An Introduction to Urban Homesteading

An Introduction to Urban Homesteading

© 2020 Do It Yourself Skills – All rights reserved

Also known as backyard farming, small-scale homesteading, suburban homesteading, modern homesteading or city farming – urban homesteading is all about living a more sustainable lifestyle that practices going back to the basics of less consumption, less buying, less dependency on the supply chain, and more making – and sometimes, just making do.

Urban homesteading means different things to different people For some, it is a stepping stone to a future goal of a rural, off-grid farm with lots of acreage for livestock, enormous gardens, beehives and orchards. For others, it’s a health choice where growing and making their own food is necessary due to allergies or illness. Others will DIY everything possible, and try not to rely on paying others to do the chore. And still others are content with only doing a little cooking from scratch with vegetables from their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, where you buy a share in a local farmer’s harvest).

Urban homesteading, just like homesteading in a rural area, is all about being more self-reliant.

Urban homesteading is a mindset You may think that urban homesteading doesn’t apply to you because of where you live, how you currently live, or your goals. Well, I’m going to tell you that it DOES apply to you. If you want to be a homesteader, then you ARE a homesteader!

Most homesteaders will say that homesteading itself is a state of mind rather than how much space you have.

So let’s dive in and see what urban homesteading is all about.

Do I need land to homestead?

This is usually the very first thing you may be asking yourself and one reason why you don’t think you “qualify” as a homesteader.

The short answer is: Nope!

You may live in an apartment in the middle of a large city, in a stately brownstone in town, or in a split ranch in the suburbs.

Your urban homestead can be a balcony with room for a few containers, it can be a kitchen windowsill, a tiny hydroponic set-up in your apartment, a small patio, a big backyard, or even a plot in a community garden.

There is no “requirement”!

What about livestock?

You don’t have to have animals!

Really.

I don’t. Not even a beehive.

I live in an older, established suburban neighbourhood, and someone way down the street tried keeping chickens. The people who lived in the houses around hers complained so much, that she had to get rid of them. So yeah. Not a livestock-friendly neighbourhood.

Some of us just don’t have the ideal setting for that. Or the desire.

And it’s OKAY! Homestead where you are.

YOU decide how deep into this lifestyle you want to go.

And before we go any further, let’s get this next topic out of the way.

Being self-sufficient is bullshit Yeah, I’m going to go there.

A lot of people will fight me on this one, but hear me out.

I don’t care how far into the backwoods you go – no one in modern times can be self-sufficient.

By definition, being self-sufficient means being totally reliant upon yourself.

No outside help.

Or materials. Like cloth to make your clothes. Or gasoline. Or anything metal or plastic.

One of those guys on the TV show The Last Alaskans was living as a fur trapper all by himself up near the Arctic Circle. Even HE had a plane and made regular trips to Fairbanks. He had factory-made metal traps, guns, ammo, canned food, clothing and a radio. How can that be self-sufficient?

So stop stressing out about how to become self-sufficient, because it’s just not attainable. It’s setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.

Instead, we are going to successfully become more self-reliant.

Ok? We good?

Now let’s talk about how we are going to get there.

How do you get there from here?

Let’s start out with some easy stuff that you can do right now and where ever you live. None of these even require a pot full of soil either!

1. Prepping, “lite” I’m calling this “prepper lite”, because I am by no means a SHTF (shit hits the fan) doomsday apocalypse-is-coming-build-a-bunker prepper. (If that is your goal, that’s cool. You do you.) I do however suggest being prepared for an emergency – like quarantine, yucky weather or even a bad case of the flu where you don’t want to leave the comfort of your comfy bed for a week.

Storm-specific prep As I do every year, in the fall of 2019, I prepared and stocked up my pantry and freezers for the upcoming winter months. I really hate driving in the snow, so I tend to shop less frequently in the winter, and live off the pantry as much as possible.

This also really saved my butt when the COVID-19 lockdown went into effect in March 2020. I was able to live off my pantry for over two months – without leaving the house.

2020 is also becoming a record-breaking hurricane season, and I’ve already gone through one tropical storm that included two near-by tornadoes, wind damage and power outages. And the snow season hasn’t even started yet!

Here are some easy steps to follow so you can prepare for the next storm:

Snow Storm Checklist: how to prepare During the last major blizzard, quite a few of my neighbours were unprepared – even though the storm was predicted days in advance. Be ready for that next snow storm with these tips on how to prepare.

Be prepared for the next snow storm Not being ready for a snow storm – or any major weather occurrences – should be unusual here in New England since we frequently get Nor’easters, major hurricanes, and recently - tornadoes.

Having been through far too many storms – snow and hurricanes – here is how I prep for storms in the suburbs.

Get the cars ready for the snow storm 

fill the gas tanks of all vehicles

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make sure the windshield washer is full, and use the kind with antifreeze.

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raise the wiper blades into an upright position. This will keep them from freezing onto the windshield, and make scraping the ice and snow off a lot easier

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BACK the car into the driveway! When there is snow and ice on the driveway, it’s a hell of a lot easier to barrel over it all if you are driving forward. You are going to make things more difficult for yourself if you try to back out over all that stuff.

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Park at the end of the driveway – but far enough back so you don’t get clipped by the snowplows. Also, the plows will put a mountain of snow at the end of your driveway when they finally do come around. And it will always be right after you shoveled out.

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Alternatively, park in the most protected area of the driveway. For me, it’s along the house, which blocks drifting snow. Sometimes. It depends on the direction of the wind.

Batten down the hatches and secure the area! 

Secure lawn furniture, trash cans and anything that can move. A Nor’easter can produce winds of over 50-60 mph! Seriously, I don’t want your patio furniture on my front lawn.

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Put a snow shovel and broom right by the most used door to your house.

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If you have a snowblower, make sure that it is ready to roll. Have it gassed up and positioned in the garage, or area where it can come out easily.

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Fill up a gas can – even if you are like me and don’t have a gas-powered snowblower. When we had a storm that dumped 4 feet of snow, the plows didn’t come out for almost a week.

The guys in the ‘hood all came out with their snowblowers to clear the street, but they quickly

ran out of gas. And the gas station within walking distance had run out of gas. Who had gas for the snowblowers? Me. Guess where the guys started clearing the street. Yep. At my driveway. 

Keep a bag of rock salt or ice melt inside the house, just inside the most used door.

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I have one of those little electric shovels – sort of a mini snowblower. I keep it right outside the back door, but o

I keep the heavy-duty extension cord inside the house at the back door. That makes it easy to grab, and it unwraps easier when it’s at room temperature.

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If you don’t have one already, buy a roof rake. Keep it inside (unassembled) and ready to grab as needed.

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Bring your pets in.

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Fill the propane tank for the grill – just in case the power goes out for a few days. Or a week.

Or two.

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Keep a boot tray by the door, along with a towel or two for wiping down yourself, the kids and the pets as they come in. o

Also keep an old towel over the area rug by the back door. This will help keep snow from being tracked inside.

