In the news - appetite growing for local food

Little City Farm had a nice mention in the local newspaper in an article about the increasing interest in buying and growing local food - here is the link: "Appetite growing for local food".

Alternatives Journal - Just Food issue

Check out the latest Alternatives Journal entitled Just Food which looks at what current food revolutions mean, including topics like food sovereignity in Venezuela, urban agriculture in Brazil, the People's Food Policy Project, Ontario's "broken" food system, and writings from 12 notable foodies.  Alternatives Journal, Canada's national environmental magazine, is based here locally (in Waterloo).  Here's a sneak peak of one tiny article by Cathleen Kneen on the importance of women's roles in the food movement, including a photo of Maya and I holding our winter carrots up as our "symbols of revolution" - we were so honoured to be asked (but apologize for the sorry looking carrots!)

Article in Natural Life Magazine, Sept -Oct issue

I'm pleased to have another article publised in this current Sept-Oct issue of Natural Life Magazine.  The article focusses on herbs for pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum, including how to involve your children in home herbal medicine making.  I will be writing for Natural Life again for their spring 2011 issue, discussing how to start a backyard herbal medicinal tea garden and (re)empowering ourselves with herbal healing knowledge.  Check out the magazine here, and consider subscribing to this wonderful Canadian-based magazine about homeschooling, green living, sustainability, and natural parenting.

Little City Farm featured in May/June Natural Life Magazine!

We're so pleased to have an article telling a little of our story in the most recent Natural Life Magazine (May/June 2010 issue). I wrote this article a few months ago and pitched it Wendy Priesnitz (the editor), in hopes that it would fit with their mandate. They had just published a story about the transition town movement, which aligns very well with urban homesteading principles, and so she was happy to include our story! I wanted to inspire others to see urban homesteading as a viable option for those of us living in cities but seeking a more sustainable way of living - and along with the article have also included ten suggestions on how to get your own urban homestead started. Check it out:

http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/1006/Natural_Life_May_June_2010_index.htm

Natural Life Magazine - featured article about Little City Farm in May-June issue!

We are excited that the May-June issue of Natural Life Magazine is coming out shortly! We have an article being published in this upcoming issue, talking about our life here at Little City Farm and how to get your own urban homestead established - "Living the Good Life in the City: Creating your Sustainable Urban Homestead".

You can read it online, or better yet, pick up your copy of the magazine (at Wordsworth Books, or order online). This is a wonderful Canadian magazine focussing on natural parenting, sustainable living, organic gardening, homelearning/unschooling, and green building:

http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/1006/Natural_Life_May_June_2010_index.htm

Little City Farm featured in the Hamilton Spectator

We just heard that our story was featured in the Hamilton Spectator today! We received a nice email from someone who had read it, whose family is also homesteading in similar ways to how we are - we hope to meet them sometime soon. Here is the story again (this time the title has changed and it's called "Little house in the downtown - Kitchener couple turns their property into a farm and says no to a television and car")...http://www.thespec.com/article/631023

Media - Little City Farm featured in K-W Record newspaper, Sat Aug 22

We were pleased to have Little City Farm featured in our local paper this past Saturday in a full page article with photos! The article focussed on our outdoor bake oven, jungle of gardens, and a little about the straw bale addition, as well as some background on what the urban homesteading "movement" is about. Although we have never before been called "inner city homesteaders" (we like to call ourselves urban homesteaders, and don't really consider ourselves to live in the inner city per say), most of the details were accurate and the tone of the article was true to our intent. Thanks to Barbara Aggerholm for writing about us.

For the full story go to: http://news.therecord.com/article/588441

Little City Farm in National Geographic Traveler Magazine

We are excited (and honoured) to be featured in a very small way in the September 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine, which highlights our B&B as a unique, eco-friendly and affordable place to stay. We're on page 41, under the heading "Stays under $150". Not sure this little article will be available online, but the website for the magazine is: http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/

Here's what Lauren Carter wrote about us:
Handpicked flowers and organic homemade soaps and shampoos sweeten the air in a private suite in this hundred-year-old home in Kitchener, Ontario. Located on the second floor, the roomy guest quarters overlook a greenhouse and vegetable garden, where shiitake mushrooms grow on a log set in the shade, and tomatoes sprout from the soil. Breakfast features herb-sutffed omelets, spelt pancakes, preserved cherries, homemade yogurt, and bread made from locally milled flour. The farm, a short walk or bike ride from downtown Kitchener and Waterloo, hosts workshops on beekeeping, herbal crafts, and gardening.

Edible Toronto: Big Taste of Life at Little City Farm

Published! Thank you to Lauren Carter for an article that captured the essence of what we are hoping to achieve here at Little City Farm. This article, "A Big Taste of Life at Little City Farm", is featured in the Spring 2009 issue of Edible Toronto Magazine. Check it out at: www.edibletoronto.com (online version coming shortly)

Urban homesteaders will share their experiences at public talk - KW Record article

Urban homesteaders will share their experiences at public talk

September 13, 2008

Johanna Weidner
RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO REGION

Karin Kliewer wanted to enjoy the fruits of living on a farm, but she also wanted to be near the resources of the city.

The solution: urban homesteading.

Kliewer and her husband, Greg Roberts, now run the Little City Farm in downtown Kitchener.

"Basically, farming -- but on a small scale," Kliewer said.

The pair will share their experiences as urban homesteaders at a free public talk later this month in the One Book, One Community campaign.

This year's book is The 100-Mile Diet, the chronicle of a Vancouver couple's year-long odyssey to eat only local food. Authors Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon will visit Waterloo Region next week for readings as part of the events being held all month.

Now in its seventh year, One Book, One Community is like a regionwide book club, with everyone encouraged to read and discuss the same book.

The 100-Mile Diet urges people to think about what they eat and where it comes from, as well as sustainable living in general.

That's a part of daily life for Kliewer and her husband. Little City Farm's focus is living simply and in a way that's easy on the environment.

The couple grow most of their own food in an organic garden on their third of an acre, bake in an outdoor wood-fired oven, use solar power and build with natural materials. They get around the city on foot or bike and buy from local farmers.

To share their passion for sustainable living, the pair opened a bed and breakfast. Visitors have come from all over the world,Kliewer said.

"I think people are coming here because they know it's something a little bit different."

Quite often, people ask to pitch in and get their hands dirty in the garden or with other projects. For the morning meal, most choose the 100-mile breakfast of local, free-range eggs, organic bread made with local flour and jam made with local berries.

"Really, we're in a great area of the country," Kliewer said.

Kliewer and her husband also hold workshops -- from organic gardening and canning to soapmaking and beekeeping -- to help others in the community get started on sustainability.

Best of all, green living can be easy and even small steps make a difference.

"Anybody can do these things, even if you have a balcony," said Kliewer. "Everybody has something that they can do."

jweidner@therecord.com

Little City Farm in the media...

Well, we made it into a small feature in the City Life Magazine's "green issue". They list 20 green people & places in the greater Toronto area, and we are pleased to be one of those highlighted. To check out this small article, see:

http://www.citylifemagazine.ca/peopleplaces_littleCityFarm.php.