Urban Farming

Tickle Your Taste Buds The weather's warming up so that means it's time for you know what?  ICE CREAM!  Made here locally with organic milk and other locally grown ingredients. This cold & tasty treat is brought to you by an award winning creamy just up the road from the homestead. Rose Petal Ice cream is baaack (made with our very own red roses)! Stop by for scoops of yummy seasonal flavors from Carmela Ice Cream now at The Urban Homestead's "Front Porch Farmstand" (Open Sunday - Friday.  Close Saturday) Enjoy this handcrafted ice cream by the scoop, sit in our front garden (pictured above) or bring your own containers and we'll fill them up with this delicious. All together now... I SCREAM!

Local singer, songwriter Dave Ray invites us up to sing "Music & farming have always gone hand in hand with the rhythms of labor and of nature, weaving themselves into songs and tunes that resonate deeply across the ages.  What better way to enhance life, work family and community than by joining together in song and dance." —Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Sunday Tradition hoot·en·an·ny  [hoot-n-an-ee] noun 1.  a social gathering or informal concert featuring folk singing and, sometimes, dancing. 2. an informal session at which folk singers and instrumentalists perform for their own enjoyment. Hootenanny is an Appalachian colloquialism that was used in early twentieth century During the early 1960s at the height of the Folk Music Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger's newly formed folk-protest group, the Almanac Singers worked out of a loft in New York City hosting regular (Sunday afternoon) concerts called "hootenannys", a word Pete and Woody had picked up in their cross-country travels. Come on down the homestead on Sunday for a Hootenanny of good time! :: Resources :: Homestead Music

"Southern California experienced an exceedingly dry stretch from January to March — normally the region's wettest months — and then received virtually no rainfall in April."  - LA Times This year is on tap to be dangerously dry and that's nothing new to this water thirsty basin.  LA basin normal rainfall is about 12" and thanks to a recent miracle  it bumped up the inches to a little closer to 6"  Still scarily dry and already there's been a rash of fires and it's only May (God help us). Water, or lack there of, has been on our minds especially when it's vital for growing food (Rising Food Costs: How The Drought Will Increase Your Grocery Bill) So with dry conditions on the horizon (in case you are wondering, So Cal rainy season is short lived from November - April) , we are taking every opportunity to bring in ollas and bury more in the garden whenever we get a chance.  Since burying them in the garden over 6 years ago,  our water usage has nearly been cut in 1/2.    We are totally "sold" on this ancient watering method... and others are too! Here's a recent review I got via email: "....By the way, the ollas I got from you have been doing really great. My tomatoes have grown bigger and faster than anyone else's! I'll keep you posted later in the season" - Jake Buy them online or pick up locally at our "front porch farmstand" and BE WATER WISE. :: Resources :: Using Ollas in the Garden Ollas Questions & Answers Ollas: Pottery that WORKS Using Ollas in Containers

The spring chicks growing bigger and lovelier by the day.  By giving them personal interaction daily, they are very comfortable around humans.  Once, I put them into a basket and brought in the house for some ladies to admire.  They were shocked, thought they  weren't real!   "They are so calm!" they exclaimed.  The secret, we told them, is handling the chicks at a very early age. We'll soon be adding to our barnyard menagerie and expect another batch of chicks to arrive in June (these was the chicks we planned on) this recent batch "was unexpected."   Followed by another batch of baby ducks (I love chickens but these is SOMETHING about baby ducks... am I right?) Not to get ahead of myself!   Back to the threesome we have now,  a few weeks ago (a month to be exact), our gals were officially weened off heat, lights of the brooder; however, they are still "isolated" from the main chicken flock  to ensure there will be no coccidiosis  problems (the new chicks are being given apple cider vinegar in their water to insure healthy & happy chickens)   We erected a temporary run in one of the raised beds and are using an old rabbit hutch for their "coop."  Figure we'll move them into the main compound in a few weeks .  That will give us time to turn over the soil in the main compound, add some fresh mulch and sprinkle some diatomaceous earth. In the meantime, it's fun to see the girls enjoy their earthly surroundings. They  just love taking dust baths and go into a semi comatose trance.  One pullet was in such a trance I had to poke her to see if she was alive.  No kidding! When I look at all our critters enjoying the dirt, sun and companionship of others I sometimes get a wee sad thinking of the animals that don't share such experiences and shudder at the "modern" ways of bringing food to the table. What a blessing it is to share the homestead with all creatures great and small. :: Resources:: Caring for Citified Farm Animals Happy & Healthy Chickens

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9) What "first fruits"  are you harvesting from your garden? Isn't it exciting to see the first fruits ripening before one's very eyes, doesn't one's mouth water with anticipation of tasting the first berries, peaches, apples, etc of the season.    What a blessing it is to walk outside one's back or front door and harvest our daily bread and for this we are extremely grateful for this opportunity. But before I am tempted to pluck the first blueberry or strawberry of the season and pop into my mouth savoring the warm sweet juices, I have to pause and remember that this harvest is not ours alone.  These first fruits belong to a Creator who has given us soil, seeds and rain in which we gain our freedom & sustenance and so we offer them back the earth as a token of our appreciation. :: References :: When You Garden You Grow

Londoners are being challenged to vote for the pub they think is the greenest in London, with almost 50 of the capital?s pubs in the running for this award.