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When digging out, do it in small doses! You don’t want to have a path shoveled to the door – only to be used by the EMTs when they come to save you from the heart attack you just gave yourself by overdoing it. I’m serious! Too many people do this to themselves around here during storms. Take it in small bites.

This was when we had 4 feet of snow.

I had to shovel a little in the back of the house, walk through the house with the snow shovel because I couldn’t get through the drifted snow in the driveway,

then chip away at the front of the house, then return to doing the back of the house….until I was able to get a path down the driveway from back to front.

I did this because as the sun moved, different areas were starting to melt. Which reminds me – 

do the areas that will melt done first, then move to where the sun is going to hit next. Fluffy snow is much easier to move than snow that is starting to melt.

Also, if you are planning to remodel the house, learn from my mistake and don’t position the door facing North.

Prepare the indoor essentials 

If you have pets, always have some emergency pet food handy

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charge up all your electronic devices – iPad, iPhone(s), iPod, laptop

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get candles out, or at least know where they are so you can find them if the power goes out

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have matches or lighters handy

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leave a flashlight out

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and have plenty of batteries

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take a shower and dry your hair first thing in the morning. That way, if the power goes out, at least you will be clean. 

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you went grocery shopping already, right? If you didn’t, it’s too late. Next time, go a few days before the storm is predicted to hit.

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hopefully, you got all necessary prescriptions filled beforehand as well.

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cook some food the day before the storm is expected. Even if the power doesn’t go out, you’ll appreciate having stuff ready to eat and not have to stop and cook after shoveling snow all day.

and 

Since you will probably be hanging around inside the house most of the time, be sure to have plenty of fabric, yarn and craft supplies on hand! A blizzard is a great time to have a hot cup of coffee and work on some projects.

An urban homesteader can (and should) be prepared If anything, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic sure taught us a LOT about being prepared! I don’t know about you, but here in the NYC suburban area, it was (and still is, as of October 2020) difficult to find lots of foods and products.

So, one of the things you can do right now is to pick up a few extras of the things you use the most when you go to the grocery store. I’ve seen people who live in apartments with little storage room storing stuff under their beds in large plastic totes.

It doesn’t have to be a lot of stuff, but this next step will help you determine what to stock up on.

2. Cook from scratch Not only does cooking from scratch save you money, it also lets you customize your food to your tastes, dietary requirements, and budget. You get to control what goes into your food, while cutting down on packaging and waste too!

I’ll give you just a few ideas here, and I will add lots more in upcoming posts.

Save Money by Cooking from Scratch Cooking from scratch is probably the best way to save hundreds of dollars a year. There is very little that I don’t make from scratch, and I’ve been doing this for, well, forever. That’s even when I was working two jobs – full-time 9-5 during the day, and bar tending at night. It can be done without killing yourself!

The best time to cook from scratch One of the things I do to save time, is to cook and prep all in one day – usually Sunday. Why Sunday?

Well, it’s usually a day off from work, and I can take my time to prep and make several dishes.

Sunday is also the day that I normally go grocery shopping too. (Click here to see how I shop for groceries.) Since I buy produce and meats in large quantities, it’s easier to cook some of it right away while I break down the large packs of meat for the freezer.

Typical from-scratch foods that save money Spaghetti sauce Pictured above is a shot when I was making spaghetti sauce. I grow my own Roma tomatoes, which I buy from my friend’s greenhouse. These plants have been grown from seed by her family for years and years, and the tomatoes are just a little smaller than a softball.

I get 18 plants every year for about $2.75/pack of 6 plants. I’m going to guess on the conservative side, and say I get 10 tomatoes per plant. I need about 20 tomatoes to make 3 quarts of sauce, so that’s 92¢ for the tomatoes.

I also use a few tablespoons of good olive oil, a couple cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of sugar, a little salt, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, some fennel seeds and a splash of red wine. So the ingredients that I buy (conservative guesstimate) cost another 75¢. The parsley, basil and oregano all come from my garden. Total cost (including gas for cooking, water, etc.) is $1.99 for 3 quarts of sauce, or 56¢/quart!

This past summer, I canned just under 30 quarts of sauce. In comparison, Botticelli sauce was on sale this week for $1.99/24 ounce jar.

Bread A 2 lb. loaf of whole wheat bread made in the bread machine costs about $1.00. This week, a comparable loaf is on sale for $3.49 for a 16 ounce loaf. I get all the ingredients going in the bread machine so it’s making bread while I do other things. I love my Sunbeam bread machine! Here’s how to save money by baking your own bread.

Yogurt I’ve been making yogurt since I was in high school, and my go-to is a yogurt maker. It’s super easy to make yogurt. For roughly $1.65 (depends on the cost of milk/gallon), I can make 8 containers of yogurt.

A similar size container of plain yogurt goes for 89¢ at the grocery store.

All I have to do is put the milk mixture in the yogurt maker containers, set the timer and refrigerate the finished containers of yogurt 11 hours later.

Recently, I have been using my Instant Pot 6 quart DUO to make yogurt. The results are even better than using a yogurt maker!

And as I write this post, a nice roast beef is cooking in the oven. Later, I’ll make gravy and garlic mashed potatoes to have for dinner, and use some of the sliced roast for sandwiches during the week, made with some yummy homemade bread.

These are just a few of the foods to cook from scratch that can save you money. I will keep adding more and more money-saving recipes and tips here on this site, so be sure to visit often!

Remember, your mileage may vary according to the costs of items in your area and what you grow yourself – which is a whole other post.

3. Living on less This one can be really fun! It encompasses recycling, repurposing, reusing, zero-waste, and even some simple DIY projects.

A great way to live on less is to shop at flea markets, neighbourhood garage sales and buy nothing groups, or to swap with family and friends. You will not only save money, but keep perfectly good items from going to the landfill.

Simple DIY fixing and mending projects – like fixing a running toilet, or replacing the washer on the garden hose – are easy and satisfying jobs that not only get things working again, you will also save money by doing it yourself.

You can find other ideas here:

20 Cheap & Easy Alternatives to Disposables Paper napkins, paper plates, plastic utensils, paper towels…the cost of all those disposable conveniences really add up! Do you really need to use all those paper goods? Here are some cheap alternatives to those disposables.

Cheap alternatives to disposables Cloth napkins I must have at least 50 cloth napkins – assorted colours and prints to match various dinnerware patterns, and to switch around for the seasons. There are also sets of white linen napkins – probably 2 dozen – that were my mom’s, to use for formal dinners.

Napkins get tossed into the wash with the rest of the laundry, and hung out on the clothesline most of the year, or on the drying rack in the winter. It’s no extra work or money to wash and dry them!

And once they become stained or tattered, they become…

Rags to replace paper towels A package of 6 rolls paper towels lasts me over a year, and I use the kind where you can rip off a halfsheet. The only time I use paper is for draining bacon and washing windows or mirrors. I tried using newspaper, but I don’t get newspapers anymore and when I did, the ink left black marks on the white vinyl around the windows.

