A few years ago I met photographer and author Lori Eanes when she came to take pictures of my garden for a book she was doing. The book is called Backyard Roots: Lessons on Living Simply From 35 Urban Farmers, and it’s a highly visual exploration of urban farms up and down the west coast from Vancouver to San Francisco.
Thirty-five urban homesteaders are featured, and through their stories and the photos and descriptions of their set-ups the book covers the full range of urban farming activities.
The farmers in Backyard Roots pluck vegetables from their raised beds or permaculture food forests or rooftops gardens. Greens and herbs are foraged, ornamental public trees are covertly converted into fruit-bearers through guerrilla grafting, fresh exotic mushrooms are grown for farmers markets and restaurants. People share their focus on self-sustainability or work to bring together a larger community. There are kids and critters in the mix: toddlers and teenagers, chickens, goats, ducks, fish, and bees.
I’m in there too, with my kids and my Felcos and my greenhouse full of cucumbers and my advice to think like a plant. It’s a trip to see yourself in a book (I hadn’t cut my hair in eighteen months, and you can tell!), but it’s been wonderful to read through all the stories, and to show my kids pictures of other families doing the same kind of thing we’re doing.
My daughter! Whoot-whoot!
Backyard Roots gives a stong visual tour of what it is to be a west-coast urban farmer. It is a fabulous work for inspiration that really captures the diversity of weirdos like me (and maybe you?) who think that ripping up lawn to grow veggies or graze farm animals is a great idea – even in the city.
Get Your Own Copy of Backyard Roots – Free!
Skipstone Press, the publishing house of Backyard Roots, is giving away a copy of Backyard Roots to three lucky NWEdible readers.
To enter to win, leave a comment on this blog post telling me what kind of urban (or rural!) homestead activity you find most inspiring, and what activity you find most intimidating. I am, personally, very intimidated by anything having to do with animals that lactate. I’ll take poultry and bees any day, and leave the goats and mini-cows to other, braver urban farmers.
Contest will close Friday, November 29th at 8 pm PST. The three winners will be contacted by email. Open to US and Canadian residents only due to shipping. Best of luck everyone!
Image Credit: All images featured in this post are copyright Lori Eanes. Used with permission.
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Congratulations! The book looks fabulous! I am most inspired by seeing my children’s wonder and joy in the garden. The commitment required by my “big” ideas intimidates me.
I am inspired by anyone who farms in their yard, whether it be a large operation or small. Any act of reclaiming lawn or landscaping for food brings the cycle back into our control, and brings life to our neighborhoods. As for intimidating, I’d have to say chickens. I know theoretically everything that needs to be done, but taking those steps seems overwhelming, starting with fencing in my yard and going from there.
The most inspiring thing I can think of is when, at the “end” of the season, I look in my well house and see the jars of jam, pickles, tomaotes and other produce that I have canned for use that year. The most intimidating thing on our 10 acre hillside farm is the clay we have for soil and the amount of time it will take to build soil on top of it.
I love my garden and my chickens! I’m in PNW suburbia, but I still have plans for ducks, turkeys, and goats. I absolutely loved this book, it’s how I found your blog! It’s wonderful to know how many creative and dedicated backyard farmers are out there. Each and every one featured in this book is inspiring. As too an aspect of backyard farming that I find intimidating, it would have to be bees. I am mildly allergic and carry an Epi-pen as a precaution when summer gardening. I have lots of wild honey bees who love my flowering herbs (I let the herbs flower and then place their containers near my squash and cucumbers for excellent pollination—wasn’t that one of your tips?). I always chat with the bees and thank them when I’m working around them and they don’t bother me and vice versa! I’ve even checked out books on beekeeping from the library and imagined where I would put a top bar hive, but I always get cold feet at the thought of suiting up. The other problem is using smoke to calm the hive with my severe asthma since smoke is a big wheezing trigger for me. Maybe someone will invent something other then smoke that I can use to work on a hive!
I’m inspired by all of it. Growing food turns me on. Chickens, fruit and veggies, sharing and learning and dirty broken finger nails, smelling the soil …all of it. 🙂
Fresh vegetables and berries on the dining table is the most inspiring to continue the garden (the exercise factor ain’t bad either!) Bees, I want to have a hive and bring more bees to my garden.
