Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Urban Homesteader On The Eighth Floor



             One of my favourite spots to visit in the Okanagan is Swan Lake Nursary- they are also a fruit and vegetable stand as well- but my main interest is usually whats going on outside- especially at this time of year! This past weekend we paid a quick visit to stock up on a few essentials- mainly strawberries- but also a few herbs that caught my eye and some bamboo poles for our beans. I was happily surprised at the number of organic seedlings Swan Lake had on offer- I managed to score the last dozen organic Strawberry plants- apparently they are quite the hot commodity! Score one for our mini Urban Homestead!




        I feel like our little garden is slowly starting to come together- we have our seedlings gong strong in our window- it's still a bit cool at night to transplant them all outside- but hardier plants like the Strawberries, beans and kale are all snug in their homes outside. Living in the city it can be tricky figuring out what food grows well and what doesn't- we have lived in our current apartment for just over three years and it has taken me this long to establish that tomatoes do not do well on our deck. So our little homestead in the city has a lot of herbs, leafy greens and the aforementioned Strawberries! This year we are also trying Fava beans and onions which I have never grown in a container before- it will be exciting to see how they turn out!.


        With in my body beats the heart of a country girl through and through- I long for a piece of land to call my own- but until that day comes I just have to try my best and make due where I can- loosely termed Urban Homesteading. Its interesting to me how this moniker Urban Homesteader  has become such a buzz word over the past year or so- referring to anyone who participates in traditional activities relating to the home- growing food, raising chickens, making yogurt, baking bread. I love the groundswell of this movement- how more and more people desire to live in a more environmentally friendly manner. What started out not too long ago as a return to understanding our food source has evolved into something beautiful that we all benefit from- weather we chose to participate or not.


      I used to get so frustrated that we were unable to grow the majority of our food- I was frustrated that we didn't have land- these feelings very much prevented me from seeing what our potential was. Living in the city it's easy to have a pot of herbs sitting in the window sill- clipping fresh thyme or rosemary year round instead of buying a plastic clam shell of herbs from the grocery store saves resources and provides a feeling of satisfaction in having grown something. Weather a family does a little or a lot is up to each family- no one can judge- everyone wins. So from my mini Urban Homestead on the eighth floor I will try and remember it's the little drops that all add up to form an ocean- and an ocean of change is exactly what this world needs!


2 comments:

  1. Ok a couple things....
    Please come and live next to me.
    and I read a quote about if you didn't buy something from your local grocery store they'd never know, but if you didn't buy it from a farmer at a farmer's market, they'd know, your dollar helps them so much, and you can find the farmers that grow good stuff, healthy, organic, non GMO stuff. So while it's not being grown directly by you, you're still doing so much to fill the ocean by buying from a farmer.
    Also please come and live near me, I'll share my garden!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What you say is so true- buying from the Farmers Market is equally important to growing our own food- I just find it so frustrating and a bit futile to not have any control over my food sources sometimes. And yes I would gladly move to California where you grow food all year long and it rarely rains- I was just talking about this with another friend yesterday as we sat drinking coffee in the pouring rain!

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment- I love hearing from you!