Old cloth napkins, face cloths, hand towels and tea towels all get recycled into rags for dusting, cleaning, gardening and washing the cars. I will do a small, separate load of laundry if I have a bunch of rags that still have some life in them. When they are beyond hope, they get cut into strips to tie up plants in the garden.

To clean up kitchen spills, sponges are a cheaper alternative to paper towels. Sponges get run through the dishwasher at least once a week, and fit into the silverware holder, or lie flat on the top rack.

Real plates, cups, mugs and glassware It’s been over 15 years since I bought paper plates or throw-away plastic cups. Once in a while, paper plates are handy when bringing food to a party or as a palette when I am mixing fabric paint, but otherwise I use the real thing.

Everything, except the vintage Blue Heaven dinnerware pictured above and bone china, goes into the dishwasher. Most dinnerware, cups, glasses and mugs are dishwasher safe – just be sure to check the label or the underside of the plate or mug.

I found this dinnerware at the flea market, and it cost $1.00 per plate. At home, I had a solid turquoise blue covered casserole dish from the same pattern. My mom bought the pieces of the set back in the late 60s – with S&H green stamps. Some of the pieces are solid blue, and others have the blue and grey geometric pattern.

If you scour flea markets and yard sales, you can find some really cool dinnerware that are great alternatives to disposables!

No more flimsy plastic utensils Instead of flimsy, disposable plastic, I have some heavy plastic utensils which I had gotten a long time ago. When used for bringing lunch to work, they get run through the dishwasher with the rest of the load.

For dining on the patio, the alternative is heavy duty plastic plates, bowls, tumblers and wine glasses – along with the heavy plastic utensils – all of which are dishwasher safe. So far, the set has lasted over 20 years, and shows no sign of wear. For all other meals, the real stuff comes out!

Cloth shopping bags Cloth is the perfect replacement for plastic and paper bags from the store. Stores here in Connecticut now charge 10¢ per bag, so I keep a dozen cloth grocery bags (that I made myself from upcycled fabric) in the trunk of the car.

I was given yards and yards of tulle (netting), and used some to make reusable produce bags.

Other reusables that are cheap alternatives to disposables include: 

refillable pens

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gold mesh coffee filters

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handkerchiefs

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beeswax wraps to replace plastic wrap

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water bottles

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metal straws

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rechargeable batteries

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to-go coffee cups with lids

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or a thermos

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a lunch box instead of a paper bag

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containers to replace plastic bags

What disposable s have you eliminated from daily use?

Easy Ways to Reduce Your Laundry Costs It seems like I am constantly washing clothes, linens and bedding! Here are some easy ways I have found to reduce laundry costs.

A few years ago, my old washing machine finally died – followed closely by the electric dryer. They had done their jobs well over the years, but each had a fairly small load capacity.

One of the things I really hated was going to the laundromat to wash king-sized comforters, blankets and the throw rugs that wouldn’t fit in my own washer and dryer.

Plus, the laundromat is SO expensive!!

Start with the right equipment When the time came to buy new machines, I ended up getting a front-loading Bosch washing machine, followed by the matching Bosch dryer.

Technology that saves money The two machines were bought on sale (shop around, because these are not cheap machines!) and I absolutely love them. The washer has a sensor that determines how much water is needed for the weight of the clothes, and the dryer has a moisture sensor that shuts off the machine when it detects they are dry. How cool is that?

Capacity Both machines have huge capacities, which means no more laundromat trips! King-sized comforters, blankets and throw rugs all fit. When I bought the washer, the salesperson said that it could easily wash 15 pairs of jeans in one load. Who has 15 pairs of jeans? But it does give you an idea of the capacity.

Settings that save cash Two great features on the washer are the hand wash setting and the wool setting. This means that all delicates, wool sweaters, scarves, gloves and hand-knits in the washing machine. Even my cashmere cardigan goes in the washing machine. And my down jackets and duvet.

No more dry cleaner for those items! Once washed, knit items are laid flat to dry on large, mesh sweater drying racks.

Cold, warm or hot?

Another way to reduce laundry costs is to wash everything in cold water. I have experimented a lot with this, and you know what? I see no difference between a warm and cold wash. So save your money and use the least expensive method by washing in cold water.

Go for the cheap suds When it comes to soap powder, my go-to was the store brand detergent. It had a very faint lemon scent, cost only $11, and came in a 22 lb. bucket! And bonus – plastic buckets for gardening!

Unfortunately, the store no longer carries that detergent, so I have switched to Arm & Hammer liquid.

When using the soap powder, I never used a full scoop of soap. Experiment for yourself by reducing the amount of soap you use little by little, and see when you notice a difference. I was at 1/2 of a scoop of soap for a full load of clothes.

I never use the recommended amount for the liquid detergent either. Again, start by cutting back a little and keep cutting back until you notice a difference. I’m using about 1/3 of the recommended amount, and everything comes out clean and fresh.

Use the FREE clothes dryers Now that the clothes are washed, you can save a ton of money by drying almost everything outside (weather permitting) by using a clothesline. Seriously, once I started using one, I couldn’t believe the huge dip in my electric bill!

The clothesline I bought is an umbrella style. It can fit sheets, towels, pillowcases – about three full loads will fit on it, and it doesn’t take up much space at all.

Easy clothesline set-up To set up the clothesline, I didn’t want to dig a hole in the yard and pour concrete to set up the pole, so here’s what I did: I have a 60″ large, round patio table with the hole in the middle for an umbrella (which I never use).

I slide the aluminum pole that holds the clothesline through the hole in the table, into the umbrella holder under the table, then secure the pole into the sand-filled umbrella base under the table. Boom! Done!

And now I also can use the patio table for folding clothes as I take them off the line, and to hold the basket of clothespins.

It’s also easy to take down and store when the patio table is needed for summer parties too!

TIP: do not buy clothespins at the dollar store. Get good sturdy ones with decent spring clips. The cheap ones don’t hold clothes onto the line and the springs fall out.

In the winter, the clothesline is folded up (just like an umbrella!) and stored in the garage.

Indoor clothes drying – for free I have one fairly long clothesline in the basement laundry room that is used for comforters, towels and fabric yardage when I am prepping for a sewing project. This helps cut down on dryer usage.

A clothes-drying rack is also in the basement for hand towels, cloth napkins and other small items.

The rack works great for anything that isn’t a knit fabric, so T-shirts, sweatshirts and other knits go into the dryer – otherwise, they dry all stiff and crunchy.

Dry-clean at home Dry cleaning is SO expensive. For garments that are dry clean only, try these special dry cleaning sheets that you put in the clothes dryer.

They work great and you can save hundreds of dollars a year by “dry cleaning” at home. Plus they smell a LOT better. Ugh. No more chemical smell from the commercial dry cleaner.

