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Blind Faith and Gumption
So I've got it in my head that I want an urban homestead. I'd like to bake all my own breads, from grains grown and processed here in Colorado, make my own dairy products, from Colorado raw milk, grow most of my own vegetables, herbs and spices, compost my garbage, have a fabulous xeriscape garden, stock a freezer with local, organic meats, learn how to "put up" food, and basically do more for myself and rely less on the standard supply chain.
Also, I know little about gardening, less about gardening in Colorado Springs, and almost nothing about other household skills.
I am crazy. But it seems fun.
Details about my garden
I'm tracking my garden:
Upcoming Projects
- Raw Milk:
- Ricotta
- Cream cheese
- Ice Cream
- Mozarella
- Indoor Herb Garden:
- Oregano
- Chives
- Tarragon
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Garbage Can Compost Bins
- Seed starting
- Indoor lettuce and tomatoes
- Yard Mulching
- First-year xeriscape garden
- Raised, self-watering vegetable garden beds
- Green Cleaning
- Homemade fabric softener sheets
- Green way to clean a toilet?
- Green dish soap?
- Local Meat
- Source bulk, local, organic meats and flour
- Currant Bushes
- Basement root cellar
Current Projects
- Vermicomposting
- Indoor Herb Garden
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Basil
- Indoor Lime and Lemon Trees
- Raw Milk:
- Homemade Yogurt
- Homemade Butter
- Homemade Breads:
- Boule
- Pita
- Green Cleaning:
- Vinegar or Vinegar/Castille Soap surface cleaners
- Baking powder sink scouring
- Homemade laundry detergent
- Vinegar rinse cycle using downy ball
- 7th Generation dishwasher powder
- Bought a full-sized freezer
- Indoor Herb Garden
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Basil
- Indoor Lime and Lemon Trees
- Raw Milk:
- Homemade Yogurt
- Homemade Butter
- Homemade Breads:
- Boule
- Pita
- Green Cleaning:
- Vinegar or Vinegar/Castille Soap surface cleaners
- Baking powder sink scouring
- Homemade laundry detergent
- Vinegar rinse cycle using downy ball
- 7th Generation dishwasher powder
- Bought a full-sized freezer
Tips, Instructions, Resources
- Locavore Food Security Blog
- Mother Earth News: all the best info on urban homesteading
- Backyard Chickens: all about keeping chickens in the city. You can have 10 (no roosters) in the Springs.
- ICYouSee Chicken Breeds chart
- Small Scale Beekeeping: Peace Corp Guide
- Top Bar Beekeeping: an alternative to traditional beekeeping with more wax and less, higher quality honey
- Create Seed-Starting Pots from Newspapers
- Homemade Laundry Detergent: 10 recipes to try. I use recipe #4.
- Wise Traditions: Weston A. Price foundation's website with nontraditional approach to nutrition
- Red, White and Grew: about the Victory Garden Movement
- Slow Food USA
- 100 Mile Diet
- Eat Local Challenge
Colorado Springs Local Food Sources
- Larga Vista Ranche: Raw milk, egg CSA, grass fed beef and pork. I get their milk and eggs
- Grant Family Farms: my CSA. Rather larger than many "local" farms.
- Colorado Farm and Art Market: the best farmer's market in the Springs for local food
- Mesa Winds Farms: local, organic fruit CSA
- Lasater Grasslands Beef
- Venetucci Farms
- Country Roots Farm (Pueblo based)
- Sammy's: local organic grocery
- Mountain Mama's: local organic grocery
- Pleasant Hill Grain: Source for an excellent grain mill
- Ranch Foods Direct: farm to customer sales
- Eastern Plains Natural Food Coop: lots of poultry. Not sure how to get it in the Springs
- Peak to Plains Alliance: Lists a lot of Springs agribusinesses
- Local Harvest: Biggest source for finding local farms
- Colorado Proud: Lists all kinds of Colorado agriculture.
- Colorado Organic Producers Association Directory: Incomplete but a good starting place
- Rocky Mountain Milling: local, organic flour. Buy in bulk from Sammy's for 25% over wholesale.
- Edible Front Range: quarterly food magazine for the Springs area. Highlights growers and provides seasonal recipes
- Colorado Local Sustainability: Rocky Mountain growers directory
- Raw Milk Association of Colorado: sources for raw milk
- Organic Consumers Organizations: List of Community Supported Agriculture & Buying Clubs by city. None in the Springs so far.
Colorado Gardening Resources
- Build as you grow potatoe box: How to
- Article on how to grow lots of potatoes in little space
- Square Foot Gardening
- Kitchen Gardeners International
- Seed Savers Exchange: great source of heirloom seeds
- Four Winds Growers: Excellent source of dwarf citrus for indoor growing
- Sandhill Preservation Center: seeds and poultry
- Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: great rare seeds catalogue
- GMHP: One source for kits to grow mushrooms at home
- Colorado Springs Utilities: resources for xeriscape gardening in Colorado Springs
- X-rated gardening: for xeriscape gardening advice and resources for Colorado
- Plant Select: recommends plants for the Rocky Mountain region
- Heidrich's Colorado Tree Farm Nursery: has a lot of fruit trees appropriate for the area
- High Country Home and Garden: Momument nursery that focuses on xeriscape
About Me
- Heidi
- Colorado Springs, CO, United States
- 30-something first-time homeowner with aspirations of urban homesteading. I work as an engineer, served in the Army, and recently bought a home with a yard that looked like an abandoned lot.
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