A book Review of The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erick Knutzen.
I decided to buy this book in January 2009; being at times a lazy reader, I’ve only just finished with the book. Saying that, in the end it is a good primer on starting to turn your home in the city into a homestead.
The first half of the book covers growing your own foods, projects related to that (like self-watering pots) and ideas on what plants to put together to encourage growth and discourage unwanted bugs. It is long, but well worth the read as it covers many areas from composting to seed starting, food preservation techniques to urban foraging for food.
The remainder of the book largely covers how to source your own power and water; for water, things like rainbarrels, earthen retaining “dams” and working with your home’s downspouts. It also talks about designing your landscape to use rainwater run-off more efficiently, so you don’t have to use tap-water. Also, grey-water is spoken of, what it is and how to use it. As for power (like with the water section), discussion is not only on usage of; but also on reducing the need for excessive amounts to be used. So stuff like window awnings are talked about as a way to reduce your need a) for air-conditioning and b) as a way to help improve the air as it enters your home. For power, not only is PV spoken on; but also ideas about other forms of power, like passive solar heating (by use of a solar air heater attached to your south (that’s my wording) windows to supplement the heat you currently have warming your home. As well, other then solar power, solar cooking is talked about and how to use it (via a solar cooker). Beyond solar power, wind power is spoken about and briefly touched upon.
Lastly, the topic of transportation is discussed; this deals with the “transportation triangle” of walking, cycling and mass transit. Also, talked about are the “transportation principles” (the authors note they are biased towards human powered transport (predominantly cycling)) – “The Journey Is The Journey”, “Transportation Should Be Low Tech”, “Your Transportation Should Give You Exercise” and lastly “Transportation Should Promote Community”; walking is talked about, though most of the section deals with cycling and how to do it in an urban setting. Having cycled in the city when I was younger, this didn’t tell me much; but for anyone not familiar or comfortable, it will offer a very minimalist insight into urban cycling. Also touched on are finding a bike, cargo bikes and everything from packs for biking (from panniers to backpacks) to clothing and dealing with saddle sores.
The book ends with a single page called “Conclusion: The Future” in which the authors comment on their thoughts about the future.
The resources section is well laid out and a very good start for anyone, just remember that though the resources are noted, they maybe out of date or non-existent (if the site owner has closed up shop), so use this section as a starting point and go from there.
I think the book is a good starting point for people, the cost is reasonable (I think I paid about $20 CAD for it) and the application for most urbanites will make the move to greater self-sufficiency (along with John Seymour’s book Concise Guide to Self-Sufficiency should get you off to a good start (and provide you with good, long term information and a reference point for years to come).
