Getting started in a city?

[MorelCabin]

I am currently moving from the country to the city (well, suburbs really) and I plan on being as self sufficient as I can there as well. Rabbits are a great start, along with a garden. A well stocked pantry can be stashed anywhere in your home. Why can't you put the trout pond outdoors instead of indoors> Build a beautiful pond in your back yard. No one has to know it actually has trout in it instead of goldfish!
Chickens can be hidden in the corner of any shed, if you just have 4 or 5, that will keep you in eggs all year. As long as they have a place to roost and plenty of feed they will be fine:>)
An outdoor firepit is also a very good idea, if you are allowed...you can cook wonderful meals on it in case the SHTF. Comes in handy during power outages too. You can also have your home wired for a generator. A gas cooking appliance is also a good idea, you can light the top burners manually in case of outage. A gas fireplace is good if you can't put a woodstove in. You can always run the fan off a small generator to keep your home heated during power outages. Water collection barrels off your eves will collect water for gardens.
You can get solar lighting set up very easily...for the coop especially if you have one.
Stock drinking water, grains etc and you'll be far ahead of any other city dwellers:>)
Just some ideas...

 

[FarmerChick]

can you plant a few fruit trees. they provide well and are city approved.

there is a "stealth coop"---google it, it is a chicken coop that is camoflauged to look like an outdoor storage box or garbage can. People do use them and have a few birds in them without people knowing they are there. You could get enough eggs to feed yourself definitely.

a good garden is a must. definitely do a garden and preserve your harvest.

also an herb garden. don't forget the spices....

then tackle being frugal and conservation of energy etc. more money you save, you could just take a nice vacation and go trout fishing. Tony and I go camping with my daughter to the mountains in Cherokee NC. He trout fishes while we swim and play. He brings home tons of trout......so with your money saved, you could get tons of trout for your freezer and have tons of fun doing it!! We do!!

 

[DianeB]

I say get some chickens anyway and keep them underground. Pretty sure, many people in your area already do this. Really, why do they outlaw chickens? Wouldn't be better to make them legal and regulate?

Also, get some good books on biointensive gardening and permaculture. There is so much you can do in a small space.

 

[Beekissed]

I've often wondered why folks don't get those chain link fences with the little privacy strips interwoven in them in which to keep chickens in town. As long as you don't have a roo, how in the world would folks even know you had a chicken? My hens don't make so much noise that it would annoy people.

Check out a book called Square Foot Gardening from your library....it is GREAT for small spaces.

 

[miss_thenorth]

gardening. Lots you can grow in small spaces. I did it for 10 years. Nevermid the recommended space bwtween row-leave enought for you foot to get in and your good to go. Containers for certain plants, and grow your vines up fences. I grew zukes, cukes, watermelon and canteloupe up fences, tomatoes in pots, herbs in my flower beds, and used my very small garden plot for beans, peas carrots, lettuce, spinach, peppers ,beets and onions.

As for city life livestock. ( I live in the country btw right now)I raise coturnix quail ,and I must saythey are extremely easy and cheap to raise, and they do not take up alot of room and they are quiet. they provide meat and eggs.

I also raise rabbits, again, ( and you know this) easy, cheap and don't take alot of room. Chickens can be very loud when they are laying their eggs, but if you can get away with it, they are worth having. I also raise muscovy ducks, and they are very quiet for ducks, and while I havne't had eggs from them yet, I hear they are very good, and moscovies incubate their own eggs which would provide a good source of meat (they are said to be tasty-haven't had them yet).

If you want to look at sulf suffiency regarding electrical and heating savings, there are links on this board and on the net regarding solar pop can heaters etc.

We tend to be very frugal in nature, and try to make as much as we can from scratch to help offset consumer costs, as well as our path to better health, which in its own way makes us more ss.

There are alot of things you can do in the city, but the hardest part, at least it was for my hubby, was to stop looking at the Joneses and what they had. Get your mind on your own mission and just realize that the Joneses are broke and have tons of consumer debt.

There's lots you can do! good luck and enjoy!!

 

[tortoise]

I intially started with the rabbits for meat for dog food - and I wanted the angoras because my aunt is a fiber artist that raised angoras. (I love fluff!)

But now...

I wanted a cat to get my basement mice without using poisons. And I'm too stinking cheap to pay for cat food. (Can you see where this is going?...)

My roommate and I started a mouse colony to grow cat food. So far it's good. I invested less than $10 on cages. They are eating kitchen scraps - the stuff that normally clogs the bottom of the sink (ewww!).

I don't have a kitchen compost anymore - between dog, rabbits and mice, there's nothing left to compost!

Now I'm just playing around with the concept. Itching to do something while waiting for spring!

I found a bag of potatoes that sprouted eyes - and the eyes had baby potatoes. So I planted them in a storage tub. That's my frugal effort for the day. I hope my winter kitchen garden grows!

 

[big brown horse]

Another person from Wisconsin!!


My roommate and I started a mouse colony to grow cat food. So far it's good. I invested less than $10 on cages. They are eating kitchen scraps - the stuff that normally clogs the bottom of the sink (ewww!).

I think I might want to hear more, but I'm not sure. I'm scared to ask...I think. Ok, just tell me more!!!!

 

[tortoise]

Cats need taurine, so rabbit alone is not a good enough diet. Mice are one of the richest sources of taurine in nature. Plus I'm feeding a mousing cat... keep his skills sharp, if you will.

I made houses out of $1 plastic tubs and $.50 ashtrays for dishes. I drilled holes in the lids for ventilation. I put 2 sheets of paper towel in for bedding each day. I compost the paper towel in with my anaerobic animal waste compost. And I throw in paper scraps, bark, twigs, rawhide, toilet paper tubes - whatever trash I have handy to entertain them so they don't eat their houses!

Today they are munching on some dried up apples slices my son left on the counter, the crusty dry slice of cheese when I didn't close the bag all the way, some dry pasta that fell on the stove, some leaves from my houseplants...

I'll give it some more time, but we expect to be producing cat food for two cats at zero cost. I am starting to house train my cat to crap outside so that I don't have to buy (or throw away!) cat litter.

We're at about 1/3 of where we projected we need to produce all the mice we need to feed the cats. Of course we will balance out the cats diet with rabbit parts and scraps from the butcher... but the bulk of their food might end up being free.

 

[Beekissed]

I think this a novel and very intelligent idea! All natural foods for house cats! Why didn't I think of that? Well, probably because my cats live outside, but still......great idea!

Does this taurine, by any chance, help decrease incidence of renal calculi/disease? I've never known an outside cat to ever get an renal disfunction but you here it plenty about house cats.

 

[DianeB]

My vet told me that rodents are bad for cats. They carry diseases that cats easily contract. Also, cats are far less efficient at removing toxins than humans. (Well, most animals are not as efficient.) Personally, I don't take the chance allowing them to eat wild or semi-wild animals. They eat high end dry food.