The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City

by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen

The expanded, updated version of the best-selling classic, with a dozen new projects.

"A delightfully readable and very useful guide to front- and back-yard vegetable gardening, food foraging, food preserving, chicken keeping, and other useful skills for anyone interested in taking a more active role in growing and preparing the food they eat."—BoingBoing.net

"...the contemporary bible on the subject."—The New York Times

This celebrated, essential handbook shows how to grow and preserve your own food, clean your house without toxins, raise chickens, gain energy independence, and more. Step-by-step projects, tips, and anecdotes will help get you started homesteading immediately. The Urban Homestead is also a guidebook to the larger movement and will point you to the best books and Internet resources on self-sufficiency topics.

Written by city dwellers for city dwellers, this copiously illustrated, two-color instruction book proposes a paradigm shift that will improve our lives, our community, and our planet. By growing our own food and harnessing natural energy, we are planting seeds for the future of our cities.

Learn how to:


Grow food on a patio or balcony
Preserve or ferment food and make yogurt and cheese
Compost with worms
Keep city chickens
Divert your grey water to your garden
Clean your house without toxins
Guerilla garden in public spaces
Create the modern homestead of your dreams

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Sustainability, Food, Environment, Reference, How To

360 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a practical book full of urban homestead projects and an inspiration for us city dwellers.

It's well written with lots of diagrams and it's such an easy read in general due to the layout.

I've been reading these types of books for many years now and there's always something new to learn in each book, so this was worthwhile.

It's always good to brush up on your knowledge anyway and this particular book was fun!

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good introduction to urban homesteading no matter what part of the political spectrum you fall on. This book can also be used in non urban areas as well.

This book reminded me a lot of my scouting books. So after completing this, I dug out some of the old scouting books that belonged to my family. Most of which date from the mid 20th century.

Unless you were born into this lifestyle, some of the ideas might seem a bit odd, but do give them a try. It might be something you enjoy doing.

[Michael the Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book radically changed they way I see green spaces in New York, and I have become shocked that so many people have small green spaces and grow no food. For that alone, I consider the book valuable in spite of its flaws.

I gave this book four stars, and I've been talking it up to a lot of people, but honestly I'm still a bit concerned. This book has many grammatical errors. And I know that Process is a really small press, and some of the errors might be typesetting (you get what you pay for) but it makes me hesitant to recommend the book.

However, I like their 'you will fail and that's okay' ethos. I like that they scale the book between easy reasonable projects and crazy lunatic projects. I like that they believe things should be 1) cheap and 2) easy.

I bought the book after reading their website and would really have liked more background on the two of them, where did they grow up, what sorts of childhoods do they have, do they work at home, make a lot of money, make no money, what convinced them to do all this (they give lots of reasons one might want to grow one's own food, but I never really felt I knew why they started, though I get why they do it now), and while early in the blog they talk about not having children, they really don't get into how kids could radically effect your urban homestead.

Also, I found it weird that they didn't research green cleaning methods for granite counter tops. They just sort of said, we don't know and threw up their hands. My mom researched the same thing when she got new counter tops and she cleans hers with vodka. (Also worth pointing out - they are always going on and on about how much smarter our grandparents/great-grandparents were when it comes to being harmonious with the world around us, well both my grandmother and her mother used gasoline to clean soapscum. Works a treat, but I've gotten first degree chemical burns, so I wouldn't EVER do it again.)

Finally while I'm very glad their dog ignores their chickens, our miniature dachshund did in about ten of our neighbor's pullets. Yet they recommend dachshunds as dogs that will keep critters out of your garden, without mentioning any conflict of keeping animals. Their are numerous other places (in the heating and cooling your house section) where their advice is also conflicting.

It just seems as though, no matter how good the tips, projects and ideas are, that the book lacks personal information, while being from a personal (and weirdly not researched enough) point of view.

But I'm definitely building self watering containers! And maybe doing the worm composting if I can convince my boyfriend. And I really want to grow a box of mixed greens for salad. And start biking... and....

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick look through this book told me I already am familiar with most of it. We have a small urban garden and already do some of the things recommended. What won’t we do? Dumpster diving, eating weeds and giving up our cars. Overall a good primer on ho to be more self-sufficient and use your city land to provide food, energy and also help the environment.

[jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a book about the crisis of our world that doesn't make you feel shitty and hopeless! This book is not the be-all-end-all on any one subject, and it cannot save the world. Rather, it is an organized way of thinking about your urban home as a site to support and sustain your family, rather than a place to sleep & keep the things you buy. This book has answers to problems. This book is chock full of solutions. From keeping livestock to gardening to generating your own power and baking your own bread, the basics of the long-lost domestic arts are revised here in a basic, tangible text. The sections are clear. The directions are brief and concise. You will not become an expert on anything, but the resource section will definitely point you in the right direction for each subject.

The idea is that we have lost our domestic arts. But you can take a habit that irritates you the most, and change it, or chose the practice that seems easiest to implement into your life, and start there. If you try one thing, it fits well into your lifestyle and you like the results, try another. And another. Within a short period of time, your lifestyle can be vastly improved. I've already renewed my interest in urban chickens, which has long been on the backburner of my mind. My biggest problem is convincing my wife - "if you don't want to eat them or their eggs, why have them?" she asks. so far, "to watch chicken tv and compost their poop" has not been an adequate response.

I wanted to get this book from the library, but the wait was long and I really wanted to read it. However, I try really hard not to buy books, ever. My wife, Krista, surprised me one day and picked it up downtown. She delivered it to me, "I know you wanted it." And I am so happy I own it. I'm spoiled.

Kelly & Erik manage to be inspirational and instructive without being pretentious or intimidating. It felt like their intention was genuinely to get me off my ass and get a sourdough starter and get my compost heap working. They were honest about things that are a waste of money, and what is worth spending on. Their own limitations were right there, spelled out, like "there's not time to explain this whole thing, but here is someone's book who can explain it perfectly."

The sections are:
Start Your Own Farm
Essential Projects
Urban Foraging
Livestock in the City
Revolutionary Home Economics
Be Your Own Utility: Water and Power for the Homestead
Transportation

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the non-fiction that I read, in terms of books on cooking / food preservation / gardening / self-sufficiency, etc. are really heavy-handed with the "this is why you should do this" backstory philosophy stuff before they get into how to actually do it. What I really liked about this book was its uber-practical tone - very straightforward. I also really got the sense from this book that the authors are way more interested in encouraging people to try new things, and do the best they can, than they are in trying to twist peoples' arms into doing "the right thing".

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book for the most part. The premise was appealing but it didn't come across right.

My Rating: 3 stars

Reviewed by: Mrs. N

[Karen Natale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you’ve been gardening for years or days, have a tiny lot or acreage, this book is for you. Practical approaches to creating your own fresh food and reducing your own carbon footprint.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

when the energy grid shuts down and we all have to re-learn how to survive in an agrarian society I'll be glad I have this book with me

[Naomi Toftness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good! I don't live in an urban setting but I think I'll gift this to a friend who does!

[HeavyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this review for the Feminist Review blog, where it appeared on March 5, 2009.

Subtitled "Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City," this volume in the Process Self-Reliance Series bills itself as "a project and resource book, complete with step-by-step illustrations and instructions to get you started homesteading right now." It really delivers, both to absolute beginners and to folks who have already ventured into the world of urban homesteading.

The authors start with growing food. Chapter One offers guidance on the four general strategies for growing food in an urban setting, followed by directions for making seed balls. This chapter gives basic yet useful information about permaculture, then goes into helpful detail about the seven guiding principles of successful urban farming.

Chapter Two gives step-by-step instructions for five projects the authors deem essential for growing food, including starting a compost pile, composting with worms, mulching, building a raised bed, and building self-watering containers. The second half of the chapter includes guidelines for a variety of undertakings, including staring seeds, transplanting, making fertilizer tea, container gardening, installing drip irrigation, controlling insect and animal pests, and rotating crops. The directions are comprehensive; it is not assumed that the reader already has a lot of gardening knowledge and experience, which is beneficial to both novices and folks needing a refresher course.

Urban foraging is the topic of chapter three, and everything from eating acorns to dumpster diving is covered. Six things to know about eating wild are explained in the feral edibles section, along with a list of "some of the most liked, most widespread edible weeds in the continental U.S." There are also sections on invasive edibles, fruit foraging, and reviving day old bread.

Chapter Four focuses on keeping livestock in the city. It includes ample advice about chickens, including where to get them, what to feed them, and how to house them. Other livestock considered include ducks, rabbits, pigeons, quail, and bees.

"Revolutionary Home Economics" is an extensive chapter dealing with the "indoor arts." The first part of the chapter is about food. There are instructions about preserving food through canning, pickling, and drying, as well as by other means. There are also directions for making yogurt, ricotta cheese, and butter. The second half of the chapter is all about cleaning and includes formulas for making DIY cleaning supplies using baking soda, distilled white vinegar, and liquid castile soap. There’s also a short section on dealing with household pests. The chapter ends with valuable tips on what to look for and what choices to make if choosing a new urban homestead.

