PATH TO FREEDOM
PEDDLER'S WAGON
FREEDOM GARDENS
"LITTLE HOMESTEAD"
DERVAES GARDENS
URBAN HOMESTEADING
Entries (RSS)
March 11, 2010
Organic matter is known as the “soul of a healthy soil.”Adding compost to your yard or garden soil will help your plants grow bigger and healthier. The organic matter in compost helps soil hold on to nutrients and water.
Composting saves you money
Using compost as a soil conditioner or mulch reduces your need to purchase these lawn and garden products.
Composting is practical and convenient
No need to bother bagging leaves and other garden/yard wastes. Simply add them to your backyard bin and watch these items turn into rich dark humus.
Composting is a good alternative to landfilling or incinerating
Yard and garden wastes account for almost 20% of the total amount of trash thrown every year.
Here on the urban homestead we are striving to become self sufficient and reliant. One aspect in that is growing our own soil. Thanks to a couple million (worms), a menagerie of barnyard critters, and religious composting efforts we are able to produce enough soil to replenish each year.
I’ve published many a post on this very subject
Check out
and
There’s probably more!
We contribute much of our success and the “superior” taste of our produce to our soil. As Farmer D likes to say soil is not just something to hold the plants. Grow the soil and you will reap healthy plants!
Here on the urban homestead, we are even “going up in the world” (quoting from a classic line made by Farmer Justin in Homegrown Revolution - purchase your copy here) , “we are about a 1.5 higher than our next door neighbor!” It’s true.
That’s due to 25 years worth of mulching, composting, mulching and composting.
Let It Rot
Cinder block “passive or “pile”" composting.
We believe “compost happens” and we have many different composters here on the urban homestead: solar cone digestor (one of our faves!), solar scrap eater, handy dandy tumbler, stackable one’s (got those from the City of Pasadena) worms and our favorites off all - our animal menagerie (aka “pet organic composting systems”)
But the cinder block composter is by far the cheapest and simplest to use. We made ours out of recycled (free) cinder blocks. We just pile up yard waste and let rot.
Turning the compost pile
Compost activators helps speed up the process along with a good bucket dose of nettle tea.
Smokin’! With all the rains we’ve been having, it was full of red worms and….
Grubs!
Come and get it! The compost pile not only supplies us with soil but treats, treats for the critters that is. Didn’t get any photos but the chickens and ducks gorged themselves with juicy grubs.
(3 votes)
Loading ...
Filed under: Composting, Garden, Posts by Anais, Urban Farming |
Tags: Barnyard, Compost, Composting, homestead, posting, Soil, the urban homestead, Urban Homestead
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!
March 10, 2010
Continuing our pictorial peek into life here on the urban homestead. As for the previous entry with the fish: FYI, we won’t be naming them anytime soon in case you are wondering!
Weekend Wanderings
Farmers Justin & Sergio visit the local nursery that’s right across the street from our urban homestead and check out the vegetable selection looking for heirlooms.
Then onto another nursery around the corner where they check out the dirt. Of course, we didn’t need dirt but as you know there’s something with farmers and dirt. *grin*
Goat walk. I hang with the ladies (scratching Blackberry) while Jordanne forges for goat food (oak leaves, sycamore, acacia, wild buckwheat, etc)
I harvest some wild edibles
On the way home from the goat walk - view of the mountains and majestic sky
Cast-away!
Re-purposing. Betty, our longtime friend and knitting mentor, gave me a sweater that wasn’t finished. Ripping, winding and re knitting into a cute little shrug for sis.
Daily Bread
No knead bread is a staple here on the urban homestead. No Knead Bread recipe
Tasty Treats
Jordanne, who loves to bake, whips up a tasty meyer lemon pound cake made with duck eggs. Oh so good.
Beeing A Good Neighbor
Another urban beekeeper. Justin (above) helps out a newbie beekeeper (below) who’s rescuing feral bees in the area
“Newbee” David shows off his bee colony
Ollas Go to School
A bunch of ollas (in stock and available) find homes at a new school garden in Pasadena. (Photo courtesy of Sarah & Terry) Awesome work - way to grow! Looking forward to seeing more photos as the garden grows.
Download OLLA PLATING GUIDE for spacing details, suggestions
Or see how we use OLLAS in our garden and noticed dramatic results
A homegrown revolution! Our Freedom Garden planted with Freedom Seeds
GOOD NEWS! For those of you who have been trying to order from Freedom Seeds the other day and had some troubles. The “Secure Certificate” has been renewed and we are happily back in business!
Coming up
Smokin compost pile, Amy our duck update, grey water project, and new graphs & stats.
What would you like to see pictured here in these popular pictorial post. Speak up!
