Guide to Homesteading, Seed Banks now Agri-terrorists in PA

Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

http://PoorManSurvivor.net

ISSN 2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

The free, independent spirit who commits himself to no dogma and will not decide in favor of any party has no homestead on earth.
Stefan Zweig

Read to the end to learn about Agri-terrorism in PA and how officials shut down a seed bank at the local library…thank God for bumbling bureaucrats!

Guide to Urban Homesteading
by Rachel Kaplan

You may not have enough garden space to grow your own wheat or corn, but you can harvest an amazing amount of many crops from a collection of containers. Plus, in the city, it can be much easier to build a community of like-minded neighbors who can share tools, knowledge and friendship.

Here’s what it can look like: In a single year, six households working with the organization Daily Acts in Petaluma, Calif., produced more than 3,000 pounds of food; foraged 2,000 pounds of local fruit; collected more than 4,000 pounds of urban organic waste to be used as compost and mulch; planted more than 185 fruit trees; installed five greywater and rainwater catchment systems that saved tens of thousands of gallons of water; tended to bees, chickens, ducks, quail and rabbits; and worked to reduce energy use and enhance public transportation opportunities. All of this from six households!

Learning traditional skills such as canning, fermenting, soup-making, seed saving, sewing and knitting, beekeeping, candle-making, and water and energy management brings you and your neighbors together in constructive ways.

1. Observe and Interact
Through observation, you will make wiser, more responsive choices about your homestead that will have long-lasting results. Learn everything you can about your bioregion: Can you trace the water you drink from source to tap? Who is growing your food? Where do your garbage and sewage go?

Observation should not only include a clear-eyed assessment of the natural resources where you live — water, sun, wind, and available space for growing — but also interactions with your neighbors. For example, consider how close your neighbors are to where you want to site your chicken coop. Sharing a flock, chores and the bounty with your neighbors will be more efficient.

2. Grow Food in the City
Community gardens provide a great opportunity for you to learn next to other committed gardeners on a small plot of land. If you find yourself looking over the fence at your neighbor’s unkempt yard, you could offer to turn it into a productive garden and share the bounty.

Use vertical spaces, flat rooftops, and abandoned lots. You could even de-pave a driveway. In some cities, the economic downturn has yielded an impressive array of undeveloped lots, many of which can be turned into abundant food-growing zones.

You can grow a lot of food in a small space. On a patio or parking lot, you could plant a garden in raised beds, or in barrels or storage bins with drainage holes punched through the bottom. Many carrots, leeks or potatoes will grow in 5-gallon buckets, and lettuce can spend its whole life in small pots.

More at:

http://poormansurvivorblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/urban-homesteading-seed-banks-now-agri.html