Chapter Six is about water and power for the homestead and includes information about conserving and harvesting rainwater. There are several projects pertaining to greywater, including running a greywater source directly outside and making a greywater wetland. Topics in the energy section include using insulation and solar heat to increase energy efficiency, alternatives to gas-heated showers, solar cookers, and wind and solar power.

The last chapter, "Transportation," is rather short. It touches on walking but basically emphasizes cycling. The book ends with a comprehensive resource list, including websites, books, and magazines. Disappointingly, there is no index.

The Urban Homestead is a fantastic introduction to living off the land, even when there’s not much land available. It's not meant to be read once, cover to cover. It’s meant to be kept on hand as a resource, a book to refer to again and again in the garden, in the kitchen, in the workroom. There’s a lifetime of information packed in to these 308 pages, and the time to start using that information is now.

[Tinea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally an "urban" gardening book that is actually relevant to apartment dwellers with very little or no yard! This book is great, though I only read the sections on gardening and rainwater harvesting in depth (skipped the stuff on livestock & foraging, skimmed the stuff on food preservation and energy). In some ways, every small space garden book is a repeat once you've taken a permaculture design course & been immersed in urban ag for a while, but the glut of information and choices on homesteading can be so overwhelming as to be paralyzing. This book stands out by presenting very targeted projects, clearly explained and prioritized for dense, urban conditions, with advice organized by access to space.

Inspired me to take out a pencil and map the sunny, under-used lounge in my collective house, designing planters with materials handy or affordable, dream up nifty ways to reflect & increase light (CFL lamps, mirrors) and to list specific plants to grow-- prioritize food that are "expensive, unavailable, or flavorless" at local stores.
- three window planters on end tables, with bush beans, salad greens, and hardy greens (chard/beets)
- herbs like basil and especially mint, given its nature of being repulsive in the opinion of mice (we have already made homemade mint-scented cleaning spray & tucked peppermint teabags in our mouse-ridden closets to good effect, alongside getting super diligent about food crumbs & borrowing a neighbor's cat for a week)
- maybe a hanging pot in the sunniest window with cherry tomatoes
- a bucket with bell or hot peppers?
- berries-- inside??

Also, to expand our house composting to include vermiculture with the intent of making good plant food. The last time I vermicomposted, the results were bad because it was our only compost pile and our food waste output quickly overwhelmed the worms; it became a smelly gross mess. But if we managed their feeding a bit more and limited how much food goes in the worm bin, we could make some super yummy plant food for the pots.

Cool storage closed shelving for Food Not Bombs root veggies in the stairwell?

And, time to ask the landlord about putting in raised beds, and designing some kind of mix of perennials, food annuals, and bioregionally specific habitat on our 6-foot by 40-foot strip of yard.

[Inder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this little book, despite the huge number of typos (even for an independent press, it was a bit extreme). Great information to get you started gardening vegetables on your patio or in your yard, keeping a few animals, making your own bread, yogurt, and beer, and even dumpster diving (ahem, "urban foraging"). So many fun projects! The authors' can-do attitude and eagerness really come through.

However, be aware that many of the suggestions for graywater systems and the like are definitely NOT up to code. I think the authors minimize and gloss over the potential for getting slapped with serious code violations! Perhaps because they live in Los Angeles, where code enforcement staff are notoriously overworked. But don't assume that this will be true in your nice suburb. But of course, you can safely grow vegetables and make your own yogurt even in nice suburbs, so there is still a lot of helpful information in this book, even if you're not in a permissive. And I loved the part about looking for a new house or apartment - they specifically recommend that you move to an area where things aren't too neat or "nice" so that you can get away with turning your front yard into a farm. Well, our neighborhood definitely has that going for it! Awesome.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading a few books in this genre recently (Food Not Lawns, The Backyard Homestead...) and this is my favourite so far. The style is accessible but intelligent, and the book covers a wide range of topic from growing food to cleaning. I was also pleased by the lack of doom-mongering and the emphasis on community rather than heading to the hills to save yourself in the upcoming apocalypse that some books (not the above mentioned) seem to lean towards.

However what I liked best about it was that it manages to provide concrete and useful projects that are also original and do not simply repeat the basics of, eg, vegetable growing. So we are given step-by-step instructions on how to make a self-watering container, cleaning product recipes, simple grey water plumbing strategies, and more.