VOTE FOR OUR PROJECT in TWO CATEGORIES!
Don’t forget: you can vote once a day, and you do not have to sign up for anything.
(4 votes)
Loading ...
Filed under: Bees, Clay Pot Irrigation, Garden, Goats, Posts by Anais, Skills & Crafts, Urban Farming |
Tags: homestead, the urban homestead, Urban Homestead
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!
March 9, 2010
Wow, ya”ll put up a great bunch of comments/contributions to the Time Management post - check it out if you missed it. Thanks for some great dialogue!
There’s lots happening here on the urban homestead, I can’t even begin to start with details. So I am going to let pictures do the “talking.”
Once again here’s a pictorial post of what’s happening on the homefront.
Enjoy!
Something Fishy Going On
New critter additions to the urban homestead - fishes!
Working a aquaponics contraption
Brewmeister
Jordanne’s, our head brew mistress, been busy in the kitchen whipping up some wonderful drinks like ginger soda, beer and bugs. Yeah bug!
Jordanne starts a ginger “bug” with grated ginger, yeast, sugar and raisins
Now all we have to do is feed “the lil buggy”
Sun Worshipers
When it comes to sunshine, our goats just love the warm morning rays. Ahhhhhhh
Of course, “her ladyship”, Fairlight has to come in and hog the camera. Can’t stand not getting all the attention herself.
Fun With Veggies
Harvesting the heads of cabbage
Cabbage head, sprouts pigtails!
Eats & Treats
More marmalade
Baking goodies
Mending & Maintenance
Fixing our new clothes line
Our new solar clothes dryer ready for action
Maintaining the hives
Hope you are enjoying all the pics, because there’s more coming up. Stay tuned for part 2.
VOTE FOR OUR PROJECT in TWO CATEGORIES!
Don’t forget: you can vote once a day, and you do not have to sign up for anything.
(6 votes)
Loading ...
Filed under: Back to Basics, Citified Farm Animals, Goats, Homestead, Low Impact Living, Posts by Anais, Powering Down, Urban Farming |
Tags: on the homefront
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!
March 8, 2010
Has this site inspired you, do you glean all sorts of helpful information, enjoy the many pictures of life here on the urban homestead? Do you want more? Would you like to help keep us going and growing?
The kind folks at Franklin Springs Media have give us Homestead Blessings DVD’s to giveaway this month to help us raise funds to keep us online for another year and further continue website upgrades (we’ve been receiving “I have problems with” emails, we are still working on improving this site with limited resources so please be patient with us)
How to Enter
1. Subscribe by making a monthly, tax-deductible* donation of $6.00 or more through PayPal to our non profit, Dervaes Institute, for one year. You will receive your choice of a Homestead Blessings DVD, while supplies last.
Choose from these titles made by the West Ladies of Tennessee:
The Art of Dairy Delights
The Art of Cooking
The Art of Sewing
The Art of Canning
The Art of Gardening
The Art of Growing Herbs
The Art of Bread Making
The Art of Candle Making
The Art of Soap Making
3. Current monthly donors are also eligible to receive a DVD.
What are you waiting for? Sign up to become a monthly donor today!
Thank you kindly for your support of this website and our other outreach projects.
*One DVD is a $20 value. Please take this into account for tax reporting purposes.
NOW IN STOCK!
Or you could just go ahead and purchase a DVD or any of the Homestead Blessings 3-DVD collections that we carry on Peddler’s Wagon.
(7 votes)
Loading ...
Filed under: Journey Reflections, PTF Spotlights, Posts by Anais, Weather |
Tags: homestead, homestead blessings, spring
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!
March 8, 2010
Thanks to our wonderful readers we’ve been nominated in TWO CATEGORIES for
Best Landscaping, Garden, or Urban Farm Project
&
Best Website About Farming or Gardening
Wow, thanks all!
Reader’s Choice Voting Process
Starting today and running until Friday, April 2, 2010 is the reader’s choice voting period.
During this time our readers, family, friends, and fans will be able to vote for who they think deserves to be called the Best of Green!
Readers can vote once a day until voting ends.
Winners will be announced the week of April 12, 2010.
Make Your Vote Count
Vote for Path to Freedom’s Urban Homestead/Farm @
Best Landscaping, Garden, or Urban Farm Project
&
Best Website About Farming or Gardening
(8 votes)
Loading ...
Filed under: PTF Spotlights, Posts by Anais, Uncategorized |
Tags: nominate, treehugger best of green 2010
Keep This Site Growing: Did you get some inspiration or glean an informative tip from this post? Please support this site by either making a tax deductible donation or a purchase from our online store. Thank you!