Hip Urban Homesteaders

Where do I start?  Here in Portland, I just found out that there is a a company just across the river called Portland Homestead Supply Co.. I plan to go check it out, maybe even tomorrow! I am so excited to have a local company we will support alot in the future, as we work our way off the grind. They are a one-stop resource for urban homesteaders. "We strive to source products made locally or in the US, with an emphasis on non-electric items". So I will be posting again once we check out what they have. Maybe I will even get involved with some of their classes and demonstrations.


On to some inspiration.. Canning, and preserving are(sorry to say) not the hippest thing in the world to do. The simple design of these labels gives canning a whole new name. They seem fresh, and new. The labels make the product appear expensive, and top of the line. I coudn't be more inspired to get a few fruit trees. So we can get started jammin'. I bet I would 'jam' listening to reggae. Now that is hip!

Check out more photo's of the labels here.

Next is inspiration for having our giant garden! I want to can everything! With the help of a few good books and Waynes mom. It will be possible! I plan to get all of our friends and family together, and each year have canning parties! The blog Cottage Industrialist had a guest post featuring free printables from Kristen Magee at Paper Crave. Get inspired to have a canning party yourself with her fun photos, and free printables!

Check out her post here to download. She also has links to websites for canning supplies and recipes.

Self Reliance & Fun Canning Label Downloads from Frolic

Some day when we get our mini cabins up, and a garden in the ground we are going to can our food! My mom bought Wayne a couple of amazing books for Christmas. One is called Back To Basics, the other is Homesteading. Homesteading has tons of information about canning, and lots of recipes. The books arrived at our door a few days ago and they have been on our laps since we opened the box. There are 2 more books in the Self Sufficiency Series(Self-Sufficiency & Simpler Living-2 books now on my wish list). I see the price of food rising every day, and it seems harder and harder for Americans to become self reliant. The definition(yes I looked it up) is Independence. There is money in every single one of us being dependent, and also a form of control. According to the EPA, 3,000 acres of productive U.S. farmland are lost to development every day. Between 2005 and 2006, the US lost 8,900 farms (a little more than 1 farm per hour). With my eyes opening up more every day I realize how many benefits there are to getting off the grid. Not only would we be creating our own electricity, eating seasonally, have long term food storage, saving LOTS of money and big muscles ; ) but we would be living mostly in our own footprint. I am quite fed up with mountain top removal, nuclear disasters, fracking, oil spills, poverty, smog, traffic, monsanto, chemtrails and blackouts(I could go on). There is a trend I have seen on Pinterest, which I figure is going on throughout the world. More and more people are wanting a more relaxed lifestyle and to live within their means. Going back to wood burning stoves, small cabins, salvaging old items, pallet furniture, outdoorsy things like hiking, canoeing and fishing. I love healthy trends! Let them continue, and let us all become independent in our future.

I have here some canning inspiration for you from Frolic. She had a guest post from Banquet which created a free download for canning labels, with a recipe for preserved lemons. Check it out here!

Read more about the sustainability and the importance of family farms here- Also a reference for my statistics written above.