Drawing a parallel with the homesteaders who settled the Oregon frontier, Portland author Renee Wilkinson recognizes that same spirit–and lack of knowledge and experience–in today’s pioneers seeking self-sustaining, urban homes. Modern Homestead is not an A-Z encyclopedia of vegetable crops, but instead provides general rules-of-thumb to help you decide what you want, including a sizeable portion of the book that is given over to “Citified Creatures.” Preserving your harvest is important, too, but the strongest message is don’t work alone. Find some buddies to help you with your homestead, and you will collectively be more innovative and much more successful.
Excerpted from the Winter 2013 Arboretum Bulletin.