Urban Homesteading is alive and well in the Midwest. I've had the good fortune to meet other like minded folks, although most of them are in KC or Lawrence.
If you're new to the idea, get started here . The Dervaes family raises over 6,000 pounds of food every year on 1/5 of an acre. I know, it's mind boggling!!
If you're in the KC area, check out classes here and their Friday Night Market - yum!
And above is my beloved "hen" Lucy, which, as you can clearly see in the photo, is actually a Rooster, renamed Larry. Ahem. As Roosters are not allowed within the city limits, Larry is on the way out of town, as soon as he's a little older.
We ordered our flock from My Pet Chicken and were assured that we would get 100% hens as we just want layers. (As Cole says, " We don't EAT pets Mom!") Alas, 3 of the 12 are Roos.
I'd highly advise anyone thinking of Urban Homesteading to read their CCRs (neighborhood covenants) and the city laws regarding poultry, livestock, bee keeping etc. In my town, roosters and bee hives are outlawed. Poultry and livestock are limited (by livestock, I mean a goat, not a heard of Jersey's.) Funny thing I learned, most subdivisions in KC area do NOT allow clothes lines ~ is that crazy or what?!
Here's a few more links to sites I enjoy: Mother Earth News, Countryside, Little House.
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Melissa - iI know this is a semi serious post , but we are having B-I-G F-U-N reading the links to the My Pet Chicken and the Urban Homestead websites.
You have made my day , we laughed until we cried ,especially when we saw the "In memory" section for the chickens .But then we all admitted that it was a very good idea. We hope Larry finds a good home outside city limits and not on a plate !
We had discussed Victory gardens a few weeks ago , but this is better and hopefully the concept will work its way East.