Other easy ways to reduce your laundry costs 

be sure to clean the lint out of the dryer filter

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and the duct that goes outside

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use plastic or wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. These are great to use when drying down jackets and duvets.

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if you are going to use the clothes dryer, it’s more cost-effective to dry consecutive loads rather that doing one load one day, and another a day later. Once the dryer is warmed up, it takes less energy to get it back up to temperature.

How will you reduce laundry costs?

4. Make your own products Another way to start urban homesteading on a small scale and in a small space is to start making your own cleaning products and skin care products. You don’t need anything more than a small kitchen to make these, and they really are a fun way to start on the path of DIY.

Smart Uses for Citrus Peels If you eat a lot of citrus fruits, you are going to end up with a ton of peels. Don’t toss them out, because there are smart uses for those citrus peels!

Zesting The three citrus fruits that I save zest from are oranges, lemons and limes.

If you do a lot of cooking from scratch, there are so many recipes that require citrus zest.

Before cutting up the fruit, use a Microplane to remove the zest from oranges, lemons and limes. You can use a regular grater, but the Microplane is light, easy to use, and no scraped fingers! And it goes into the dishwasher when you are done. I just got mine a few years ago, and don’t know why I didn’t get one sooner.

Remove only the part of the peel that has colour – not the white pith of the fruit. When you are done getting all the zest off the fruit, bag it in a freezer bag and label it with the contents and date. Now you will always have zest on hand when you need it!

Once the zest is removed, the fruit is still firm enough to slice into wedges for tea, fish or that lime wedge for your Corona or margarita.

Orange zest My most-used zest is from oranges. I use it to make Sloppy Joe mix from scratch and yummy OrangePecan Rolls. There are also cookie recipes that call for orange zest, like the Spritz cookies my family makes for Christmas. And cranberry orange bread.

Having a bag of orange zest in the freezer means that I can make these recipes without running to the store for the ONE orange that the recipe calls for.

Lemon zest Another favourite is lemon zest. Want a quick, delicious lemon frosting? Just add a little lemon zest to some vanilla frosting! A little lemon zest is a great addition when you are cooking fish. And then there is lemon poppy seed bread, lemon Spritz cookies, lemon cheesecake….ok, now I’m hungry!

Do the same as you did for the orange zest, and Microplane some to freeze.

Lime zest I love Key lime pie, and a little lime zest is a beautiful and tasty finishing touch. It’s also great for beef fajitas and ceviche.

Citrus household cleaner Once all the zest is removed, and you have either made juice or cut up the fruit for fruit cocktail, there are still uses for the remaining peels!

This is a great use for grapefruit peels. Remove the fruit pulp from the peels, and put the peels in a big glass jar. I use gallon-sized jars that held maraschino cherries from a restaurant’s bar.

Once the jar at least half filled with peels, cover them with white vinegar. If the jar lid is metal, be sure to cover the opening of the jar with a doubled piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap before you screw on the top. You don’t want the metal to come in contact with the vinegar.

Let this mixture set for a few weeks, and occasionally shake the jar to move the peels around in the vinegar. Once your brew is done, strain it through cheesecloth into a clean glass jar. Keep those vinegar-soaked peels!

I save spray bottles to use to hold small amounts of this cleaner, and keep one handy in the bathroom. The cleaner is great on bathroom tile, and when I had the tile installed, it was recommended that I use vinegar to clean the shower stall and the floor tile.

Compost Now that you have gotten a few uses from those citrus peels, it’s time for their final destination – the compost bin!

As we progress, I will show you how to make your own home decor items – and even how to make your own clothes! (There is a whole section on my website for sewing.) But for now, we will take this one small step at a time.

5. Crafts (and gifts) This is where you can get the kids involved. I’ve taught kids how to make household and gift items such as candles, potholders, and even sheets of recycled paper. You can have a blast with these, and get your holiday gift-giving taken care of too!

How to Make Potholders from Recycled T-Shirts

After the kitchen was remodeled, I tried to find potholders to match the browns in the marble and cabinets, and the all the rich, deep red accent pieces I used. When I couldn’t find anything I liked, I decided to make my own potholders.

When you were a kid, did you make potholders on a potholder loom? I did. And I still have two of them!

But what I couldn’t find anywhere were loops in the right colours.

I also wanted the durability of cotton, because nylon will sometimes melt and scorch if it gets too close to the flame on the gas stove. Since I couldn’t find what I wanted anywhere, I decided to make my own darn loops!

What you will need:    

clean T-shirts, tank tops, turtlenecks, or any shirts made of cotton jersey scissors a potholder loom curtain rings

Making potholder loops Flatten out the first T-shirt on a table, and cut across the shirt right under the sleeves. For making loops, you will only be using the top half of the shirt.

Save the bottom part of the shirt, because I have a great project for using the remaining pieces of the T-shirts!

Each shirt is going to have a different amount of stretch to it, so there isn’t an exact measurement to use for the next step.

Hold a section of the shirt over the loom, and stretch it to see how much fabric is needed to go from the pin on one side of the loom to the pin on the other side – with a little bit of “give” for weaving.

You don’t want the loops to be so tight that you can’t weave them! The loops I made are roughly 3 1/2″ long.

Steps for cutting the loops

Steps for making potholder loops from recycled T-shirts 1. Cut 36 rectangles in your choice of colours – (cutting them across the shirts, not from neckline down) that will stretch from one side of the loom to the other 2. Fold each rectangle in half, and cut down the center, ending about 1/4″ from the end of the rectangle 3. With your scissors, round off the ends of the rectangles 4. You now have a finished potholder loop!

Adding loops to the loom

Add the first layer of potholder loops made from recycled T-shirts Once you have put on the first layer of loops, add the top layer.

Colours and patterns Loops can be added in random colours, or you can make a pattern by grouping colours, or alternating the colours evenly. For this potholder, I put the loops on in random order, but didn’t put two of the same colour next to each other.

And now to weave!

Take the first loop on the top layer, and weave it under the RIGHT side of each loop on the lower layer.

With the next loop on the top layer, weave it under the LEFT side of each loop on the lower layer.

You’ll notice that the side of the loop that you want to pick up and weave under will be a little lower than the side you just wove in the previous row.

Keep weaving all the rows by alternating going under the right side of the lower loop in the row, then going under the left side of the lower loop in the row.

Occasionally, squish the woven rows together pushing them up in case you are weaving too loosely.

Now sit back and admire your work! Doesn’t that look great? Let’s finish the potholder and take it off the loom.

Finishing the edges and removing the potholder from the loom If you are familiar with crochet, finishing is basically a chain stitch.

Starting from one corner, take the second loop, and push it through the center of the first loop.

Continue by pushing the third loop through the loop you are holding. Keep going all around the loom.

As you go around the loom chaining the loops, the remaining loops may try to slip off the frame. To keep your weaving stabilized, grab a finished corner and hook it onto the pins of the loom.

Once you are done finishing off the loops, you can pull the potholder back into shape if it looks a little warped.

