Living on the Edge
It’s not just a good Aerosmith song. Edge use, for those of us who really like to push our food production to the max, is essential. Along a property line (assuming you have a good relationship with your neighbor and trust they won’t spritz your plantings with herbicide) is a great place to make use of an edge. Trellised hops or sunflowers are a good start. Well caged tomatoes, if the sun and soil needs are met, is another option. I’ve had success with all of those. Edge and vertical space use always go well together. Here, along the west side of our house I’ve planted peas. It receives moderate sun this time of year, the stucco holds daytime warmth and protects the plantings from late frost. Once the peas have finished out, I’ll replace them with cucumbers that’ll love the heat and sun that bears down on that side…
Navigating the Shift
Thoughts and Realizations… I’ve operated with a preparedness, homesteading and frugality mindset for most of my adult life. Even with all the skills I’ve obtained and the progress I’ve made (paying off debt, for example) the effects of the pandemic have still caught me a little off guard. I guess we all operate within normalcy bias. It’s always been in the back of my mind that an economic disruption or even collapse was probable in my lifetime. The main issue I’m trying to work around is how isolating this version of it is. My plan, should we start to see breakdowns in services, was to organize locally with my friends, neighbors and family to address whatever needed to be handled. But with the need to self quarantine, we’ve got a committee of two here to get more actions and plans in place. Fortunately it’s spring and there’s no shortage of…
The Origins of the Stronghold
When my 24th birthday was coming up, my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. “A house!” I blurted out. She blinked a couple of times and said “Well, okay.” The hunt began. We’d been living in an apartment for two years and while I didn’t mind it over all, I was really wanting to stretch out and have room to do STUFF. I grew up on 80 acres, a mix of pasture and woods with a spring and pond. Most of my childhood was spent outside and by my mid 20s my need to be playing in the soil was returning. We had to make some compromises though. At that time, property was expensive and we didn’t have much time or expertise to take on a fixer upper project. We also wanted to keep close to our respective jobs. Most of our search was within city limits…
Raised Beds for Anyone!
Here’s a simple method to building a raised bed that you can accomplish in a weekend or less. Materials: wood (treated or untreated/salvaged/whatever suits you) Decent dimensions are 2×6 planks for depth and having something that’ll hold up for a few years. Stakes. You can make them or buy packs at the big orange store for a few bucks. Cardboard or lots of newsprint. No glossy. No tape. Screws. Self driving makes things easier. Once you’ve sited where you’d like your garden and determined your bed sizes (I recommend no wider than four feet and six to eight feet is a decent length.) If you opt for four feet, make sure you can reach it from all sides. The idea is to never step into this bed and compact the soil. If your soil seems pretty dead (only a few worms, compacted, etc, throw down some laying hen feed or…
Our Mission Statement
Strong Roots Resources is a business built around teaching the concepts of modern home economics in order to help others build resilience into their lives. We use a variety of permaculture techniques, waste stream redirection and frugal planning to demonstrate how to turn a standard consumer-oriented home into a place of food production, creativity and harmony. Our focus is helping our neighbors assess and understand the potential of their property, no matter how small, in terms of growing food, reducing energy use and fostering independence. These skills can be learned and applied regardless of economic status. We share this knowledge and skill set following our own 13 year (and on going) experience with small scale homesteading in an urban area. We speak from a place of humility, acknowledging a gradual learning curve and small successes that have built upon themselves. We have found that a change towards this type of…