#Simple Urban

[samwisethewitch]

Actually, I love that cottagecore has given Gen Z a word for "I want to have a big garden and cook my own food and keep chickens" that isn't casually invoking colonialism and manifest destiny. I get so goddamned uncomfortable every time someone refers to their urban hobby farm as a "homestead" and I'm glad to finally see it being replaced with other terms. I will buy a million books about how to live a cottagecore lifestyle if it will convince publishers to stop marketing the "homesteader" lifestyle and will get white city dwellers to stop unironically self-identifying as colonizers.

[walkingdetroit]

Beauty is All Around

When I started this page, the purpose was to highlight all the ways people can get places and the beauty that’s in our own backyard. Cars are not the only solution- and we miss a lot of life when we are rushing to get from point A to point B.

I’ve spent almost 11 years without a driver’s license or a car, and that is by choice. Back when I drove, my anxiety and depression were almost uncontrollable. I hated the winter (now it’s my favorite season!), I was always nervous something would go wrong, and being inside a vehicle gave me panic attacks. They still do- but something about walking down the street and saying hi to your neighbors, striking up a conversation on the train, or feeling the breeze on your face riding a bike fills my heart with such joy. My world has completely transformed during these 11 years.

Find the things that make you happy. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says about it- even if they call you crazy for moving to Detroit without a car ❤️

[simplefoodsmallfarmz]

In the tradition.

When you operate a small farm, stuff happens and ya gotta stop and repair, replace or recycle what’s broken. It’s not always easy and it definitely is a time commitment, however, it still remains a blessing because during the downtime, lessons are learned.

What have you fixed recently?

[andrewdi8]

Every now and then I crave an escape from the crowded city streets and I let myself get lost in the narrow, hidden alleyways. I love wandering through unfamiliar places until I stumble upon a cozy, quiet cafe, where I can sit with a warm cup of coffee and maybe a little dessert. ☕🍰

In these tucked -away spots I can pause from the daily routine, savore the peaceful atmospher and let my thoughts drift.

It's a little gift to myself a moment to recharge, daydream and remember the beauty of slowing down and enjoing the simple things.

...

[thestudentfarmer]

Good afternoon everyone~

It's cold, windy and it's been raining on and off all day but I finally got out to harvesting the sweet potatoes.

I started with the 'L' bed.

This is the bowl I'll be using to collect the spuds for this deep raised bed.

Those are full size scissors btw. This is the absolute biggest strainer I own and when I do harvesting I'm always glad to have it! Helps with carrying and washing off dirt outside so much easier!

It was pretty fun digging round for the spuds and to be honest the size and shape of some of them really suprised me!

For some size comparison, my hand is right on top of them.

All cleaned out!

Next was the little round bed in the corner. I wasn't really expecting much, but it filled the bin pretty good.

I've washed the spuds off and am letting them dry off but I'll be finding a spot inside soemwhere to let them sit and cure for a bit of time. (I probably will let them cure until end of febuary.)

Curing your sweet potatoes is what makes them sweet, you can eat them right away but their said to be bitter. (I will be trying 1 potato to see if this is true!) Curing them should be done for at least 2 week in a cool dry space (around 80*f). If you under 80*f space add 7 more days.

I thought this was neat and wanted to share it. since I've not seen a sweet potato grown or dug up before

I wasn't expecting so much differance in spud size from one single root.

And one last pic,

The ducks quite like the greens, while there's not much left of it I'm going to leave the vines a couple days so they can use it as enrichment/snack opportunity.

Weigh in on the spuds later!

🍠🌱Happy Homesteading and Harvesting!!

🌱🍠

1.11.2024

[r5vh7c]

images by @r5vh7c EXCEPT for the wendy pic

[arc-hus]

Pirajá House, Pinheiros, Brazil - Estúdio BRA

[soilthesimpletruth]

Seriously enjoying autumn.

[villasugandhala]

La cueillette alimentaire urbaine | ARTE Regards

[challahbread]

will scan and start colouring on monday but. yeay

[psalacanthea]

the rewrite of this novel is going great, actually. I fought the rewrite so long, but honestly considering the way I plot, rewriting makes such a more cohesive piece in the end. This is the one I plan to get professionally edited next year, and then I'll be releasing it for free.

I'm not going to be published.

I'm not good at 'branding' myself, and that's what they want right now.

