The Homesteading Network

The trade or swap is an integral part in the homesteading life. If we are to be sustainable we have to be a part of a larger homesteading community made up of friends, family and neighbors. Today we said goodbye and good luck to our young Cochin rooster, Bumblebee. Hope he enjoys his new family!

 

Forest Bounty

Well I was going to work on the garden tonight since the heat had broke. Instead since it was so beautiful I went to the woods. I'm glad I did. The harvest was bountiful!

          
      
   

Native of the Day: Corylus Americana, American Hazelnut tree

Here at Sustainableinsuburbia we are looking forward to harvesting these beauties in a month or so. Every year it seems like I forget how wide and large our Hazelnut gets. My bush is enormous. At harvest time we'll shell these while sitting and watching sustainable living shows on the TV. My family goes nuts (pun intended!) for the Hazelnut chocolate spread. Also, since we've always wanted a wildlife garden, this is one the deer love. Darn deer! This is a great addition to any edible landscape.

 

 

Survivalist in suburbia

NOTE: Scroll down for more blog posts.

Welcome to our suburban homesteading blog.

We decided to create this blog in tandem with multiple projects that we have recently started in our community related to gardening, self-sustenance and service in the last year. If you are joining us from one of those projects or classes, we hope this becomes a valuable resource for you as you implement the techniques taught there. If you are from a different community it is our hope that you too will find this site helpful both in your personal life and throughout your community as well.  It is our goal to explore, share, and encourage the many ways in which anyone can lead a more self-sustaining life style no matter where they are or how much land they do or do not own. We will begin with the topic we know the most about which is gardening. Having gardened on all sorts of properties suburban and other wise (mostly rentals) we have a lot of personal experience and years of research. We strive for organic gardening that meets the majority of our dietary and health needs. This includes natural pest control options, a balance of vegetables, fruits and iron rich foods, medicinal herbs, and natural beauty and meditative qualities.

We also want to share our experiences as we strive to live more independent commercial resources while still keeping our home close to family in a typical suburban, subdivision with a strict home owners’ association. We know what kind of challenge this will be but we want to make the most of effort by sharing this journey with those who might have also wondered if such a lifestyle is possible in their living arrangement.  This will include scavenging and hunting in public or “friendly” woods, resource conservation, recycling and upcycling, natural energy sources, and goods and services swapping. Warning we believe firmly in moderation so you will not find extreme lifestyle topics here. Though my husband I would love to go completely off the grid, we have kids and parents and friends who would probably not be too keen about going with us. So, yes, we are trying to find and keep the best of both worlds and we can’t wait to take you along for the ride. Thank you for joining us.

 The Stewarts

Steven, Amber, Tess, and Graham