About

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s and i live in a neighborhood with lots of vacant land in the motor city.  we keep bees, garden, cook, can, ferment all kinds of yummy stuff, make art, travel and adventure, and generally have a fine life.  s works as a beekeeper and artist, and i work on one of urban farms in the area.  s was a huge fan of little house on the prairie books as a child – she has never seen the television show.  this blog is for sharing skills we learn and learning from others, as well as recording when and how we do things so we can go back and look at it.  as a tool it’s set up to be most useful to us, but i hope that you find it useful too.

i think it should be noted that the name is a bit tongue in cheek – and bit of self mocking.  we love what we do, but terms like urban homesteading make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  this is not a lifestyle – i don’t identify as an urban farmer – it’s just what we do to that make us happy.

not all the city is the open urban prairie of the neighborhood that we live in, and the reason for these open spaces has largely to do with the racist policies of the fha and white flight.  regardless of way that the media portrays the motor city, it is not wide open, it is not a blank slate.  it’s a vibrant city full over 7000,000 people.  if anyone is thinking about moving to the city buying up blocks and starting a farm, please think twice.

this page is very much a work in progress, i’m still trying to figure out how to present what we do and talk honestly about it.  any recommendations are welcomed.

you can contact us at dirtysabot (at) gmail dot com