Homesteading in the suburbs and the city
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
If you were wellies, grow some of your own food and live the life of a homesteader while living in the city or suburbs then you are a rurbanite.
While it may sound strange to some who equate homesteading with life in the boonies a homestead can be established anywhere, including the urban jungle. In fact, it has to be done, and if you do it then this new term applies to you, or you could say “urban homesteader”, but that is a bit long and does not sound so good.
Rurbanite is a new word, obviously, and one that has not, as yet, made it into the Oxford Dictionary. It is a composite of ruralite and urbanite thus becoming rurbanite. One could define it as a person living the rural dream in the city.
That urban homesteading is possible and can feed an entire family from the back- and the front yard, with produce to spare, has been proven especially by Jules Dervaes and his family, who runs a website and business called “Urban Homestead”.
Even in the smallest of spaces it is possible to grow some food and the homesteader mindset can be applied everywhere especially with regards to reuse and repurposing and make do and men, as I discussed in “Every home a homestead” and “Does a homestead have to be in the country?” and a number of others.
The homesteader mindset on all subjects and levels can and must become the norm for all of us and be applied everywhere in order for us to become more sustainable and reduce our impact on the Planet.
We have only this Planet but especially those of us in the developed world live a life that, actually, requires the resources of around three and that just does not compute and is not sustainable.
Join the revolution and become a rurbanite, if you live in the suburbs and the towns; an urban homesteader.
© 2013
