A Pasedena family has created a homestead on 1/5 acre in Los Angeles – complete with a year-round garden producing a 6,000 lb annual harvest, chickens, small farm animals and bees. In addition, they use solar powered, hand-powered kitchen appliances and run their cars using homemade biodiesel.
Their dream? A community of like-minded homesteaders living what they call the Path to Freedom. (That dream,unfortunately, may be on hold, as they’ve raised the ire of their own community by patenting the term “Urban Homestead”…)
I don’t know about you, but I find the idea of urban homesteading inspiring. I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day so I could create a similar existence for my family here in NYC. (This darned day job just keeps getting in the way…)
I may just make a small start this year and see if I can build me a raised bed on the roof. I’ve not had great success to date growing much other than herbs in containers, and my apple trees are becoming more and more challenged by their containers every year. But a raised bed might be worth a try. I’m on the lookout for a reasonably priced plan for building a moderate sized bed that won’t leach dirt onto the roof and will drain well. While the subsoil irrigation systems look interesting, I’m afraid I’ll blow it if I try something that complicated on the first go round.
Any and all advice welcome.
Raised beds are the way to go! We built our first one last year. We have the problem of clay soil here in the Pacific NW, so the raised bed made it possible to grow something with good soil drainage. Then we filled it with some soil that we bought from one of the local landscaping businesses. It worked so well, we have plans to build at least three more this Spring. This is the plan that we used. http://www.sunset.com/garden/perfect-raised-bed-00400000039550/
It cost us around $70 to make it. Not the $172.00 that they quoted.
Perhaps you could line it with black plastic before you fill it with dirt, to keep it from leaking dirt out. I am not sure how your roof is set up! LOL
Thanks!
Gardener’s Supply Co. (gardeners.com) offers raised beds with liners that can be used on decks, patios, etc., as well as all kinds of containers. Also Google “square foot gardening” for ideas. Or move to Ohio!
Definitely use that drip system (invented in Israel), which is really easy to set up and put on a timer. I’ve even heard of people getting parts of the system on eBay! Good luck.
Will check into it – thanks!
You might want to try using smart pots in conjunction with a drip watering system.
The pots are made of recycled fabric and come in 5, 10 and 15 gallon sizes. They are great because the plants can breath and you can maximize the space by planting on the sides and in the top of the pot.
We started using them last year with terrific results.