I find the freedom from convention and learning to be self reliant most inspiring, and I am intimidated by the things I don’t yet understand like gardening and canning. I am excited to get my hands dirty though! We have horses, dairy goats, chickens (dual purpose I have bred and we raise and butcher as well as collect eggs), our mini donkey is our goat protector, dogs and our first baby! Someday I would like to raise a couple of cows and get bees!
Inspiration: permaculture. I think the Urgan Farmers do it instinctively (labor saving, good designs). But studying the real science of it gives you a framework or toolkit to expand to all your available inputs. So I periodically check the web for new sites with their experiences.
Intimidating: no, goats are great, we’ve had them but only when my children were growing up and we used all that milk – but they will eat anything in the garden if they get loose which they are masters of escape. For me I would say taking the next step of selling to the public and quitting the full-time job.
I am inspired by those who take out their yards to grow food!…lol! We have chickens. I am working on how to keep a garden and not have the chickens destroy the garden. I will get there…eventually 😉
Would love to win a copy of this. I’m a beginning backyard gardener, so a lot of things are intimidating, but mostly anything with animals. The most inspiring thing was how well my zucchini did this year;) Can you tell this was the first year my garden really took off!:)
I’m inspired by the amount of food that can be produced in tiny spaces. I’m overwhelmed by dairy animals. So much work!
I’m inspired to try new veggies in the garden every year, and to slowly spread out productive garden space while decreasing lawn. I haven’t yet made the plunge to animals, but I very much want to. Chickens will be first. Rabbits and goats may be in another lifetime.
Looks like an awesome book. I think people who tear up all their lawn and replace it with plants are inspiring and tending bees seems very intimidating given the sting factor.
HI,
I’m most inspired by harvesting veggies even right now in the last week of November! And I’m most intimidated by fertilizer and compost!! I’m baffled by the way things that seem easy and effortless one year turn out to be really difficult the next, and vice versa! And I”m inspired by the fact that mostly the plants just keep growing, in spite of my ineptitude!
Thanks for the great give away!
Backyard bees would be the most intimidating. I think the greenhouses made out of recycled doors and windows are very inspiring.
I’m equally inspired and fascinated by the hard working worms in my worm bin and how, with very little effort on my part, they produce beautiful rich black gold to add to the soil. What I find intimidating currently is thinking and planning for my garden next year. So many choices!
I’m inspired by watching my one year old eat. I want to eat like she does and I want to start a small garden to show her where her favorite green beans come from. I’m intimidated by the idea of gardening with the responsibilities of my little family, working, and keeping everything going.
I’m intimidated by growing tomatoes in Seattle, and intrigued/daunted by beekeeping. (I think I’ve checked out six books from the library about bees in the last six months. They’re just so cool!)
I love gardening, but hesitate to have animals. Afraid I won’t have enough time for them. But every post I read gives me hope .
The most inspiring is the feeling of surprise and joy when those first little sprouts pop up and then day by day turn into something delicious and beautiful … or not. Last year was our first year with raised beds, and every time we planted something new it felt so inspiring and exciting to see it start to grow – and then intimidating when it abruptly failed for a reason we couldn’t detect. Soil? Water? Temperature? Disease? There are so many different things to learn about and consider in a successful garden. But the feeling of seeing those little sprouts popping out of the ground keeps us coming back for more! I also find powdery mildew and aphids to be incredibly intimidating, even when armed with soapy water.
The activity I find most inspiring is gardening. I have a greenhouse that I’m just starting to use and success has come pretty easily. There’s so much to learn but you can learn and experiment as you go, and get more knowledge under your belt every season.
I find bees to be the most intimidating because I know very little and don’t personally know anyone who keeps them… but I’m jumping in headfirst this spring anyway!
My passion is helping folks turn lawn into gardens and planing edibles in the landscape. Small steps for folks that don’t know how to start growing food.
I love the idea of animals but am intimidated by the time commitment, not just in the daily and weekly needs but the yearly needs. Also as a meat eater I know this makes me a hypocrite but I don’t want to slaughter my own animals.