Finished weaving!

All done finishing, and the potholder is off the loom!

Add a ring to the last loop To finish off the potholder, you may want to add a curtain ring so you can hang your potholder on a hook above the stove. Sometimes rings are hard to find, so that’s why I’ve provided this link to Amazon.

Finishing up You are almost done!

Some of the loops may have extra fabric that needs a little trimming. With your scissors, carefully cut off the ragged ends.

Admire your work!!!

I started making potholder when I was about 7 years old, and this is a great project for kids to do!

What do I love about handwoven potholders? 

They wear like iron! I still have some that I made for my mom when I was a little kid. The colours don’t match the kitchen, but the potholders themselves are still in perfect condition.

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These potholders go into the washer and dryer with the rest of the clothes. Since we made them from old T-shirts, there is no shrinkage and the colours won’t run

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The weaving makes them dense, so you won’t burn your fingers when handling hot cookware.

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Custom. Colours.

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great for gift-giving too!

How to Make Egg Carton Roses Need a quick gift? How about a candle ring or wreath made with upcycled egg carton roses! This is an easy project with fantastic results.

What you will need to make egg carton roses ♥ 2 paper egg cartons ♥ acrylic paint – green for leaves and any colour you like for the roses ♥ 2 paint brushes (1/2″ wide or a little smaller) ♥ scissors ♥ glue gun or white glue ♥ a piece of cardboard to use as a frame/backing for the egg carton roses

Cut out the 3 layers of petals and the rose center

♥ Cut the first, outer layer with 4 petals. Don’t worry if the petals are wobbly or uneven! That just makes them look more realistic. ♥ Cut the second layer of petals slightly smaller than the outer layer. ♥ Next, cut the inner layer of petals slightly smaller and narrower than the second layer. ♥ Using the flat side of the egg carton, cut a strip about 1/2″ wide and 2 1/2′ long. Bend and roll the strip tightly, and let it loosen up when you finish rolling. If the cardboard has any printing on it, make sure that it is on the inside of the piece as you are rolling it. ♥ Cut at least a dozen leaf shapes from the flat parts of the egg carton. If there is printing on the carton, keep it on the back sides of the leaves.

Glue the layers I tried both white glue and a glue gun, and found that the glue gun works better because it doesn’t budge during the painting process. The roses I made using white glue started to loosen up just a tiny bit while I was painting. ♥ Glue the second layer of petals onto the outer petal layer, with the petals of the second layer staggered in between the layers of the outer layer.

♥ Glue the third layer of petals, staggered between the second layer of petals ♥ Lastly, put a blob of glue in the center of the inner rose petal layer, and place the rolled center piece. ♥ Let the glue dry (only 2 seconds if using a glue gun!)

Using one of the paint brushes, paint the egg carton roses in any colour you choose. Be sure to paint both sides of the petals, and squish the brush into the center rolled piece to make sure that is coated with paint.

Next, paint the leaves. You probably only have to do one side, but make sure it’s the un-printed side!

Once the paint dries (which is pretty fast!), you can glue the roses onto the cardboard backing.

Cut out a backing for the egg carton roses I used an 8″ round plate, and traced it onto the cardboard. Then a smaller plate, and traced that inside the larger circle to make a ring that was about 2 1/2″ wide.

To keep the cardboard from showing through, give it a coat of the same green paint used for the leaves.

If you want to make an egg carton rose wreath, just use a hole punch and make a hole about 3/4″ from the outer edge of your frame. Thread thin ribbon through the hole and knot it to make a wreath hanger.

Glue the egg carton roses to the frame

Once you have all the roses glued on to the frame, begin gluing the leaves in between the roses – both on the inside and the outer part of the frame.

DONE!!!

I used mine as a candle ring for a battery-operated, flameless candle. This candle is so cool! It has a little LED light and the “flame” moves and looks like a real flame flickering. It also has a timer, so the candle “lights” itself and stays on for 5 hours.

Other ideas: ♥ cut a cardboard frame into a heart shape – cutting out the center – and make a heart-shaped wreath ♥ glue the egg carton roses onto an otherwise ugly picture frame ♥ cover the edges of a mirror with egg carton roses

6. Growing your own food Ok, so now we are getting to the bigger, more complex aspects to urban homesteading. But don’t be afraid! You can start small by having a few herbs growing on your windowsill.

If you aren’t in a position to grow anything just yet, join a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, where you buy a share of the harvest of a local farm.) You can even start by going to a local Farmer’s Market and buying from the local growers there.

If you are in a position to grow your own food, there are alternatives here as well. Containers on your balcony or patio are a great way to have a few tomato plants. Or if you have a tiny patch of yard, you can grow even more food by planting on the ground, and training vines like beans and cucumbers to grow UP – thus extending your space.

If you long for a garden, but have no land at all, see if your town has a community garden area. For over 9 years, I used two plots in the community garden in my city to run a program that taught high school kids how to grow organic vegetables (which we then donated to city residents in need).

And for those with yards – you can grow food in with flowers right in your front yard, as well as an allvegetable garden in the back yard.

There are tons of possibilities – and I will show you how! Gardening is something I have been doing here on my 100′ x 100′ urban homestead since I was four years old. My dad had an organic vegetable garden here on the property starting in 1950, and I literally learned at his knee by pulling weeds with him.

Along with vegetables, you can grow your own herbs for cooking, crafting and even for medicinal purposes if that is what your goal is.

There is also fruit growing, which can be crops like strawberries and raspberries, or trees like apples and pears, or crops such as grapes or blueberries.

I am going to dive deeper into gardening soon, so stay tuned!

For now, read this:

12 Reasons to Start a Garden Thinking about starting a vegetable garden, but not quite convinced yet? Let me give you a nudge with my top 12 reasons why you need to start a vegetable garden this year. Once you start having your own garden, you’ll be hooked!

In no particular order:

Convenience It’s a produce stand right in your back yard (or balcony)!

No need to run to the store to pick up vegetables and/or herbs for dinner after a long day at work.

A garden makes dinner decisions easier Not sure what to make for dinner? Your garden will tell you with what is ripe and ready to pick and eat.

My herb garden is right at the base of the back steps. Perfect for snipping fresh chives or parsley. And spearmint for a mojito!

Cost You will save TONS of money by growing your own food – and even more if you buy organic produce.

Read about how much I saved just on acorn squash alone here.

A packet of seeds cost around $2-3 and usually contains at least 25 seeds (more if they are tiny seeds.) At the highest price of $3.00 for 25 seeds, that’s 12¢ a plant! Twelve cents for 20+ slicing tomatoes. Or a bajillion cherry tomatoes. (no lie, those plants are prolific.)

Keep track of what you buy on a regular basis Look at the prices of what you are buying at the store, and the quantities you buy regularly. For instance, those plastic clamshells of cherry tomatoes go for about $2.99 on sale, and are enough for about 4-5 servings of salad.

