closer to the land.” (Christian Science Monitor )
“Kaplan and Blume’s manual for farming your yard is part master’s thesis, part philosophy text and part manual for living with creatures and plants in a confined space… Kaplan is long on making it work and leaving a light footprint on the earth. If you are pondering a more sustainable lifestyle, Urban Homesteading is a good way to survey the possibilities.” (Vancouver Sun )
“This comprehensive guide is full of beautiful full-color photos and practical information about self-reliance and green living, as well as inspiring stories from people already living the urban homesteading life. It embraces the core concepts of localization, self-reliance, and knowledge of where our food comes from, as well as basic sustainability. . . . A great addition to the genre.
” (Wendy Priesnitz - Natural Life )
About the Author
Rachel Kaplan is the lead author of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living. She is an eco-somatic therapist, educator, and widely published author. Her work has appeared in local and national papers and magazines, and includes Moving Toward Life: Five Decades of Transformational Dance (with Anna Halprin), The Probable Site of the Garden of Eden, and Diaspora: Stories from the Cities. She and her family live on a small homestead called Tiny Town Farm, in Petaluma, California.
K. Ruby Blume is the visual wizard of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living. She is the founder of The Institute of Urban Homesteading in Oakland, California. With more than twenty years of experience with gardening, beekeeping, canning, and other homesteading skills, she is a respected authority in the self-sufficiency field. She has been featured on CNN, ABC, and the Hallmark Channel, and her articles have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Magazine, and other publications.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
“ Anyway, as I began to read this book, I was really sucked in by the wonderful photos and ideas about things I can do here on my own homestead. ”
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 67 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thorough primer on everything related to living lightly and making your own
May 28, 2011
Format:Paperback
I'm a landscaper, and so come to most gardening books from a design perspective - I look at the photos and read some of the text, but not all. This book is different. While the photos are attractive and appropriate, the text is so packed full of intense tutorials and ways of re-thinking our relationship with, well, everything, that I had to slow down and read carefully to get the most from this book.
While the philosophical sections are non-preachy and inspiring, the meat of the book is in the suggestions and simple how-tos that make all aspects of homesteading seem doable, fun and attractive. You can learn to:
garden vertically
make and plant a seed ball
create your own self-watering container
plant an herbal medicine chest in your garden
grow potatoes in a barrel or trash can
grow mushrooms
make your own cultured butter or cheese
attract pollinators to your garden
make your own natural, safe pesticides
keep rabbits
choose and keep goats
harvest edible weeds
build a solar drying rack
ferment your own sauerkraut and make your own naturally-bubbly sodas
figure out your soil type
build a composting toilet
harvest rainwater
This book is clearly destined to stay in my shelf for a long, long time. While none of the articles will make you an expert on the topic, after trying a few of these projects, you'll realize you don't need to become an expert in order to live lightly on the land, make your own healthy foods and simple medicines for basic ailments, and become more independent and self-reliant. Each of the how-tos is simple enough to get you started successfully on a new path and give you confidence to do things in a new way.
If you want to buy just one book on how to live lightly on the land even with limited money or space, this is the book to start with. I was blown away by how thorough it is. And while my political beliefs may be different from that of the authors, I didn't find their philosophies overbearing or preachy. Their genuine desire to see us all become confident, productive people able to take care of our own needs is evident, and makes their writing attractive for people from any background.
While the philosophical sections are non-preachy and inspiring, the meat of the book is in the suggestions and simple how-tos that make all aspects of homesteading seem doable, fun and attractive. You can learn to:
garden vertically
make and plant a seed ball
create your own self-watering container
plant an herbal medicine chest in your garden
grow potatoes in a barrel or trash can
grow mushrooms
make your own cultured butter or cheese
attract pollinators to your garden
make your own natural, safe pesticides
keep rabbits
choose and keep goats
harvest edible weeds
build a solar drying rack
ferment your own sauerkraut and make your own naturally-bubbly sodas
figure out your soil type
build a composting toilet
harvest rainwater
This book is clearly destined to stay in my shelf for a long, long time. While none of the articles will make you an expert on the topic, after trying a few of these projects, you'll realize you don't need to become an expert in order to live lightly on the land, make your own healthy foods and simple medicines for basic ailments, and become more independent and self-reliant. Each of the how-tos is simple enough to get you started successfully on a new path and give you confidence to do things in a new way.
