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The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Subtitled "Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City," this volume in the Process Self-Reliance Series bills itself as "a project and resource book, complete with step-by-step illustrations and instructions to get you started homesteading right now." It really delivers, both to absolute beginners and to folks who have already ventured into the world of urban homesteading.

The authors start with growing food. Chapter One offers guidance on the four general strategies for growing food in an urban setting, followed by directions for making seed balls. This chapter gives basic yet useful information about permaculture, then goes into helpful detail about the seven guiding principles of successful urban farming.

Chapter Two gives step-by-step instructions for five projects the authors deem essential for growing food, including starting a compost pile, composting with worms, mulching, building a raised bed, and building self-watering containers. The second half of the chapter includes guidelines for a variety of undertakings, including staring seeds, transplanting, making fertilizer tea, container gardening, installing drip irrigation, controlling insect and animal pests, and rotating crops. The directions are comprehensive; it is not assumed that the reader already has a lot of gardening knowledge and experience, which is beneficial to both novices and folks needing a refresher course.

Urban foraging is the topic of chapter three, and everything from eating acorns to dumpster diving is covered. Six things to know about eating wild are explained in the feral edibles section, along with a list of "some of the most liked, most widespread edible weeds in the continental U.S." There are also sections on invasive edibles, fruit foraging, and reviving day old bread.

Chapter Four focuses on keeping livestock in the city. It includes ample advice about chickens, including where to get them, what to feed them, and how to house them. Other livestock considered include ducks, rabbits, pigeons, quail, and bees.

"Revolutionary Home Economics" is an extensive chapter dealing with the "indoor arts." The first part of the chapter is about food. There are instructions about preserving food through canning, pickling, and drying, as well as by other means. There are also directions for making yogurt, ricotta cheese, and butter. The second half of the chapter is all about cleaning and includes formulas for making DIY cleaning supplies using baking soda, distilled white vinegar, and liquid castile soap. There’s also a short section on dealing with household pests. The chapter ends with valuable tips on what to look for and what choices to make if choosing a new urban homestead.

Chapter Six is about water and power for the homestead and includes information about conserving and harvesting rainwater. There are several projects pertaining to greywater, including running a greywater source directly outside and making a greywater wetland. Topics in the energy section include using insulation and solar heat to increase energy efficiency, alternatives to gas-heated showers, solar cookers, and wind and solar power.

The last chapter, "Transportation," is rather short. It touches on walking but basically emphasizes cycling. The book ends with a comprehensive resource list, including websites, books, and magazines. Disappointingly, there is no index. The Urban Homestead is a fantastic introduction to living off the land, even when there’s not much land available. It's not meant to be read once, cover to cover. It’s meant to be kept on hand as a resource, a book to refer to again and again in the garden, in the kitchen, in the workroom. There’s a lifetime of information packed in to these 308 pages, and the time to start using that information is now.

Written by: Chantel C. Guidry, March 5th 2009

Skull Star “Pretty In Pink” Sheet Set

admin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:02:00 +0000

Sin in Linen

My approach to interior design is somewhat offbeat. Between my bright purple walls, baby blue sink and curtains made from Halloween-themed fabric, I like my décor to be fun and reflect my tastes. I enjoy working around the house, and it's always neat to find home and garden items with character. Needlesstosay, I was absolutely thrilled about this sheet set. Made by Sin In Linen, the Skull Star "Pretty In Pink” sheet set is not only bedding that features skulls, but it is also PINK. Bright, vivid, awesome pink. As a Goth with a love of pastels, this was right up my alley. Not only are these fabulous sheets fun and different, they're also comfy and high-quality, made out of 100% combed cotton sateen, with a 230 thread count. This item would be a perfect housewarming gift for the punk on your list! I imagine I shall turn to Sin In Linen in the future as an excellent alternative to drab home furnishings.

Written by: Beeb Ashcroft, June 26th 2007

Devine Color: When Color Sings

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:55:00 +0000

By Gretchen Schauffler

Inkwater Press

What do you do when the taupe couch you loved in the store looks green when you combine it with the other furnishings in your living room? Before you return the couch to the store, read Devine Color: When Color Sings by Gretchen Schauffler.

In Devine Color, Schauffler educates readers about color and the effects it has on home décor. Her goal is to help her readers appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. She tackles common color myths, discusses color combinations and explains color associations.

Schauffler explains that every color in your home can fit into the six color categories (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple). Another color problem that is discussed is neutral color. She also claims that neutrals are not really colors on their own. Rather, neutrals often pick up the colors around them and can end up looking quite different than what was expected in the paint store.

Furthermore, Schauffler encourages readers to be proactive about color, put the items in their homes into color categories, and then to try new paint colors that enhance their surroundings. She maintains a friendly and helpful tone throughout and provides plenty of tips and tricks for enhancing home décor with items that are already present in the home. Schauffler makes readers feel like they can go out and pick the right colors for their home. The advice in Devine Color can be applied to home décor, as well as art and fashion.

Written by: Rekesha Spellman, June 7th 2007

A Simple Distance

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:14:00 +0000

By K. E. Silva

Akashic Books

"All this speaking for others had me losing my own voice," states Jean, the conflicted lesbian attorney with mommy issues in A Simple Distance, K. E. Silva's luscious, tropical/San Francisco novel. In less than 200 rich and delicious pages, Silva layers a bold and romantic tale of family betrayal, lust, politics and the ever-poignant quest for a place one can call home.

Cracked like a coconut, Jean is hard and coarse on the outside, wrapped snugly in her thick skin. Though hidden inside, her sweetness and urge for lasting love and social justice push through her rough exterior. A civil-rights lawyer in San Francisco (are there really any other kind of lawyers in San Francisco?), she is obligated to sacrifice her own beliefs in order to defend her client. Her work life bleeds into her personal life as she finds herself holding her tongue in almost every situation - except when it's dancing in the mouth of a spunky female doctor on the homophobic West Indian island where her family's name is currency. Her secretly illicit love affair, when exposed, shakes the palm trees of the island and challenges her conservative, traditional family to cling to their history or confront the present. Jean's relationship to her mother, to her race, to her job and to her lover are thrust to the forefront as she is forced to not only stay afloat, but navigate through the tumultuous waters of her history.

The novel brings to the surface that triplet of issues: race, class and gender though Silva's deeply drawn characters give a unique voice that screams louder than the politics. Though there are a few moments of cliché, in the end Silva doesn't let anyone off the hook so easily. Her sharp yet ravishing language caresses her story and conjures glorious yet flawed characters swimming in contradictions as they splash through love, prejudice, pride and revenge in their journey to find that place called home.

Written by: Dana Edell, March 22nd 2007