I got this book out of the library but now I really want my own copy! And I am looking forward to their next book, which I believe is called "Making It".

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather handy book and one that I'll likely remain reading for quite some time. It's definitely whetting my appetite for getting out of the desert and back into a climate where I'm capable of growing something (note to desert lovers: I'm not saying that things are incapable of growing in the desert, just that I'm not capable of making things grow).

From handy ideas for growing potatoes to how to can and preserve various crops this is a nice fount of information for someone like me who has little experience in most of these arenas but would like to change that. I'm sure as the years go by and I get more familiar with the techniques that I'll put this down and move on to more advanced homesteading lit, but for now this helps spark my imagination and get me excited about the possibilities for living self-sufficiently in that most unsustainable of environs, the city.

[Kim G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dug this one. I came to this book looking for a couple of easier things I could add to my list of hippie crap I already do (I garden, I have eliminated most chemicals from my cleaning, I compost) and it was exactly what I wanted. It gave me a few ideas for projects that are relatively simple to implement, and also gave me a few ideas that I can add to my maybe someday list.

I also liked the general tone of this book, it's laid-back and the authors seem to actually understand that many people are limited by their living spaces (not always common in this genre, so very much appreciated), yet there's a lot of enthusiasm and ambition.

But as other reviewers have noted, the typo situation is off the chain. Holy smokes.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book. There's nothing much new for the die-hard old hippie, but it's ALL in here. This is a book a person would like to have on her shelf come the revolution. Or the end of the world as we know it.

Organized in an easy to use fashion, written in a breezy but serious style and full of very high-quality information. Lots of additional suggested reading, lots of small but useful tips.

This one's on my wish list for the permanent collection. I'll shelve it right next to my Mother Earth News Almanac.

[Abilouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about how some people keep goats in the city, among other things. This book is actually a seriously good reference: having read the chapter about fruit trees, I finally understand the principles behind pruning, and why you might prune differently for a city garden fruit tree than a commercial-production orchard tree. This book gives a really nice mix of why with the what, and uses metaphor and nice descriptive writing to help you understand how to do new things. This is a much higher quality of writing than I've seen in pretty much any other gardening book, and I really enjoyed it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book is rad. I want to buy it though. I got it at the library, and now I want it as a resource for the "homestead." It makes me want to plant stuff, and move so I can have chickens. I keep reading about the fascinating world of chickens, providing their own kind of "chicken t-v" and I am most intrigued.

PS - I am REALLY enjoying the cleaning section of this book. I made my own soft scrub from their "recipe" and I'll never go back! Delightful. Mine smelled like peppermint. As promised, it made me want to find more things to scrub.

[Alaura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good but also, I’m worried about the advise given in the book because it basically goes against what farmers say/do. It had some great ideas, I just worry that some of their advise won’t actually work or could harm my garden. The book was written by someone who is still learning (which is fine) but they have zero educational background in gardening and have only recently started their own garden. So my advise: take what they say with a grain of salt until you find another source to back up what they claim.

[Tráese · Rating 5 out of 5]

TUH is filled with endless possibilities and basic down-to-Earth reconnections to get anyone interested in the applications of Urban Homesteading a go.

Not revolutionary nor new, but wisely refocusing and offering up ideas and information that anyone can apply with even the most basic of backyards.

Check out Kelly & Erik's daily/weekly progress-blog of the Urban Revolution:
www.homegrownevoltuion.com

: Happy Planting-Harvesting-Eating :

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh how i hate myself for liking this book, really i feel dirty ashamed and embarrassed, i am NOT a hipster... well at least i dont try to be... anyway enough embarassing myself, part of what i like beyond the crazy nasty things they tell you to do (like poop in a bucket and then use it a year later for fertilizer) they drop all these casual zombie references, crazy sweet good info...
so embarassed

[Andee Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Useful information. Makes me proud to live in a small, efficient house. I think its a matter of time before we have chickens and bee hives. I'm taking Earth Mama to the next level..

[Eric Moote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: it’s basically a distillation if everything you’ll find if you google “how to be an urban homesteader,” with some personal opinions and stories thrown in for context and appeal.

