I don't remember how I stumbled across this book, but I'm glad I did. The Urban Homestead is a fantastic resource for anyone living in the city who wants good ideas on how to be a little greener.
The basis for the book is to show people that they can be much more self sufficient than previously thought possible while living in an urban environment. The topics range from gardening and urban forging to solar cooking and gray-water collection.
The thing about this book that most impressed me was that the authors didn't restrict themselves to readers who live in a house. Many of the projects can be used by apartment dwellers with few or no alterations. Though some, like raising chickens, should probably be reserved for those with a yard... unless you really want to piss off your neighbors. And if that is your goal then I recommend getting a rooster to keep your chickens well serviced. One of the projects that really caught my attention were the solar cookers and dehydrators. Currently I'm working on making a combo piece out of dumpster dive finds and will make a post with directions... once I get it all figured out.
The only draw back to this book is that due to length constraints much of the information is basic. However, the authors provided a fantastic appendix of resources where more advanced information can be found.
I give the Urban Homestead 5 out of 5 trees and highly recommend that people check out the authors' blog.
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