urban homesteading

Found this piece on urban homesteading on my browser today.

It was the last thing my dad read before he gave me back my laptop and it made me smile thinking he\’s still a farmer at heart after all these years.  Hope we get to work on some city farming projects soon– recently bought a book made by the Central Luzon University on Urban Farming and it has easy and encouraging suggestions suited to the Philippine climate!

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Similar to urban gardeners or backyard farmers, urban homesteaders:

…want to replicate the lifestyle of the original homesteaders in a modern-day setting: making many of their necessities themselves or sourcing items locally, motivated by a desire to leave a lighter impact on the planet and have a direct connection with their food.

That last bit is important, as it brings to light the spiritual / energy aspect of food (and farming).   When you eat raw vegetables everyday, you necessarily take an active part in sourcing your food, and behind that is a deeper connection with the physical land that grows it–the soil, the farmer, the tilling and waiting.    When you\’re the farmer yourself, you get to know your land to the point of familiarity, and you work and work until intuition sets in and you have a true connection with the earth and sun.  Imagine how different everything would be if we all just started planting again.

Read the complete article on earth911.com: Inside the Urban Homesteading Craze