But honestly at the heart of things, while being published would be nice (the money to fix my health issues would be cool), I just want to tell a story to as many people as possible.

So, I'll just be releasing it for free, in as many formats as I have the time to put it in.

[lastmurianwarrior]

The Untouched Mountainside (300 word flash fiction)

Solo could sort of taste the sweet scents in the air from yellow and blue wildflowers dappling the landscape...

It was a warmly serene day, and Laplace was actually letting him think. Of course, the fiery ocean-blue EM being was probably pondering things too, that is, if he wasn’t already distracted by another dragonfly that seemed all too aware of his presence.

Neither had spoken a word all day. Neither felt the need to with all the chattering sounds of nature; songbirds, cicadas, and frogs acting in chorus.

Sounds trickled down the mountainside along with a modest silvery stream of fresh water far too cold to bath in. Eroding rocks that defined the mountain’s foot peaked through thick patches of deep green moss laying the foundation for scraggly undergrowth between seemingly ancient trees. Their timeless though scant shade offered a welcome shield against the heat of the day. Solo knew it wouldn’t seem that bright to ordinary people at this hour, but to his eyes, any bright daylight was almost too much to tolerate.

At first, the lone Murian hoped there’d have been some sign of ancient humans there, some touch of Mu, or even just a petroglyph revealing a long forgotten tribe. But the more he looked, the more he felt this place had somehow evaded human touch for millennia. That the verdant landscape had managed to stand defiant of human meddling for so long came as a surprising comfort, and the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to change anything about it. Resting back to the cool bark of the tree that he felt was the oldest, his eyes took one last look at the lone Wave Road that brought him there against the empty sky, and finally drifted off into a rare peaceful nap.

[simplefoodsmallfarmz]

Old school simplicity with new school flava.

[andrewdi8]

There's something special about walking through the city in the early morning. Though getting up early is never easy, those quiet moments on my way to work feel worth it.

The empty streets, fewer ears and fresh air create a peaceful atmosphere, as if the city is stretching and waking up. It's a rare time when everything feels calm - uncrowded and unhurried, offering a small yet beautiful escape from the usual bustle.

...

[thestudentfarmer]

Kitchen post today~

With prices being what they are I like a good deal on groceries when I can find it. Sometimes that leads me to buying large quantities of things.

This week the local scratch n dent market had 5 pound bags of golden potatos on sale, 2 for $4. We like potatos so I snagged a few bags. Since i had 2 from last week's groceries I decided to pick through them all.

I tossed a few rotten ones and sorted out the good from the ones getting on the going side. The good ones I put up in a storage tote (a cooking pot for now) for later cooking.

These ones are the contenders for the weekly meal/freezer prep. They had some funny or funky spots, things that can be cut off and thrown away or in the compost. I clean them after washing them well.

As a heads up, it's not suggested to feed chickens raw potatoes. So leave anything with raw potato bits in the trash or the compost bin.

The bad bits.

If you feel need to you can wash them up again. I move to peeling after words.

I save the peels for breakfast potatoes, or to make soup.

A few peeled spuds.

Afterwords, depending on how many potatoes needed to be processed will decide what im making. This time I had enough potatoes to do cubed potatoes and hashbrown potatoes.

Cube potatoes, then blanch them till all Dante in a pot. (Not quite to mash potatoes softness, but not crunchy.)

Drain, cool quickly. (If your into water conservation, save the water for your plants once cooled) I cool till just under warm and lay them out to drain/dry a bit.

Then take a pan and lay out a clean kitchen towel on it. Pour dry potatoes on and place in freezer till frozen.

Store in container and use like regular frozen potatoes.

Moving to hashed potatoes

Similar to the cubed potatoes except I grated them.

I like to destarch my potatoes a little so I do a soak for about an hour, drain and then blanch.

I did about 5 minutes to blanch the hash, every couple minutes fish out a peice and test it to see if it's crunchy or just firm. Drain, cool asap.

Lay out to drain and dry a bit.

Lay towel on baking sheet. Place drained hashed potatoes on top. Place in freezer and freeze a few hours.

When frozen package up. Date and use as necessary :)

Other potato freezing/preserving resources

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-to-freeze-potatoes

https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/dehydrate-potatoes-for-various-uses-zbcz1507/

🥔🌱Happy Homesteading!🌱🥔

[swagging-back-to]

if youre over 17yo and you cant cook youre useless