An Amazing and Prolific Urban Homestead

Since expansion on the ground level wasn’t possible, I reached skyward, constructing trellises to go up and arbors to go over. In all sorts of containers and, mostly, in backyard raised beds, I serially planted, taking advantage of our year-round growing season. It became an obsession not to waste the tiniest of spaces, so seeds were sown closer together. We blended tall plants with low-growing species. By fanatically planting every square inch, high and low, the harvests increased yearly, reaching an annual yield of over 6,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables on just one-tenth of an acre of land.

With my son Justin’s passion for growing heirloom tomatoes and other uncommon plant varieties, our homestead was overflowing with fresh, organic, premium produce. Our urban setting was crowded with customers seeking the same. So, we found a profitable match in local high-end restaurants and caterers. My dream of living off the land had come tantalizingly close to fruition, but not in the way I had planned. Whereas smallness for a traditional farm would have been a liability, the twist for my micro-farm was that it fit in the city, next door to small, trendy markets. What we couldn’t directly grow ourselves, we could indirectly obtain with income from sales of our produce, achieving a combined self-sufficiency.

Beyond the Garden

Striking a blow for greater freedom, I fought against our electricity usage on several fronts. From the usual steps of installing CFLs and buying only energy-efficient appliances to the more radical step of foregoing small electrical kitchen appliances altogether, we reduced our average daily usage to about 6 kWh. By installing a 2 kW solar power system in 2003, we could produce about two-thirds of our needs. With the balance supplied by the city from a wind farm, all our electricity came from green power.

I addressed the transportation problem by owning only one used car (1988 diesel Suburban) for a family of four adults, cutting back on the number of trips made (under 4,000 miles annually), and homebrewing our own biodiesel fuel from waste vegetable oil. Regarding alternative fuel, I always believed that this was a Band-Aid solution for the short term. Our walking or biking to places locally was really the way to secure a sustainable future.

What was (and always will be) our greatest challenge was the availability of water in a semi-arid region. We hand watered and practiced other water conservation methods, including mulching, forest (or jungle) plantings and using self-watering containers. We utilized some graywater, with plans to reclaim more. Harvesting rainwater wasn’t a priority; we have an average annual rainfall of only 19 inches, almost all occurring within a four-month period in winter. Praying for rain was the best solution.

A One-trowel Revolution

In 2001, when I began this 21st century fight for independence, my family also started an impromptu journal online to document our successes and failures, in hopes of encouraging others to start their own journeys. What began as a few entries and pictures each week quickly mushroomed: Path to Freedom is the original and most comprehensive urban homestead Web site, getting thousands of visitors each month from around the world.