Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start farming? Not just as an experimental hobby or an idyllic-daydream, but as a down-to-earth lifestyle change where you put your economic future on the line? If you’re at all like Lynda Hopkins was just a few years ago, you’re a suburbanite who knows little, if anything, about growing produce or taking care of farm animals. Yet Lynda and her then boyfriend (now husband) did what many adventurous young couples have done in recent years — they started farming.
HOAs vs. Your Garden
Imagine growing a lush, organic garden full of fruit trees and raised beds featuring edible flowers and vegetables. It’s beautiful. And it’s in your backyard. Your slice of heaven. Your respite. The place where you can get your hands dirty growing wholesome, nourishing foods for you and your family.
One day you stroll out to your mailbox to find a letter from your HOA telling you your garden is in violation of HOA rules. According to your deed restrictions, all fruit trees and edible plants should be grown inside a screened in patio. You face $100/day fines for each day that you refuse to tear up your fruit trees and remove your raised beds.
That’s just what happened to Amy Becerra of Florida. And she’s determined to fight.
Take Back Urban Homesteading
Urban Homesteading. It’s a beautiful collision of farm and urban life in urban and suburban areas. Feed yourself from your own garden? Try to squeeze a few chickens into your postage-stamp sized backyard? You’re an Urban Homesteader! That’s why I was shocked to read about how one family has trademarked the terms “Urban Homestead” and “Urban Homesteading” and has gone after blogs, libraries, and organizations in the Urban Homestead movement.
Backyard Farming Is A Feminist Act
So says Peggy Orenstein last week in The New York Times Magazine. Are you a stay-at-home mother who keeps chickens, maybe a small garden, perhaps even a beehive? Do you dabble in preserving your food, making your own bread, and cooking nourishing, wholesome, seasonal food for your family? Then you’re what’s quickly becoming known as a “femivore,” a woman who turns her homemaking into something more earthy and industrious than the consumer-driven model that’s dominated America’s cultural landscape for the last half century.