I've been reading a bit lately and hearing a bit lately on the virtues of living in the city. That is the big conundrum: city or country? A house in the country on a bit of land with neighbors just out of sight certainly sounds idyllic. Practically speaking though, it might not be the most feasible option. I read a few articles through this permaculture site. The author even lived on acreage in Southern Oregon for several years only to realize that mental ideal was not working in real life. He moved to Portland and discovered that city life was much more sustainable for him. This is a fear I have as well. If I moved to the country I would be completely dependent on an automobile. You can't tell me gas prices are going to go down in the future making driving 20 miles to the nearest town more accessible. And the next affordable, non-gas powered, country vehicle is who knows how many decades away. As the author of those articles points out, when he was living in the country he and his wife were the only gardener/farmers. They were surrounded by wealthy retired and the poor with drug problems. There was no support for their lifestyle in the community they chose to live. Living in the city, yes, they had less land with which to support themselves, but they had a community that backed their lifestyle and gave support.
I have written before about how every other neighbor has chickens or a large back (or front) yard garden in my neighborhood. We have some friends nearby who are entering their second year of chicken keeping. They want to start a garden, but haven't yet. We are entering our second year garden, but haven't gotten chickens yet. So, we are going to trade. I'm stopping by tonight to swap some fresh garden kale and a loaf of sour cream bread for a dozen eggs. I'm excited about my first barter. I hope it's one of many.
I've been thinking about my house too. When I bought it I assumed we would live there for 5-7 years, a starter home. Then we would move on to something better, that house in the country perhaps. I have a vision for my house now. I know what I want to do to the yard and the land and the house itself to make it closer to my ideal. Now that I am looking at the time and money and effort that will go into making that vision a reality it is apparent by the time it's done it will be the 5-7 year mark. And if I've fixed it up just the way I like, why would I want to leave? I wasn't so excited about my house at first because it was ranch style. Gross. But, it was well fixed-up, at a great price, in a great location and it had the largest lot of any home we had seen. I had to overlook the mid-century aesthetic. If it had just been a nice, open, wood-floored 1930's bungalow I'd be in heaven and never want to leave.
But that really brings it about. Why would I want to leave? If I can transform my yard into what I envision; we will grow more than enough food for ourselves. Maybe we can still keep bees and get a goat or two for milk. There is certainly space. Whatever we can't produce ourselves will have to be traded for or bought, but with neighbors who keep chickens, or grow varieties we don't, or have fruit or nut trees we don't, it might seem like we have 20 acres. I would have to forgo my ideas of a couple sheep for wool and growing my own grain, but that may be a small trade for being in a community where I can walk everywhere instead of driving dozens of miles down country roads for every little thing.
On Saturday I had a great day of the yin and yang of trying to live as much off my land, but in the city. In the morning Mike and I woke early and started pruning our fruit trees. We were lopping and sawing and clipping and getting pretty dirty. Mike put together the new beds and staked them into the yard.
Then we made a quick change and went to a formal wedding. The reception was in a downtown loft. As I looked out the window at the tops of brick buildings I was happy to live in the city and know that I had worked hard that morning to better my fruit harvest later this year only to end up in a cocktail dress a couple hours later. And instead of an hour or more drive home to the country, we made it home in ten.
I have written before about how every other neighbor has chickens or a large back (or front) yard garden in my neighborhood. We have some friends nearby who are entering their second year of chicken keeping. They want to start a garden, but haven't yet. We are entering our second year garden, but haven't gotten chickens yet. So, we are going to trade. I'm stopping by tonight to swap some fresh garden kale and a loaf of sour cream bread for a dozen eggs. I'm excited about my first barter. I hope it's one of many.
I've been thinking about my house too. When I bought it I assumed we would live there for 5-7 years, a starter home. Then we would move on to something better, that house in the country perhaps. I have a vision for my house now. I know what I want to do to the yard and the land and the house itself to make it closer to my ideal. Now that I am looking at the time and money and effort that will go into making that vision a reality it is apparent by the time it's done it will be the 5-7 year mark. And if I've fixed it up just the way I like, why would I want to leave? I wasn't so excited about my house at first because it was ranch style. Gross. But, it was well fixed-up, at a great price, in a great location and it had the largest lot of any home we had seen. I had to overlook the mid-century aesthetic. If it had just been a nice, open, wood-floored 1930's bungalow I'd be in heaven and never want to leave.
But that really brings it about. Why would I want to leave? If I can transform my yard into what I envision; we will grow more than enough food for ourselves. Maybe we can still keep bees and get a goat or two for milk. There is certainly space. Whatever we can't produce ourselves will have to be traded for or bought, but with neighbors who keep chickens, or grow varieties we don't, or have fruit or nut trees we don't, it might seem like we have 20 acres. I would have to forgo my ideas of a couple sheep for wool and growing my own grain, but that may be a small trade for being in a community where I can walk everywhere instead of driving dozens of miles down country roads for every little thing.
On Saturday I had a great day of the yin and yang of trying to live as much off my land, but in the city. In the morning Mike and I woke early and started pruning our fruit trees. We were lopping and sawing and clipping and getting pretty dirty. Mike put together the new beds and staked them into the yard.
Then we made a quick change and went to a formal wedding. The reception was in a downtown loft. As I looked out the window at the tops of brick buildings I was happy to live in the city and know that I had worked hard that morning to better my fruit harvest later this year only to end up in a cocktail dress a couple hours later. And instead of an hour or more drive home to the country, we made it home in ten.