One cherry tomato plant will produce hundreds of tomatoes throughout the season.

A few years ago, I grew three plants, and had so many tomatoes, that I was giving away about 10 bags of 25 tomatoes about once a week. Now I usually plant a single cherry tomato plant – and still have

Freshness Since we’re talking about cherry tomatoes, have you ever gotten one in the middle of the clamshell that is all puckered? Or worse – a ball of mold? Ewwwwww. No more of that nonsense and wastefulness. Go outside; pick what you need; cook and eat!

The produce you grow yourself will be fresher, and of much better quality than anything in the grocery store.

Fresher is better for you And fresher produce will have more nutrients than that dull, lifeless stuff in the produce department.

Taste Have you ever eaten a homegrown tomato fresh from the garden? Best flavour ever!!! No matter what you grow, it will taste better than what you buy at the store.

Or fresh herbs rather than that dried stuff in a jar? Whoa. What a difference!

Environmentally friendly No plastic clamshells! No plastic bags! Or those stupid stickers!

Reduce your carbon footprint by using less gas going shopping.

Plus plants are good for air quality.

Customization When you grow your own produce, you get to choose the exact variety you want to grow, and what suits YOU. I prefer purple pod beans over regular green beans – although I do grow both.

The purple beans are perfect for blanching and freezing, because they are at the exact stage of being blanched when the purple turns green. That’s my signal to scoop the beans out of the boiling water and into a ice water bath prior to freezing. How perfect is that?

They taste the same as green beans, and the dark purple makes them so much easier to see when I forget to bring my glasses out to the garden.

Your very own farmer’s market I tried some white eggplant from the farmer’s market, and now I am hooked! The skins are thinner than the purple variety, and have no bitterness. That means less time in prepping when I make eggplant parmesan.

So that’s just two different custom-chosen veggies that save me time in the kitchen.

Grow what you cannot find to buy A hard-to-find herb that I love is opal basil. It’s a deep purple, and I use it for making herbal vinegar.

The purple leaves turn the vinegar a beautiful raspberry colour, and add a wonderful basil flavour.

I’ve never seen it in the store or the farmer’s market, so it’s one of my “must plant” items every year.

To suit your garden space Have you ever tried English cucumbers? They are about a foot long, have teeny tiny seeds, and the thin skin has no bumps or little prickers. I can grow a ton of that variety in comparison to the smaller, regular cucumbers, and get more yield in the same amount of space.

Grow what nobody else has This is the size of the heirloom plum tomatoes I grow for making up to 32 quarts of sauce each season. I buy the plants from a local nursery, who has been growing them for years and years. As far as I know, they are the only source for these plants. The tomatoes are about the size of a softball!

That means less tomatoes needed per quart of sauce, and more sauce per season. At $3-5 per jar at the store, that’s a LOT of money saved.

Thinking time One of the benefits of gardening is plenty of time to have some peaceful moments to gather your thoughts. Weeding and watering doesn’t require much concentration, so my mind wanders off and thinks deep thoughts.

Even if you don’t use the time to daydream, it’s a great way to escape social media, TV, and all the noise and intrusions of daily life.

Exercise People wonder how I stay so thin, and I just say “I have a yard and a garden.” Seriously, who needs a gym when there is digging, lifting and bending to do from spring through fall.

Yes, the first spring day out in the garden is usually felt the next morning, but it’s a good ache. You know you’ve worked muscles that haven’t been used in a while, and as the season progresses, so do you! You will feel the aches less and less, and watch your body get stronger and stronger. And tan too! (Just use some sunscreen, okay?)

Make friends with the neighbours!

The picture above is just an idea of a daily harvest. That’s a 5-gallon bucket filled with slicing tomatoes and acorn squash.

When you grow your own produce, there will always be more than enough.

And if you grow zucchini, you will soon find out what “more than enough” can mean! Give some away to friends, neighbours and family and still have plenty for yourself.

Education If you have kids, the garden is an excellent classroom! I’ve taught programs for kindergartners through high school, and kids love gardening!

Every day in the garden is a learning experience – even if it’s only to appreciate where your food comes from.

Kids love to garden!

I started learning about gardening at age 4 – literally at my father’s knee. I remember him teaching me the difference between carrot leaves and the surrounding weeds as we weeded the rows. At the end of my “lesson”, we pulled up a carrot and washed it off with the hose, and I stood there chomping it with the greens still hanging off the end. I was hooked on gardening from that very moment. You can give your kids and yourself some fond memories just like this!

Another funny memory is when my dad took me with him to the local nursery. (the same one where I get my special plum tomato plants.) The farm was run by Mrs. Perry – and she and my dad were old friends.

The two of them would talk for what seemed like hours to my little 6-year old self. To keep me out of their hair, Mrs. Perry would send me to the in-ground cold frames to go pick out a pansy plant to keep.

During previous visits, she had already taught me what to look for in the “perfect plant” – no yellow leaves, lots of buds, sturdy stems…everything.

So off I went to the cold frames, which were basically 2 feet deep, 4 feet wide trenches lined with concrete blocks, and black plastic lining the bottom. She kept hundreds of 3″ pots of pansies out there where it was cooler than the greenhouses. (Pansies like it cool.)

I searched for that perfect plant. And there it was! Right in the center of the cold frame.

I stretched and stretched as far as I could from the edge of the trench, reaching to grab my prize.

And landed face-first into the middle of all those plants.

The good news is, I survived; the plants all survived; and I didn’t get banned from the farm! Actually, I still go there every few weeks during the growing season. But to this day, I still can’t look at a pansy plant without thinking about my little adventure. And I still like pansies too.

And we keep on learning Years later, I taught organic vegetable gardening to groups of high school students. We had two plots in the local community garden, and the kids raised vegetables to donate to local families in need.

The kids were asking so many good questions about gardening, so while teaching that program, I took a course through the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, and became a certified Master Gardener.

And in conjunction with a former job, I spent a day observing a program at Riker’s Island where the inmates learned gardening skills in order to gain employment upon their release. James Jiler, who developed the horticultural therapy program, wrote a book on it, called Doing Time in the Garden.

Pride & a sense of accomplishment See that garden in the photo above? That was a patch of grass earlier that year. Now it is brimming with free groceries! It gives me so much pride and feeling of accomplishment to look out my kitchen window and see it every day throughout the summer.

When friends and family visit, we always take a “tour” to see what’s growing.

Fun Gardening is so enjoyable! Digging, planting and just being outside in the sun feels so good and relaxing.

One hobby leads to another As a direct result of gardening, I also enjoy another hobby – photography. It started with me wanting to document the plants that I grow. Now I have a macro lens, and head out to the gardens to see what I can capture.

The farm (where I fell into the pansies) is one of my favourite places to go – and not only for plants. I always bring my camera along, and take shots in all the greenhouses. It’s my “happy place”.