If you want to buy just one book on how to live lightly on the land even with limited money or space, this is the book to start with. I was blown away by how thorough it is. And while my political beliefs may be different from that of the authors, I didn't find their philosophies overbearing or preachy. Their genuine desire to see us all become confident, productive people able to take care of our own needs is evident, and makes their writing attractive for people from any background.
53 of 55 people found the following review helpful
By Nicole
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First, the good:
The layout of the book is very well done and aesthetically pleasing, the photographs are exceptional and the quality of the book is top notch for a large-format paperback. There are no cut corners here.
When it comes to content, I appreciated the authors' non-judgmental style, optimism and happy encouragement. Many other authors have talked about these issues without such restraint and acceptance of the beliefs and ultimate goals of their readers. I also especially liked that nowhere did the author advocate any illegal activity (unlike many other sources on the subject.) They attempted to address a broad width of topics and succeeded in hitting all the major components of urban homesteading.
So, why the 3 stars?
It is inevitable that the numerous topics would lack depth, but this puts the book squarely in the raw beginner market. After reading the other reviews, I expected more. The gardening chapters have advice that is very specific to Northern California's climate (I used to live there) but would be an disastrous failure in many other regions. They also missed some important components of biointensive gardening, particularly the need for a large amount of organic inputs. A better source for this kind of gardening is to go back to the original, Jeavons' "How to Grow More Vegetables."
At least one of their food preservation recipes can kill you -- not a good sign. And not all urban areas are the kinda of high density environments they envision.
Finally, I felt the last two chapters were particularly off-putting even though I was barely skimming the book by then. If gardening doesn't nurture your soul, than no amount of art projects and personal alters are going to make homesteading the right choice for you, and have nothing whatsoever to do with homesteading. They were, however, very evocative of a certain "hippy dippy" No Cal crowd, to borrow a phrase from another reviewer.
In summary: if you are interested in a broad review of the topic, are a beginner, and live in VERY urban area with forgiving oceanic climate like Northern California, this book will be a great choice for you. For the rest of us... not so much.
The layout of the book is very well done and aesthetically pleasing, the photographs are exceptional and the quality of the book is top notch for a large-format paperback. There are no cut corners here.
When it comes to content, I appreciated the authors' non-judgmental style, optimism and happy encouragement. Many other authors have talked about these issues without such restraint and acceptance of the beliefs and ultimate goals of their readers. I also especially liked that nowhere did the author advocate any illegal activity (unlike many other sources on the subject.) They attempted to address a broad width of topics and succeeded in hitting all the major components of urban homesteading.
So, why the 3 stars?
It is inevitable that the numerous topics would lack depth, but this puts the book squarely in the raw beginner market. After reading the other reviews, I expected more. The gardening chapters have advice that is very specific to Northern California's climate (I used to live there) but would be an disastrous failure in many other regions. They also missed some important components of biointensive gardening, particularly the need for a large amount of organic inputs. A better source for this kind of gardening is to go back to the original, Jeavons' "How to Grow More Vegetables."
At least one of their food preservation recipes can kill you -- not a good sign. And not all urban areas are the kinda of high density environments they envision.
Finally, I felt the last two chapters were particularly off-putting even though I was barely skimming the book by then. If gardening doesn't nurture your soul, than no amount of art projects and personal alters are going to make homesteading the right choice for you, and have nothing whatsoever to do with homesteading. They were, however, very evocative of a certain "hippy dippy" No Cal crowd, to borrow a phrase from another reviewer.
In summary: if you are interested in a broad review of the topic, are a beginner, and live in VERY urban area with forgiving oceanic climate like Northern California, this book will be a great choice for you. For the rest of us... not so much.
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I only bought this book as a protest against the Dervais family's copyright of the phrase Urban Homesteading (I also bought another wonderful book here - The Urban Homestead. Anyway, as I began to read this book, I was really sucked in by the wonderful photos and ideas about things I can do here on my own homestead. I highly recommend this book. Lots of great info and ideas. I have never been so invigorated and excited.
The only negative I would give this book is not really a negative at all. With so much information, and so many ideas, it's hard to know "where do I start", but that's what I have ThoughtOffice for, right?
