Our Urban Homestead Wishlist

This week’s CSA box contained a cornucopia of locally grown organic produce (rainbow chard, kale, lettuce, beets, carrots, snap peas, zucchini, strawberries, cherries, oranges, grapefruit, and an avocado) and has got me thinking about our home, our yard, and the possibilities for a more self-sufficient future. And, naturally, I made a list:

Raise chickens

Plant more fruit trees

Cook more from scratch & start canning

Harvest our food with vertical gardening

Set up a solar hot water heating system

Re-use our water with a greywater system

Install rooftop solar PV panels

Heat the south side of the house with solar heating in the winter

Create a patio and shade structure for summertime heat

Cook outdoors with a solar oven

Xeriscape our lawn so that it needs less water

Done – Start composting our foodscraps and yard waste

Done – Manage our lawn using carbon-free technology

Use a composting toilet instead of a traditional one

Convert the garage into a studio workshop for making cool stuff

Create a root cellar under the house

It has been called to my attention that “homesteading” is a term that harks back to imperialism, colonialism and current day gentrification. Check this post for details. Whatever you want to call it, I’m excited to get my hands dirty.