Another fun thing that is a result of gardening, is going to the annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show. I bring my list of seeds that I am searching for. It’s also a great place to see new varieties of plants, interesting landscape designs, and best of all – get an early burst of spring, since it is held in February.

So, what are you waiting for? Start a garden!

7. Preserving the harvest Something that a lot of urban homesteaders do is find ways to preserve their harvest. That includes canning, dehydrating and freezing whatever they harvest from the garden. You can do this too with what you have gotten in your CSA or purchased from the Farmer’s Market or bought in season at the grocery store.

Dehydrating Fresh Tomatoes & Basil Dehydrating fresh tomatoes and basil is a great way to preserve the harvest for use throughout the year. I like to do both at once, since my dehydrator has enough room, and the house smells amazing!

Dehydrating fresh tomatoes and basil Tomatoes were companion planted with green basil, and now that they are done for the season, I am making room for my fall plantings of kale, chard, carrots and lettuce.

The few Roma tomatoes I had left are sliced and placed in the dehydrator to make a quicker version of sun-dried tomatoes. They are delicious when used in pasta salad, and so much better than store bought!

Yesterday, I priced a small bag of sun-dried tomatoes in the grocery store – $3.99! Yipes!!!

“Sun-dried” tomatoes Fresh tomatoes are sliced about 3/8″ thick, and I remove some of the seeds to dry out and save to plant next year. Slices are placed on the dehydrator racks so they are not touching. You want the warm air to flow freely around the slices.

The eight tomatoes that I was dehydrating today took up two of the racks in the dehydrator.

Dehydrating fresh tomatoes will take at least 10 hours at 145 degrees – and maybe longer. About four hours after I started the process, I turned each slice over on the rack.

There’s room for more Since the dehydrator would be running for at least a day, I wanted to make the most use out of it, so I added two racks of fresh basil

At 145 degrees, the basil will take only about 3 hours to dry out completely, so I keep those racks on the top of the dehydrator, and the tomatoes at the bottom.

It’s old, but it works great!

This old dehydrator is 30 years old this year, and it keeps on going. I used to dry herbs by hanging them on a wooden rack out in the garage – with brown paper bags over the leaves to keep them dry and bug-free – but the dehydrator is SO much better!

In a few hours, the dehydrator does the job in a matter of hours, and the results are so much better too.

Basil – completely dry in 3 hours at 145 degrees After 3 hours, the basil is completely dry.

Meanwhile, the tomatoes are still drying

The tomatoes still need a LOT more drying time, but I usually flip them over at this point.

Also, now that the two racks of basil are done, I can add another two racks of leaves. This will give me enough dried basil to last until next season. I keep the leaves whole, and when I use them, I just crush them in my palms over the dish I am seasoning.

Dried basil leaves are kept in this decorative glass jar, which has an airtight lid.

When the tomatoes reach a leathery – but not wet – stage, they will be ready for storing. I keep them in a mason jar with a screw-on lid and keep them in the refrigerator.

Throughout the winter, I use the dried tomatoes for pasta salad and for to use in a sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce recipe that I serve with shrimp over penne. YUM!

Making Opal Basil Herbal Vinegar Every summer, I make this beautiful, raspberry tinted opal basil vinegar with the herbs from the garden. It’s a great marinade for flank steaks, or to use on a salad with olive oil. You’ll definitely want some opal basil in your herb garden!

What is opal basil?

Opal basil is an herb that I grow from seed every year. It’s easy to grow, and it’s one of those herbs that is hard to find otherwise.

The deep purple leaves are almost black, with some leaves having a touch of green.

The flavour is the same as the more common green basil – but the purple leaves make all the difference in an herbal vinegar.

How to make opal basil vinegar The night before I am going to make the vinegar, I hose off all the herb plants that I will use the next morning. You want to be sure that the herbs are clean, but they must be absolutely dry before using for vinegar.

The slightest amount of water will cloud the finished product – and it looks gross.

Next, wash a large glass jar in the dishwasher. I have huge jars that I got from a restaurant. The jars held maraschino cherries.

Gather the herbs The next morning – before noon – I gather the herbs for the opal basil vinegar: I take oregano, opal basil, sage and parsley and stuff the generous amounts into the large jar.

If I have thyme and/or rosemary growing in the herb garden, I will put a little of each of those in the jar too.

Add a small handful of black peppercorns to the jar.

Next, I fill the jar with white vinegar. (Be sure it’s 5% acidic, and not the “cleaning” vinegar.)

If the jar has a metal cap, use a doubled thickness of waxed paper over the jar before screwing on the cap. Metal and vinegar don’t play nicely together.

Steep the herbs To steep the herbs, leave the jar in the sun for two weeks. The warmth of the sun will infuse the vinegar.

To decant the opal basil vinegar A few days before I am going to strain and bottle the vinegar, I gather all the decorative bottles I am going to use and run them through the dishwasher. Again, these need to be absolutely dry before putting the opal basil vinegar in them.

Put a few layers of cheesecloth in a plastic funnel, and carefully pour the herbal mixture into the bottles.

To add a decorative touch, I slide a long sprig of sage into the bottle – using a wooden chopstick to push the sprig into the neck of the bottle.

If you are using corks in the bottles, you can dip the corks in melted wax to seal the bottles. (but it’s not necessary to do so.)

Opal basil vinegar makes a wonderful gift, so start saving some pretty bottles!

and last in this roundup of urban homesteading topics and skills…..

8. Selling what you make Once you get a few skills down, you can even start selling what you make.

I do, by selling the clothing, accessories and home décor items I make from brand new, rescued fabrics. I buy the materials from a non-profit, creative reuse center that receives the materials as donations – rather than have it go to the landfill. For instance, the handbags I design and make, are made from faux leather remnants from a local restaurant seating manufacturer. What is left after making an order of bar stools and banquettes is then donated to my local creative reuse center, EcoWorks. I buy the materials at a great price, and use it in my designs. I have gotten to the point where all my materials are now rescued and zero-waste.

In addition to the local Farmer’s Markets, I also sell at outdoor craft shows. Selling is rewarding, and a lot of fun – and brings in some income to the homestead.

Some tips if you are thinking about selling your products:

Ultimate Guide to Setting Up a Craft Show Booth Spring is usually the time to apply for summer craft shows! After doing 15 consecutive weeks of shows in a summer, plus several years of doing shows in general, I’ve created this ultimate guide to setting up your craft show booth – PLUS a free printable checklist of what to bring to each show..

A good tent is crucial This will be your new pop-up store, and if you do a lot of shows, it will be your home away from home. Can I give you some advice? Buy a decent tent – with sides.

Years ago, I used a flimsy canopy that had no sides. It sufficed, but it wasn’t very attractive – and honestly, it didn’t look very professional. 

Get one that is 10′ by 10‘, which is the standard craft show space.

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White is the best choice for colour

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Side walls that zip on are a real plus – and a necessity if it is windy or starts to rain. The sides also make nice backdrops for your products.