[Jacqueline M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book. I wanted to like it. As someone who is an urban homestead SME I was really hoping this was a great book that I could recommend to others. But this thing went all kinds of sideways. It was more a manifesto on living in the city? Like I do get that cycling and dumpster diving are activities that might overlap with the lifestyle of folks interested in urban homesteading, but I don't think I would categorize either as homesteading. I also found straight up incorrect information in this book. Please do not let your quail in your greenhouse because despite what this author says, they absolutely love greens and will decimate everything in there. I am also not sure how you have an urban homesteading book with literally 3/4 of a page devoted to quail which I would argue are the most urban-friendly homestead bird that exists. The advice around the garden itself is also dubious. A lot of anecdotal advice not rooted in any sort of actual agronomy principles. You can be organic and also still understand botany and agronomy.

I will also tell you that when I see "homemade laundry soap" with no actual detergents involved, it's an immediate no from me. Tell me you don't understand what a surfactant is without saying you don't understand what a surfactant is. I also felt like there was a ton of information that would be overwhelming to a beginner especially around gray-water systems and composting toilets. (Neither of which I personally find appropriate for an urban environment.)

Overall, it's not the worst I've read, but it felt like it was written by some blogger who declared themselves experts without having any actual expertise.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my experience with books about gardening/homesteading/living a more sustainable life, this book stands out.
For one thing, its focus on urban living and the specific challenges and opportunities in that setting. Most if not all of the topics and ideas they address are appropriate for city dwellers, particularly those without a lot of space.
For a second thing, it doesn't just focus on gardening and husbandry, aka feeding oneself, but also devotes a lot of space to off-the-grid living techniques that can be used in a urban setting. It introduced me to a number of ideas that I hadn't encountered in other more narrowly focused books, like grey water and rocket stoves. I especially liked how they tried to cover different levels for each project from the easy (gathering the shower water in a bucket while you wait for the water to get hot and using it to water plants or even flush the toilet) to the more elaborate (like rigging up a pipe system to take the grey water directly outside).
And thirdly, I loved the writing style and tone of the book. It's well organized and is written in a very conversational and humorous style that made me laugh out loud a couple times. There are numerous references to how useful these techniques will be during the coming zombie apocalypse. I also liked how the two authors balanced each other with one of them being way more into elaborate DIY constructions with found objects and the other being a little lazier and less rigid about these things (not that I resemble the latter...).

In the end, I really loved this book and am glad that I own it and therefore can refer back to parts of it when needed.

[Ad Astra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really, REALLY enjoyed this book. There are so many cool projects and ideas in here that are well explained, and come with multiple ways to execute them sometimes. While I own a very suburban, full fledged home (for the first time, go me!) it's great for sparking ideas and has an abundance of references, resources, and things to follow up on even if you are not urban or have large quarters. I highly encourage this for anyone who is looking to do more in their home, switch to creation from consumption, and find ways to go green. It is not without some humor, and doesn't come off as "This is the way! Follow me or be doomed forever." It's very approachable content. Unfortunately, the web page that I believe they list as their own website looks like it's no longer functioning and has been renamed or migrated.

[Nicole Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production” 🌱

Wow! This is a great how-to book to keep on your shelf and reference as you work through projects at home. In a simple to understand way, the authors work through topics like composting, canning, tending chickens and livestock, and truly turning your home into a homestead.

I made the poor choice of borrowing the ebook from the library and trying to read everything through in one go, taking notes along the way. This is definitely *not* a book to read cover to cover in one sitting 🥴

If a self-sustaining homestead is your dream, or you just want to depend on the big corporations of the world a little less, this is a great book to purchase with plenty of projects to slowly tackle. It will change the way you see the world, one chapter at a time.

[Janelle]

I appreciate the energy and ethos of using everything you can to become as self-reliant as possible in very little space. There are lots of ideas here from simple to very advanced. Some of these I would probably read a full book on before taking on, but I felt like their explanations were well written and attitude was encouraging. The book felt a bit limited by their personal experience at times. Kids weren't really part of the vision for an urban homestead, for example their transportation chapter doesn't mention the possibility of transporting small people (bike trailers were briefly mentioned only as a way to haul cargo). As another example they mention fruit trees as something that takes no effort, which is certainly not true in my part of the country.

[Dymphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The Urban Homestead", Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen cover various topics in and around the house/homestead in order for one to become more self-sufficient. Raging from topics of farming to transport, many tips, tricks and projects are brought to the readers' attention.

This book is easy to read and to follow. Projects range from simple to extensive, making it a book for every level. Where the project goes above the authors' "skill level", still, the experiences of the authors are given and more reading is given. I also enjoyed many experiences from their blog readers.

All and all, this is a book that I have found quite helpful. I might attempt some projects from the book myself.