Inspiring: Seedstarting – watching a tiny little nub of dried nothing emerge from the soil as a sprout, become a plant, grow in the garden, and result in pounds and pounds of tasty produce in my freezer!
Intimidating: Expanding – we have about 3/4 acre on the ‘back 40′ that is 45 degree weedy slope full of frolicking gophers / ground squirrels and has no irrigation. I want to start up a food forest, or at least an orchard (the best time to plant a tree is 8 years ago – right), but the job is so big I can’t seem to get it started! Our current garden is seven 4′ x 4’ raised beds armored with hardware cloth below, so the expansion is a major move forward.
For some reason Brassicas really intimidate me (probably because I haven’t been successful with them yet!) but raising pigs (humanely and respectfully) really stokes my fire! Having a freezer full of meat is a good thing,
Inspiring – growing new things. It always seems like magic to me.
Intimidating – maintaining my focus in the garden over the long haul.
The most inspiring for me is having the space to try new things. My 5yr old son gets to help out in the everyday and harvesting. He gets to experience things I never did as a kid. All while being in the heart ofa large city. I don’t know what I Would do without my garden now.
I’m most inspired by fresh new compost that I made because it always feels like the foundation for a solid new beginning. I’m completely intimidated by the challenge of creating a garden with good soil from scratch with my meager $40 per year budget! I’ve gotten creative by doing things like using nettle “tea” as fertilizer and saving all my coffee grounds for mulch. Still, every new pest to contend with and my hope for a garden expansion is a challenge to navigate without spending money.
The book sounds awesome. Thanks for the opportunity to win one. Fruit trees inspire me (I may have an addiction–can you ever have enough?). I love to smell their blooms, watch them grow and of course enjoy their fruit. Also, the way my 4 year daughter looks at our garden, food and in general life itself is inspirational. We’re working on building courage to have backyard chickens–but this is a bit intimidating. Hopefully we’ll be ready this spring. I love fresh eggs from chicken that are loved.
I am inspired by those who really garden like they mean it and use up everything they grow. In that same vein, I am intimidated by crops awaiting harvest or processing when I’m not making the time to deal with them (too often!).
I think your photo looks great!
Inspiring – nibbling fresh fruit and veggies while I weed.
Intimidating – anything requiring wood, saws, hammer and nails.
I’m inspired by the rebels in the gardening community. Those people who fight the system and win be logic and tenacity. I’m intimidated by bees and hives but I will overcome them, since I don’t have enough pollination going on in my area.
I am inspired by younger people learning about, and loving the land. I watch how the excitement illuminates my grandchildren as they page through my tattered seed catalogs to plan their next-years gardens.It gives me hope. There is a passion that grows along with a garden, and I find such beauty surrounding every plant I grow. My Father owned a nursery and he always told me, “plants are like people, they feed my soul”. I add that nourishment for my body follows. Gardening…it’s so therapeutic.
I am intimidated by the thought that this aging body may not be able to sustain the process required to complete the task of gardening. However, The cycle of life is so beautiful…Perhaps my children and grandchildren will continue on being good stewards of the land.
I’ve been really inspired by a neighbor who started raising her own hens, I would love to do the same. The thought of having a bee hive sounds intimidating, even though I would love to harvest honey and help with the bee situation.
I guess I’m simultaneously most inspired and intimidated by people who are just – organized. They get their seeds started on time, they water on a regular schedule, they get new beds dug and compost started right when needed, and everything is integrated. Meanwhile, I’m all over the place, bungling just about everything. Thank god chickens are so easy-going.
I am inspired by the amount of food I grew out of straw bales, and look forward to the spring for an earlier plant. I am intimidated by companion planting…..There are so many sites that I can look up or print out, but it always seems as if I inadvertantly plant two antagonistic plants together.
I am inspired by working with children in the garden. They remind me that it’s not just hard work, but that it’s also fun and exciting to see things grow and to to nurture veggie plants to ripeness. I am intimidated by larger animals. Chickens I can handle, but I’m not ready for larger birds or goats/pigs. I have a (very unlikely) dream of the neighbor between my house and the next “homestead” over will sell us his property for super cheap and we can knock down the house and build a 3-lot farm on our block. Oh to dream!