This one is ideal: E-Z UP ES100S Instant Shelter Canopy, 10 by 10′, White 

Some shows require that your canopy is fire resistant (which is very sensible!)

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A roller bag and storage pocket for the sides makes it easy to get to your space once you arrive to the craft show site (these things are heavy!)

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Having a clear plastic sleeve on the top front of the canopy for your business sign is a nice, professional touch

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my canopy, as well as the one linked from Amazon have all these features

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Pro tip: read the instructions on how to set up the canopy BEFORE arriving at the craft show.

Create a pop-up boutique Once the tent is set up, the sides zipped on, and the corners of the frame weighed down, slide your custom made sign into the front pocket. Mine is made from white plastic of the same thickness and feel of corrugated cardboard. The sign was well worth the $80 I paid to have it made.

Make it inviting To really pull the boutique look together, put down a 5′ x 7′ area rug down the center of the booth. It adds a nice, homey touch and makes your booth stand out from all the others.

I got my area rug when my friend’s aunt was moving from her gorgeous home, and was going to throw away three of these matching area rugs. Rather than seeing them go to the landfill, I took them all! They all have a touch of aqua in the design, and I just happened to have several yards of aqua cotton fabric that I rescued from another near miss with the landfill. (More later in this post as to what I did with the fabric.) But that is how I ended up using aqua in my booth’s branding! True story.

Display areas You are going to need a few folding tables for displaying your merchandise. I recommend the 4′ long folding tables that I have been using. Anything larger is too heavy to move from the car to my space at the show. These fold up nicely, have adjustable height legs, and there is a handle so you can carry two at once.

I custom made fitted tablecloths for each table out of an inexpensive set of twin sheets! The tablecloths hit about 3″ from the ground, and hide the empty storage bins I slide under the tables during the show.

Lifetime 4428 Height Adjustable Folding Utility Table, 48 by 24 Inches, White Granite TIP: be very aware of how heavy things are! I’ve seen lots of gorgeous displays on Pinterest, but wonder how many strong people it took to lug all that stuff to the space and set it up!

Speaking of Pinterest – I have an entire board just for Creative Craft Booths! I try to keep in mind that these display pieces need to be lifted and set up – usually when it’s wicked hot out – and lots of times by only one person.

It’s also handy to have two small, round decorator tables in the booth. The legs of the table unscrew, so it’s easy to pack and move to the space. Keep one clear of merchandise, and use it to wrap merchandise for your customers. Each one can be covered with a 70″ round tablecloth.

Make that booth stand out!

You can add some other touches to make your booth stand out. From some rescued aqua cotton, I made two long panels that I clip to the back of the booth frame. These make nice backdrops for the garments I design and sell.

Clips from the dollar store are used to hang garments from the tent frame The remaining fabric was used to make runners for each of the 4′ tables, and for the wooden risers for the top of the tables. Risers are great for bringing some height variation to your display, and theses have two levels. (They are really shoe racks!)

Whitmor 6026-3562 Natural Wood Household Shelves

Do a practice run Before your first show of the season, it’s really helpful to do a practice set-up. I set up my canopy in the driveway, then played around with the layout of the tables and merchandise.

Capture the set-up idea Once I was happy with how it looked, I took photos with my iPhone to refer to while setting up for the show.

Over the course of the 15 weeks of shows, I experimented with different layouts and how merchandise was displayed. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot in addition to making sales.

Free printable Craft Show Checklist Rather than go into all the things you should bring , here’s a link to a free printable checklist with everything you need to bring to a show. https://doityourselfskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Craft-Show-Checklist-2020.pdf Now that you have your tent, tables and displays all set up, it’s time to fill your booth with merchandise and have fun at the show!

Are you ready to begin?

From the very beginning skills needed to give you the confidence that you are prepared for a snow storm, to the point where you have the skills where you can sell what you make, the urban homesteading lifestyle can encompass all of these skills, just a few – or somewhere in between.

I am going to guess that since you downloaded this ebook, you are interested in learning more about how to become a more self-reliant urban homesteader. Great! Let’s get you started and on your way to self-reliance!

One of the first, and easiest things most urban homesteaders start with, is to get themselves prepared for bad weather, a period of illness, job loss or when you just can't (or don't want to) get out and shop for necessities - what I call "prepper lite".

Over the coming weeks, I will email you with easy steps to get you well on your way to being prepared!

Start here with this bonus article:

Make a Shopping List and Save Money Have you ever gone shopping, only to come home and find you already have what you just bought?

Or that you really need something – after you get home from the store. And then have to run out again?

Let’s not do that anymore, okay? Plan ahead before going shopping, because having a list is the key to save money and time!

Take inventory As a first step, work on figuring out what you need. Below is a link for some checklists I created for you to print out. Each category has a few suggested items to give you some ideas of what you may need. The easiest way to do this is to print out the checklists, grab a clipboard, and go category by category. https://doityourselfskills.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Shopping-Checklist-2020.pdf

Don’t go out and get everything now!

This is what you will use to get a handle on what you will need to buy eventually.

Organizing your shopping lists Now that you have an idea of what you need, the next step is to organize your lists. The method I recommend is to create shopping lists by store. I bet you have certain places that you shop, and after you go to a store a few times, you will have an idea of the kinds of things they sell, and most important, their prices.

If you have a smart phone it’s the perfect place for keeping your lists handy. If not, paper and pen is perfect too! For your phone, you will need an app where you can make notes – preferably on separate pages – one page for each store. Google “shopping list apps”, and find dozens to choose from. Find one or two that work for you.

Phone app for making shopping lists I used to have several different apps that I liked for creating my shopping lists, but after a while, they were each discontinued. Now I use a very simple and free app called To-Do.

For each store that I go to, I create a List, and within each one is a shopping list. Sometimes I add the same item to more than one list, because I don’t always go to all the stores in one shopping trip.

For example, if I need 1/4″ elastic for a sewing project, I put it on the Joann Fabrics list and the WalMart list, since the item is sold at both places. Here in town, both stores are right next to each other, but I go to Wal-Mart first because the prices are better and I can get most of what I need there. So when I shop at Wal-Mart, I check my other lists to see if I can get all those items too.

For my grocery list, I enter items as soon as I use up something or take an item from the pantry. As I go through the grocery store and find what I need, I just swipe the item on the list to delete it.

A Price Book can save money too Make a price book to refer to until you get used to shopping for the right price. All you need is a notebook to write down items, prices and stores.

Use your last receipt from the store to start your price book. Also, add what you paid for each item – that way, you will know if you can get a better price if you are shopping in a different store, or if your main store lowers the price you normally pay.

Put items on your lists, but don’t get them until you find them at a good price.

Before I head out to the store, I check all my lists. Then I check the flyers and coupons that come in the mail/email. The items that are on the lists and store prices determine which store(s) I will be going to.

I go into this a lot more in a post on the site I discuss buying groceries. So for now, print out your checklists, take inventory of what you need, and get ready to save money!