Urban Homesteading PDX

A collection of stories from our urban homestead in Portland Oregon.  

Our Stories

Follow along as we learn and explore urban homesteading in Portland, Oregon

How to Thin Fruit Trees in a Food Forest

How to Thin Fruit Trees in a Food Forest

Learning how to thin fruit trees in a food forest is important for anyone interested in growing a thriving backyard orchard. This is an important food forest task that most people don't think about when dreaming of growing a big backyard orchard. Due to the large...

Chicken Run: The First Adventure

Chicken Run: The First Adventure

Chicken run adventure time for the chickens The chickens have finally been moved out to their coop and today they are getting to spend some time running around the chicken run for a first adventure. They have been contained to their brooder or chicken coop until...

How To Use Tomato Clips

How To Use Tomato Clips

Today, we are going to go over how to use tomato clips to trellis your indeterminate variety of tomatoes on a string. There are other ways to trellis tomatoes and we do those techniques to such as the Florida weave or just simply wrapping the tomato vines around a...

Duckling Leg Problems: Possible Niacin Deficiency

Duckling Leg Problems: Possible Niacin Deficiency

Does your ducklings have leg problems? It could be a lack of niacin in their diet. A niacin deficiency is a common problem with ducklings and individuals learning how to raise ducks. This unfortunately can leave ducklings with lifelong problems and even early death...

The Community Garden Plot in Portland

Community Garden Projects

Our Community Garden Plot 

Duck Ducks

We love our ducks.

Home Garden Project

Our 1/4 acre property is home to fruit trees and bushes, raised garden beds, and diverse native plants intermingled throughout.

Enjoying the Harvest

Using what we grow to feed ourselves, friends, and family.

About

Hi I am John Johnson and an avid urban gardener in the greater Portland Oregon area.  We raise ducks and chickens in our urban lot.  We also have planted a large food forest including apple, pear, persimmon, quince, cherry, apricot, and pawpaw trees.  Our favorite understory shrubs include blueberries, raspberries, marionberries, honeyberries, and jostaberries.  We grow a substantial garden with both in ground garden beds and raised garden beds.  These are stories from our adventures growing food and raising animals in an urban setting and the tools that we use to make it happen.  This site is supported by affiliate ad revenue.

Urban Homesteading in Practice

What elements of urban homesteading are you interested in?

  1. Reducing Resource Use. By using alternative energy sources such as installing solar roof panels, riding a bicycle, using public transportation, harvesting rainwater, drying clothes on a line, and reusing greywater.
  2. Raising Animals. A backyard poultry flock of chickens, ducks, or even other animals such as rabbits or goats. Honeybees and worms in a vermicomposter are also popular urban homesteading animals to raise.
  3. Edible Landscaping. Growing vegetable gardens, backyard orchard fruit trees, medicinal plants, and herbs, and converting lawns from traditional grass to food forest gardens.
  4. Self-Sufficient Living. Connecting with your community to trade and share resources that can be repaired, recycled, or made from scratch materials.
  5. Food Preservation. Managing a harvest of vegetables or fruit is just as important as growing. Canning, drying, freezing, and fermenting are the most popular methods for preserving a harvest for consumption over many months.
  6. Composting / Building Soil. On-site composting of plant materials and basic kitchen scrap materials. Building soil spreading compost throughout food forest or practicing chop and drop methods or spreading wood chips to feed the microbiology of the soil. Developing a rich soil ecosystem over years of intentional actions to feed the life in the soil.

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