Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living

Rachel Kaplan, K. Ruby Blume

Skyhorse Publishing, Apr 27, 2011 - House & Home - 304 pages

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. 

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - 2wonderY - LibraryThing

Lots of nice photographs with plenty of ideas. More info on cob building and humanure details than I would have expected. Lots of good advice about life style making as well as gardening and animal ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - MrsTalksTooMuch - LibraryThing

Usually these types of books encourage methods that are either too extreme or too expensive. This book had neither. It was a wonderful introduction to small, affordable changes that can be made to not ...

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living
• Authors: Rachel Kaplan, K. Ruby Blume
• Edition: unabridged
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, 2011
• ISBN: 1626368503, 9781626368507
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Gardening / Garden Design; Gardening / Herbs; Gardening / Organic; Gardening / Techniques; House & Home / Cleaning, Caretaking & Organizing; House & Home / Design & Construction; House & Home / Reference; House & Home / Remodeling & Renovation; House & Home / Small Spaces; House & Home / Sustainable Living; Technology & Engineering / Agriculture / Animal Husbandry