Basically urban homesteading is about finding a level of self-sufficiency no matter where we live.This is alot more than a trend, but lifestyles create trends and this is a lifestyle that is definitely catching on with designers in a big way!
When I had a buyer at Pool ask me to design her an urban homesteading necklace and my sister told me about her many friends and neighbors in Portland beginning to raise chickens I knew this lifestyle was becoming a design trend we might want to start thinking about.
**** a true chicken tale ****
(Once upon a time we had a chicken named Lucy. She appeared in our yard one day and kept trying to get into our house by flying into the windows - unopened windows...ouch, poor Lucy! - my generous hubby would walk around the yard with Lucy at his feet looking under rocks for crickets.
This next part gets a little gross. He would toss the cricket on the ground to stun it and then Lucy would gobble it up - hey the girl had to eat!
She would jump into our laps when we sat on the patio and nibble on our toes when we ignored her. Our dog Hershey would chase her around the yard and she would fly atop the patio umbrella to get away.When fall came - and the chicken clean up got a little too much- chickens require a lot of clean up, if you know what I mean - we took Lucy to a farmer down the street named Junebug where she lived happily ever after with other chickens and one lucky rooster, laying a gazillion eggs for farmer Junebug)
Anyhoo, think pitchforks and chickens, cows, goats, llamas, canning, think farming with or without the overalls!
How and if you might want to incorporate this trend into your own work is up to you. Here's what some Etsy peeps are doing:
1. Mason jar lamp from Lamp Goods2. Canning labels by Starbee
3. Vintage garden tools at BrightWallVintage
4. DIY Cheese Kit from UrbanCheeseCraft
5. Organic tomatilla shirt at Goga
6. Cow pendant by LuckyDuct
7. Mrs. Cow tote at StrandRedesign
And my own piece. This is a new style of cork necklace that I introduced at Pool- I think every city needs some chickens!
10 comments
I would love to have some chickens. Wouldn't it be great to walk into you own backyard and grab a few eggs for breakfast? Love your jewelry too!
What a great way to listen to an upcoming trend and go with it! Haha, it makes me think of chickens out on the town, with little clutches under their wings.
Hey! We had a turkey just show up in our yard a year ago. Domestic breed. Very friendly. We named her Lucy too! She stayed a couple of days, then went on down the road.
that's so funny- there must be something about the name Lucy and feathered farm animals!
I grew up on ranches. And a homestead in Alaska. Chickens were a staple of life. Some of those chickens were very smart. A few were really stupid.
It is funny, I sure did not know this was getting popular, but I have been thinking of my days on ranches, (now that I live almost in the city) and making some chicken necklaces last month. Two I still need to do, but your article has just inspired me to do some more down home country things too! ;-)
I love homesteading. In fact one of my shops is called Abundant Homesteading on Etsy. I'm happy to see its becoming a trend and I'm on tract with it.
This is a bit embarrasing, but it's just how I am, so I'll share it with you.
At the start of your post I was thinking "Yes, that's interesting, I've noticed that trend too."
When you wrote about incorporating that trend in your own work I was seriously thinking, "Yes, I should do that, but how?" And some drawings and teatowels flashed through my mind, before I thought, "You do have a hen print Unni, remember?"
Then I noticed my cow among your selections... Thank you so much!
If people only knew how easy it is to keep chickens (as long as your city laws allow them). We have had four hens for over a year now. After the BIG egg recall in the US, keeping a hen or two is easy-peazy.
I can recommend "The Omnivores Dilemma" by Micheal Pollan for inspiration to RE-turn to the "Urban Homesteading" way of life.
Great blog!
Excellent post! And very helpful. My story is that my husband and I were talking about chickens and trying to decide if we wanted to get some, and then our next door neighbors got 75! So, we're just eating theirs...
Um, the eggs that is.
Post a Comment