Covid 19. Now what? Urban Homesteading.

How are you?

I know the answer to this question would not be polite English "Fine, thanks".

Everyone is trying to cope the best they can, good, bad and the ugly. 

 - out of work and at home...

 - school is out

- kids went through the first week of stir crazy and are now settling into new routine. I am homeschooling most of the days during the week spending way more time doing this than "a couple of hours a day" as per public schools planning. With two kids I pretty much run from one room to another supervising them, helping out with questions, dealing with tantrums and melt downs, encouraging them to do better and trying to keep them on task. And this takes most of the day. I hope as we get used to it and they learn to not get distracted this time will get reduced. Right now it feels like a full-time job so the weekend didn't come soon enough.

On my lap now: "Chicken Poop for the Soul" by K.Dowling. Straight from the first page the book hits the spot.
"One day in January 1997 I found myself standing in a grocery store in Prince George, BC, looking with dismay at the bare produce section. ...
While the shoppers vented their outrage ...
I began to wonder, What will I do if the strike continues for a long time? ...
And there it was: I realized then just how dependent I was (we all are) on the North America's food production and distribution system.
I was also shocked .. by my fellow shoppers' lack of awareness and surprised by their attitudes. ... that made me question the necessity for Canadians to have pineapples in January...."

Scenario of the book may be different... the end result might be the same. Panic, possible scarcity of available produce and worse. 
Have we grown too accustomed to "wants" over "needs"? to dependability on other countries, other people in general?

So many things to reconsider...

I know what we are living through now is scary and horrible with so many deaths and permanent health implications ... but I am trying to find positives in what is happening. 

A few years ago now, I have learned to make my own natural soap (from scratch) and beeswax candles. I would say I got pretty good at it too and you buying my products made me feel on top of the world. But as it often happens, it took over many other hobbies and interests. The original goal was to become as self-sustainable as possible within urban limits since I do not have the means to own an acreage. Life got busy and I shelved this wish for some time. Being out work and at home now allowed me to revisit past goals and to pick this one up.

I was born in the countryside with grandpa running a Soviet collective farm but then we moved, and moved some more, and in the midst of it all I became a city girl. Nevertheless, somewhere on the subconscious level the countryside hay bales hold a magnetic attraction for me. Nothing seems better than the smell of soil and forest underfloor. And as my husband jokes nowadays, if you ask my wife about what she would like for a gift, one might answer red-soled Louboutins, but her answer would be "sheep manure and chickens".

So, I am continuing this journey towards self-sufficiency, getting busy doing what I already know and learning new skills.

I am building a bigger garden this spring (the kitchen counter is full of sprouting plants) and was recently approved by the city to have backyard chickens. I am allowed 4 hens. I also need to build a chicken coop soon before getting my new feathered friends. More cooking and baking, as well as better pantry building is also in my plans.

If this sounds like something you would like to be part of, join me in recipe and skills exchange whether you are a farmer, a city dweller or a wanna-be-urban-homesteader like me. on Instagram @josephhenry1895 and @josephhenry1895_etc.

Let's create a mutually supportive community.

Humbly your,

Svetlana

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