It's Here! -- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Homesteading

The book is available! I'm excited to announce that "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Homesteading" has been released, and can be purchased online. 

Last August I was approached by the editors from Penguin Publishing, who oversee "The Complete Idiot's Guide" books. Despite their goofy-sounding titles, I've always been a fan of the Idiot's Guides. I like the way they're structured, and I feel like I'm getting comprehensive information when I read them.

The editors asked me if I would write the book, and what followed was a period that was both challenging and immensely rewarding. I'm pretty proud of the result. The goal was to make the book accessible to beginners, but also provide a depth of information for those that have been homesteading for a while and want to expand their repertoire. Just to give you an idea of what's inside, here is a listing of the book's chapters:

Part 1: What It Means to Homestead in the City

Ch 1 - What is Urban Homesteading?

Ch 2 - City Considerations (lots of information about zoning, and how to change your zoning code)

Ch 3 - The Life of an Urban Homesteader

Part 2: City Farming

Ch 4 - Growing Without a Yard (container & rooftop gardening, sprouts, mushrooms, etc)

Ch 5 - Growing in Your Yard (bio-intensive growing*, succession planting, yard-to-garden conversion, etc)

Ch 6 - Growing on Someone Else's Land (community gardens, land-share agreements, guerrilla gardening)

Ch 7 - Seed Starting in the City

Ch 8 - Keeping Your Garden Healthy

Ch 9 - Enjoying Your Bounty (harvesting, extending the harvest, sharing/selling)

*Appendix C contains a detailed plant information chart, sample garden map, and sample garden planning chart

Part 3: Raising Animals for Food

Ch 10 - Livestock in the City (zoning issues, barnyard basics, neighbors, fitting animal care into a busy life)

Ch 11 - Chickens Coming Home to Roost

Ch 12 - Getting Your (Dwarf) Goat

Ch 13 - Raising Rabbits

Ch 14 - Bee Busy

Ch 15 - Aquaponics: Raising Fish and Plants Together

Part 4: A Homemade Life in the City

Ch 16 - Small Batch Food Preserving (canning, fermenting, drying, root "cellaring," etc)

Ch 17 - Preparing What You Harvest (cheese, yogurt, butter, stock, herb infusions, etc)

Ch 18 - The Finer Things (soap, shampoo, lotion, spinning yarn)

Ch 19 - Cleaning Your Home, Naturally (cupboard ingredients, recipes, etc)

Part 5: Making the Most of What You Have

Ch 20 - Energy-Wise Living (powering down, getting off grid, getting around town, etc)

Ch 21 - Water is Precious (conservation, rainwater harvesting, recycling water, etc)

Ch 22 - Turning Waste Into Gold (composting, worms, etc)

Ch 23 - Foraging in the City (fruit trees, wild plants, discarded items, etc)

Appendix A: Glossary

Appendix B: Resources

Appendix C: Garden Planning Guides

The book was enriched greatly by the wonderful people (almost all of them from Denver!) who gave me feedback on the chapters, and who are thanked in the acknowledgements. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the wonderful 2010 Heirloom Gardens urban farmers, who kept things going when I was working on the book.

The book is available at various places online and at bookstores. However, if you'd like to purchase it, I'd love it if you ordered it here (there's no shipping cost). By ordering the book through Heirloom Gardens you're helping to support urban farming and sustainable food advocacy in Denver, and it allows us a much bigger slice of the "pie" than if you purchase the book somewhere else. Thank you!