Turf Town Real Estate Blog

I’m sure you’ve seen them….the signs all over downtown that say “Food Grown Here.”  As people have become more and more concerned about where their food is coming from and what it’s been treated with, more and more people have decided to grow their own food.  But, urban homesteading is much more than that.  Chicken coops are popping up all over downtown – there are three in my neighborhood!  Beekeeping is even coming back into fashion as well as canning and preserving the harvest so that all that yummy produce you enjoyed all summer can be enjoyed through the winter as well.  

A common misconception is that you have to have a lot of space to do all this gardening and chicken keeping, but it’s simply not true.  I have a 10 foot x 4 foot garden bed that is home to nearly 100 vegetable plants mixed in with a few strawberries and herbs.  The best part about having a garden outside your back door is that you never have to remember to make that grocery stop for fresh veggies!  Trust me…the labor and time spent building my garden was well worth the time saved by not having to drag two four year olds through Kroger just to find a head of romaine!  Even if a full fledged garden is a little out of reach for you….it’s ok.  Start small.  Plant some herbs in flower pots and set them in your kitchen window.  Many herbs repel all sorts of pests.  Rosemary repels mosquitoes, fleas, and flies while mint will keep away mice and ants.  As an added bonus, they smell a lot better than insecticides!  A few lettuce plants mixed in with your outdoor flowers would hardly be noticed and really require very little maintenance….just pick your leaves from the outside of the plant and a couple of plants will keep you in salad all summer.  Tomatoes, peppers, even squash and peas do fantastically well in flower pots, so you don’t even have to have a yard to have a garden.  Be adventuresome.  Try just one or two things this year, and then enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you grew something amazing! 

So, now you’ve planted a garden.  What to do now?  Preserving and canning are making a comeback!  Canning in particular is something I love to do.  My grandma taught me and I look forward to teaching my girls the same skills…..last summer they helped me make a lot of relish.  Canning isn’t for everyone and does require some pricey equipment, so if you don’t want to can or can’t afford it, never fear.  Jams and jellies can be frozen, tomatoes, peppers, and peas also freeze well.  Potatoes, squash, and onions can winter over in a cool, dry place such as your basement.  Hang onions, wrap potatoes and squash individually in newspaper, then put them in a wicker basket or bushel basket on a shelf where air can circulate around them….I still have squash leftover from October!  Almost any fruit can be frozen and used later in smoothies or other desserts.  Herbs are best dried or frozen, but if you dry them remember to put them in a dark container with a secure lid….light and air will cause them to lose their flavor! 

Now, the chickens.  Here in Lexington, we are fortunate to have a cooperative of urban chicken keepers called Cluck! (http://clucklex.org/) that can offer lots of help when setting up your urban coop.  Urban chicken keeping has become extremely popular lately and, like a garden, they take surprisingly little room.  We currently have 3 different coops here in my neighborhood ranging in size of coop and number of chickens.  Two or three chickens will provide enough eggs for the average family of four.  Unless you are intending to hatch some eggs, a rooster is not necessary for chickens to lay eggs, so that alleviates the concern of having a rooster crowing at sun up every morning.  Chickens really require very little, but they do need to be protected.  A secure coop is essential and you will have to close the chickens up at night (usually around sunset) and let them out again in the morning.  Chickens are easy prey to a surprising number of predators, raccoons being the most predominant in an urban setting.  

It’s a great time of year to get started on any of these projects, but even if you decide you’re not going to grow a garden or raise your own chickens don’t forget the farmer’s markets (http://www.lexingtonfarmersmarket.com/)  and enjoy some of the fresh produce that’s getting ready to be in season!  Asparagus and strawberries are already on the downswing, so hurry up!  Get out there and enjoy some produce or, even better, plant your own!