Urbs in villam

Chicago’s motto is Urbs in horto:  City in a garden. And flowers are nice. I love the gardens that our city has shoe-horned into every nook and cranny. I love that they give away a million tulip bulbs every year after the bloom is done. I love our world-class park system. But imagine a city [...]

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Conspicuous sustainability

Sustainability for a middle class American is an oxymoron. Our entire way of life is premised on unsustainability. We live in houses bigger than we need (even those of us in “small” houses). Americans own more cars than households; in fact, more cars than drivers. We are blessed with constantly fully-stocked shelves at the grocery [...]

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Where is your limit?

How do you compromise your ethics? How do you eat SLOW (Seasonal, Local, Organic, Whole) or SOLE (Seasonal, Organic, Local, Ethical) when you can only hit a few of the tenets? Everyone over the age of 4 (except politicians) knows that you cannot have it all your way, every time. But we’re talking about the [...]

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Dark Days Challenge: Week 1 – West

Welcome Week One of the Dark Days Challenge, and to the recapping team for the “West” Group! (Pretty much everyone from Indiana to the Pacific). Don’t forget to check out the companion post from the Easterners! Starting next Sunday we will start recapping and sharing what some of the DDC participants are up to. If [...]

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Hello from the Pacific Northwest

I’m so excited to have been asked by the wonderful contributors here at Not Dabbling in Normal to be part of this venture. For the past 5ish years I have been living and urban-homesteading in Austin, TX. For the past 2.5 years, my blog An Austin Homestead has been my outlet and journal of my [...]

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One day a week

Originally posted on Sconeday in 2010 Last year, I lost weight by eating. You heard that right. I lost weight by eating. I never set out to lose weight, and didn’t care that much, as I wasn’t terribly overweight for someone of my age (BMI 29, now down to 26). But in March of last [...]

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The question is, *should* you recyle?

Real food, real gardening, real housekeeping. We’ve broadly defined “real” here as make it yourself, grow it yourself, source it yourself, do it yourself, but the whole concept is a minefield of an issue for people trying to step lightly on the earth. Some of us live in suburban or rural areas, where one cannot [...]

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Buying Secondhand

Buying secondhand items is a great way to save money and have a little fun, not to mention save something from the landfill. It becomes almost a game, the hunt is often the part that brings the most fun and excitement. There are so many places to find an item you need that don’t involve [...]

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May Planner

  So many of us are working our way toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. With that in mind we wanted to share some general guidelines of what to plan for on a monthly basis. Whether you’re a gardener, a beekeeper, a forager, or you keep animals, hopefully our monthly guides will help you plan ahead [...]

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April Planner

So many of us are working our way toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. With that in mind we wanted to share some general guidelines of what to plan for on a monthly basis. Whether you’re a gardener, a beekeeper, a forager, or you keep animals, hopefully our monthly guides will help you plan ahead for [...]

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