An Urban Homesteading Primer

     Winter often provides perfect reading weather.  When it's cold and raining or snowing outside (like today!), I love to lounge on the couch by the window with some hot tea and a good book.  And to prepare for spring, I have been reading books and literature online about gardening.  I have also ordered enough used books online (I've been assured they will get here soon!) to start a small library.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying several books, including Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living. 
     Authored by Rachel Kaplan with K. Ruby Blume, this has been the perfect book for me to start with because it is a methodical outline of the principles and practices of homesteading, with an urban twist.  This book is Urban Homesteading 101.  But as the subtitle says, these are heirloom skills, often practiced for centuries, which can be applied anywhere, urban or rural.  The crux of the book is permaculture, which, simply put, is a practice of agriculture that sustains itself over time.  In each chapter, the authors discuss a different aspect of farm life and illustrate, through instruction and interviews with other homesteaders, how this movement embodies three ethics of permaculture:  

• Earth care - recognizing the earth as the source of all life.  The earth is also a living entity and we are a part of that life.  
• People care - "supporting and helping and helping each other change to ways of living that do not harm us or the planet, including developing healthy societies that prioritize the first principle, earth care." 
• Fair share - "placing limits on consumption of earth's limited resources, ensuring they are used in ways that are equitable and wise."

     I have no way of knowing, dear reader, where you are on your path, but for me, this ethic of responsible social, economical, environmental, and spiritual living makes perfect sense.  I believe the need for real change in how our society interacts with its members and with the earth is urgent.  How can we expect to survive, even as individuals let alone as a society, when we are so disconnected from the earth and each other?  But, you know, even surviving is not good enough.  Survival is a bare, stripped down and harsh reality...no where near the life of beauty and purpose we seek to create in every new generation, the hope we have for every new life to flourish and thrive, to achieve the highest opportunity of its existence.  That is what we secretly want without daring to express it, fearful that our hope will be mocked or proven false.  But what could possibly be more important than living to our highest potential as individuals and as a society?  Isn't that honoring the Creation?  And when will we choose that for ourselves, if not in this moment, in every moment?  A few lines from Hafiz, that brilliant poet:

 One regret, dear world,

That I am determined not to have

When I am lying on my deathbed

Is that

I did not kiss you enough.



     I encourage you, dear reader, to examine your life and see if there is not more room to love yourself, your community, and Nature.  It's a never-ending choice, but I find that when I do open myself to that reality, I can rejoice in the abundance of God and the Universe and share that love.  And if you are interested in how to put that love into action, I encourage you to read this book.