I was inspired by the section which teaches us how to transform our ornamental or boring yards into food production area - starting with bringing life to the soil.
Just this week I made the ricotta cheese with organic whole milk. Best. Ricotta. Ever. Absolutely MADE the lasagna (although it was an amazing recipe - (Google: "World's Best Lasagna"). I am looking forward to making the cultured butter (I now make regular, non-cultured butter from organic whole cream, which is delicious). The nice thing about cultured butter is that the buttermilk, which is a byproduct, can be used to culture cheese, make buttermilk pancakes, bread, dressing ect. Non-cultured buttermilk cannot.
I have the 2 specialty ingredients for feta cheese on order and cannot wait to stop paying for store bought, bland feta. Our household goes through a lot of feta - this is going to be a very good thing. Tomorrow I make mozzarella cheese (not in the book, but it's easy to find directions online, and it uses much of the same things you use to make the dairy recipes in the book).
I have been rereading the section on bee-keeping, raising rabbits, preserving and storing food, and many others which I won't bore you with. Bottom line - get this book. You'll be happy you did.
The only negative I would give this book is not really a negative at all. With so much information, and so many ideas, it's hard to know "where do I start", but that's what I have ThoughtOffice for, right?
I was inspired by the section which teaches us how to transform our ornamental or boring yards into food production area - starting with bringing life to the soil.
Just this week I made the ricotta cheese with organic whole milk. Best. Ricotta. Ever. Absolutely MADE the lasagna (although it was an amazing recipe - (Google: "World's Best Lasagna"). I am looking forward to making the cultured butter (I now make regular, non-cultured butter from organic whole cream, which is delicious). The nice thing about cultured butter is that the buttermilk, which is a byproduct, can be used to culture cheese, make buttermilk pancakes, bread, dressing ect. Non-cultured buttermilk cannot.
I have the 2 specialty ingredients for feta cheese on order and cannot wait to stop paying for store bought, bland feta. Our household goes through a lot of feta - this is going to be a very good thing. Tomorrow I make mozzarella cheese (not in the book, but it's easy to find directions online, and it uses much of the same things you use to make the dairy recipes in the book).
I have been rereading the section on bee-keeping, raising rabbits, preserving and storing food, and many others which I won't bore you with. Bottom line - get this book. You'll be happy you did.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally purchased - not disappointed
After checking out this book three different times from the local library, I finally bought my own. I love this book, the ideas, and tips, everything. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Tara Bird
3.0 out of 5 stars
I was a little dissapointed
I have several books on Permaculture, this one had very little information I didn't already know. It seemed to go into more non gardening information than I like and that... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kay Stover
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful book
This book is chock full of excellent information to help us "city slickers" reconnect with our inner farmer. Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. George
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really useful text for Permaculturists
This is a really fabulous book. Don't expect just gardening advice. This a a permaculture text: holistic, action focused and driven by permaculture's three ethics, earth care,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs DM Wheeler
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book, but definitely not the best one...
I'm just getting into homesteading and this isn't the first book I've read on the subject. As another reviewer put, "If you're a fan of New Age/witchcraft/EarthMother points of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alecia J. Rivas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written and accessible. A great resource for urban...
I will henceforward be recommending this book to anyone I hear talking about urban gardening. Beautifully written by two experienced homesteaders and gardeners from Northern... Read more
Published 6 months ago by metaface
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Valuable
This book has been very helpful and inspiring to my new venture into urban farming. It is a recent purchase but I have found it invaluable and have many dog eared pages. Read more
Published 9 months ago by ELIZA B.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great comprehensive read
This book is a must for anyone new to or experienced urban homesteaders. I am a designer and teacher and use this book in my courses. Great case studies, how to's and pictures.
Published 12 months ago by Lisa DePiano
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passionate and Inspiring
Rachel Kaplan and K. Ruby Blume have outdone themselves with this fine book. The range of their expertise and knowledge, their advocacy for the simple life at a time when culture... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Stacey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Urban Homesteading
Urban Homesteading is a worthy book for our times. Filled with full color photos, illustrations and hundreds of DIY projects, its engaging style makes it simple to imagine (and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Peter Byrne
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