I am inspired the network of local organic/and sorta organic farms and chicken and goat folks, right in my neighborhood! I also love to see my soil improve thanks to NW Edible share of BacktoEden.org video. I am most intimidated about state and fed laws effecting how we all raise our own food and sell the extra. Its very scary to me, an old farmer/ranchers daughter who just wants to get back to her roots. My budget also intimidates me in efforts to add all the animals I would like, ie. chickens, ducks, goats (meat and milk) and a cow or two and a horse or two. If you can’t afford to feed em ya can’t get em. Yet.
I’m most inspired by community gardens and food forests. I don’t see why we don’t hae they all over every city. Most inspired by that town in England where all the empty little plots are covered with food gardens and free for the picking.
Most intimidated by building things! Need to get over it and make some hoop houses, a chicken coop, and possibly rabbit hutches. Also intimidated by the HOA rules in my neighborhood, otherwise I’d have goats.
Saving seeds is inspirational to me. I spend hours pouring over seed catalogs; there is something so exciting about trying new varieties and passing them on. The last two years I’ve been saving seeds, and everyone who comes to visit us goes home with little baggies of seeds. 🙂 I’m going to be such the crazy lady by the time I get toward the end of life. Most intimidating is preserving food. Canning. I have yet to successfully can a batch of anything. Next year!?
Inspired by the amazing rewardingness that is building soil and letting plants wildly propagate themselves in it, whether I help them out or not. Intimidated by livestock medicine of all kinds (mystery chicken deaths, egg binding, and how to keep the rats off the chicken feed).
hello I am learning to garden out of pots. So I am in the trial and error stage……..:(.
I’m inspired by how urban gardening can unify a community, in any economic bracket, by empowering people to grow their own food and at the same time, bring beauty to their lives.
I’m intimidated by the mysteries and problems that arise when growing plants for food. How to safely eliminate a pest or figure out why a plant is growing but not producing any food…
I’m inspired by your website and seeing that it can be done! Inspired by the idea of my kids eating vegetables right out of the garden and pulling eggs out of the nest for breakfast. We’re building our coop and raised beds this winter and I’m inspired and intimidated at the same time. Intimidated mostly by the amount of work that will be involved…am I overestimating, underestimating?? Intimidated by the crazy busy life we already lead (two working parents and two boys in sports year round) and hoping that I’m able to find the time to make this work for our family.
I love growing our own herbs and much if our produce! Still too nervous to have beehives although sure would be pleased with the honey.
Urban Homesteading: the whole idea of growing food in an urban setting is both inspiring and intimidating. (I’m inspired by the creativity and dedication of urban farmers. Having grown up and lived in a rural my whole life, I’m intimidated by farming when space is a premium.
I’d love to learn more.
What a terrific book – thanks for the chance to win it! The most inspiring thing for me is watching the seeds sprout when I first plant for the spring garden. It’s a promise to me from Mother Earth that I am fully supported and provided for! The most intimidating thing is an orchard. I haven’t yet planted any fruiting trees because, well it intimidates me, LOL!
I find the challenges of alpine gardening inspiring. A short growing season and wildlife makes one have to come up with new ways to do things. What I find most intimidating is introducing new foods to my garden, will they thrive?
What I find most inspiring is how the home garden movement can change and influence culture. It causes one to turn from seeing themselves as a Consumer to seeing themselves as a Producer. I hope that this movement will continue to grow because the implication for that paradigm shift for our country is huge! I’m very intimidated by bees but am hoping within the next 2 years to add this to my .42 acre city farm.
Would I could just “like” some of the comments above on “inspiring”. Pulling a still warm egg from the box is magical, every time. I’m inspired by those that manage to incorporate all the elements into a homestead. Its daunting to consider how to keep a year round garden & hens, preserve the abundance and incorporate it all into our lifestyle, while maintaining the everyday appreciation of the blessing.
Inspiring: bee keeping
Intimidating: butchering
Thanks for the giveaway. I love your blog!
I am inspired by the knowledge that I only need step out the kitchen door to bring in fresh meals and future meals (canned, frozen, dehydrated), but I am daunted by all the work I have created for myself!