Modern Homestead: Grow, Raise, Create

I've been an occasional hobby gardener for a long time. I've read loads of gardening books, most containing great information that made be a better gardener. After my daughter was born 3 years ago, I gave up gardening for awhile due to time constraints. When I decided to start gardening again, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work I was faced with. This book helped change my perspective- now, I'm starting to look at myself more as a homesteader more than a gardener. What's the difference? Homesteading is a lifestyle, not a hobby or chore. The first thing my 3 year old daughter says when we get home from daycare is "Let's go look and see how the garden is doing!"The book is an excellent template for starting an urban homestead, but encourages the reader to experiment and improvise, making your homestead a reflection of the reader's (rather than the author's) personality and values. This methodology rewards the homesteader with a solid homesteading intuition- after enough experiments, you have a pretty good idea what will work for you and what won't. This is really at the heart of the "green thumb" concept- understanding and perfecting your own garden via your own intuition and knowledge rather than trying to photocopy someone else's success.

This book has been earning its keep on my bookshelf! I have been wanting to start a "real" garden for several years now, but it's hard to know where to begin when you weren't raised on a farm. This book caught my eye in the gardening section because it's really pretty, it covers a ton of info and I liked the writing style. It's very easy to understand and enjoyable to read.We have a postage stamp yard and the book has lots of ideas for small spaces. The "grow" chapter has some helpful garden plans. It's nice just to have someone tell me what to plant where and how much can fit into a raised bed. The "create" chapter has lots of easy recipes which have been fun to make and it's been good practice for me to get used to cooking fresh. I'm looking forward to drying and canning later this summer. I love that it includes the "raise" chapter on keeping chickens and goats, but we're not quite there yet. I'm glad I don't have to buy another book in a year or two though when we're ready to think more seriously about chickens. Really happy the book got me started and I think I'll use it a lot over the years as the garden plans grow!

I'm writing this with a bit of buyer's remorse. I flipped through this book in person and I think the photos distracted me from the lack of useful content. If you are an absolute beginner to anything garden or homestead related, you might find this an inspiring place to start. If you have a bit of knowledge/experience already and you're looking for a valuable resource to have around the house - this is not it.Tips such as try forming a garden club a punk rock name to attract other young hipsters will make you feel like you are on the wrong end of a Portlandia skit. It seems like a new book on urban ag or homesteading comes out every week now, so don't make the mistake I did - keep looking for something you'll find useful for a long time. Or look for my copy in a used bookstore.

If you are exploring gardening in addition to backyard animals, chickens and the like, this is a great resource. She spends a bit of time on apartments and landlords, if you are an apartment dweller - I skipped thru a lot of the introductory pages and the apartment stuff. I really like her writing, it is so easy and comfortable and yet smart and deeply informative. I would rank her as a content expert on composting, chickens, gardening, preserving etc.. It is a cool book and I look forward to her next one.

This book is very informative. Lots of knowledge!!

Glad I found this book.

There's tons of solid info in this big book, covering pretty much anything you want to know about gardening/homesteading. I've continued to refer back to this book for basic canning recipes, compost/soil amendment ratios, and chicken care over the yrs.

This reviewer can readily be classified as an "old hippie" so that much of the homesteading advice out there today is stuff I practiced in the 1970s. But Renee Wilkinson is one of the new lights in town; focusing on modern (aka "urban") homesteading, she brings the ideas of homesteading, do-it-yourself, and creating a life you will love to people who never thought of raising a chicken or of the fascination of bees. Whether you are in an apartment or a suburban tract home, whether you are a novice or a seasoned gardener, you will find enrichment and encouragement in Modern Homestead.Wilkinson warns you to check your local laws and befriend your neighbors; it is essential to make modern, urban homesteading viable and happy. There are only four chapters to this book, each embracing a homesteading concept and breaking it down into bite-sized chunks for your consumption. She discusses rented homesteads, small spaces (patios? balconies?) and sprawling spreads. She encourages her readers to cultivate community, to create a group of neighbors and friends who share and appreciate the "hip homesteader" idea.I very much enjoyed her page in Chapter One that is basically just a collection of ideas on sustainable living practices. We know them, in our hearts, but having them on one page rattles our cages and helps us embrace what we know is the right thing to do for the planet. The mantras Eat Local, BYOB (bag,) Alternative transportation and the classic Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are solid reinforcement for all of us.Wilkinson avoids giving advice without backing it up with ideas and plans. Her duck coop is on my list of things to build this Spring. The beautiful pictures of her in action, throughout the book, give life and beauty to her concepts and ideas, all of which she practices herself.Interested in ideas on preserving your harvest? Chapter four in this book has as much solid information and recipes as those books dedicated to the subject. Zucchini Parmigiana sounds divine, and a chart on blanching makes a great starting point for freezing your own munificence. Make and freeze pesto, create yummy fruit popsicles, can a saucy marinara and find ideas for a canning party that will make want to start right now. Wilkinson wraps up her book with ideas for homemade cleansers.This is a one-stop book for those interested in creating a homesteading life. If you are not sure that this is the life for you, or even if you are curious about how others make it happen, add this book to your bookshelf. You will find it useful, even if you just have a backyard garden. And you will find it inspiring if you are wondering just how to go about living on the land. Enjoy!by Laura Strathman Hulkafor Story Circle Book Reviewsreviewing books by, for, and about women