Urban self-reliance: homestead in Oakland's small rented lot
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- Sheila Cassani began farming her rental home while a college student. She started with a small vegetable patch, but it soon spread to keeping chickens and bees and planting produce on nearly every available patch of the small yard not dedicated to the poultry.
Cassani and her partner Matthew wake up at the crack of dawn to let the chickens go free-range, but she says the garden isn’t a lot of work once you’ve put in the initial investment. Since they're renting they've trying to keep their investments low. They focused on reusing found materials, such as old fence to make raised beds, bamboo that grows on the property for trellises and chicken fencing (even indoors, their furniture was mostly found, including a pallet wood sofa).
They’ve dubbed their East Oakland (California) homestead the “Kansas Street Farm” and they try to keep things as closed loop as possible by catching rainwater, composting, using the chickens to prepare the veggie beds and fermenting leftover produce.
Original story: faircompanies.c...
PLEASE do a where-are-they-now for this young lady. I'm SO inspired by what she and her partner have accomplished here!
I love the home being "an engine of production instead of an engine of consumption." Slowly working my way towards that. Great video and encouragement for us renters!
This girl is like super smart. Basically created a viable ecosystem in a tiny lot. That's impressive.
Tom Cat I so agree
Tom Cat Shes got a fat ass too.
Tom Cat No Doubt! Where How do you find a creature like that!
+killbodies34 just like you.
+killbodies34 haha good observation
I simply love the whole idea of small scale self-sufficiency. What a warm home. Thank you for this video! What an inspiration!
Friendly vid all the way as usual ! Bees, chickens, squashes, rain tank, pallet couch, shower bucket flush, apple tree, great neighbors & landlords, beautiful garden : I was in heaven ! Thanks for sharing this.
Excellent. Also this renter has an engaging personality which I enjoyed hearing her story.. Thanks..
***** I too found her personality engaging coupled with a fluid understanding urban farming. Very cool...
Great ideas! Most of us live a spoiled life and waste everything. I respect what you do. We are pushed to spend our energy on working and making as much money as we can. I would rather live more simple and spend my energy on living a self contained lifestyle.
What an intelligent and industrious young lady. Such an inspiration. Good for her! Thank you for sharing this video.
I can see her getting a call from HGTV to host a how to eco show well done! You are helping to save the planet and i applaud all your hard work. Great video too.
Coming back five years later and this is still my fave urban homestead tour. Sheila has an innate gift and the garden manages to flow & be productive and extremely aesthetic as well. Would love to see a follow up and where she is now. Thanks! ;)
Fantastic. I liked how she turned that Fly Trap into a win/win for her and the Chickens. 8D
Yeah that was absolutely brilliant!
There was a spot on your camera lens that made me rub my screen for a while until I realised lol. Nice feature as always Kirsten Dirksen!
Phresh Ideas + Designs That thing ruined the video for me. I was anticipating them to wipe their damn lense the whole time.
@@cooliodiablo6117 So you missed the abundant wonderful information in this video because of a fucking spot? You're not very intelligent, huh?
Same!!!
Me too! Oh but I loved all the info I have a fair attention span. I'm watching while texting too!
Absolutely.... AWESOME...!!! Young woman IS incredible !!!..with all she has accomplished....IF ONLY....we all took 2 ideas from her...and incorporated them into 'our' lifestyle !!!! Thanks Kirsten !!!!
It's so empowering that she was able to create this on a rented space while in school! I really hope she lets her little chooks live out their lives after they are no longer producing eggs xx
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thanks for sharing. The path to true freedom is self-reliance. Well done!
This was great..this young woman, and her partner, have carved out a magical space for themselves. So much can be learned from this way of life. Thank you for sharing Sheila's story.
Kirsten, that was an awesome video. To see someone with such passion towards their everyday carbon footprint in such a small space. Just a great video, thanks. Cheers from Ontario Canada.
This is one of the best set-ups I've seen. Talk about re-imagining the suburbs. And what a great opportunity for gray-water recycling since you could just plan on diverting everything to the garden.
I stopped using my bath water for the toilet because it seemed to take more water to flush the toilet not as well. Now I use the water in the garden instead.
This is just great!
MakeMeThinkAgain agree
This is a wonderful way to live. I hope it spreads everywhere.
Smart Girl, the fly trap is awesome, might do that in my back garden
, lb :') l bmp ppl n mmm Huu By km :') uu yay opp
Very inspiring! I wish there would be more people like that, respectful of their environment and resources. I love the girl and her approach to the space she calls home. The space she MAKES home!
Great job , you really should make this a full time job for income. Go to elementary schools etc and teach how to do it and inform the larger scale of people than just UA-cam. Not that UA-cam isn't informing a lot of people , but not everyone thinks of what you do. This is the sort of things schools should be teaching. Real life isn't taught enough. Awesome !!!
Peace
I totally agree with you. She is smart and inspiring, she would make an excellent speaker for young minds.
Yes ! We are all working as modern slaves, to survive on unhealthy factory foods.
yes well worth incorporating this into school system
It's nice that you show that renters can grow a lot, too.
thank u for this . another really good ‘episode’.
What they have here is nothing over the top. it doesn’t Wow-me, in a sense. And yet, it is simply Outstanding !!
It’s one of those cases where they actually DID the thing. They DID it !! So kudos to them, for their way of life, and again, you guys for showing it to us.
cheers from Portugal ;)
I love this video. Seen it 4 or 5 times now and I'm almost to the point I can't eat chicken anymore.
I absolutely love these types of videos! So encouraging and inspiring to see people going against the norm and doing their thing.
You, Sheila Cassani, have a gentle spirit around those animals! The chickens love you, the bees love you and your yard is BEAUTIFUL!!! I have learned so much from this video! I have read about progressive people in the SF/Oakland area, but you take the cake! Keep up the great work and I hope you share more inspiring videos for small yard hopeful homesteaders! Thanks!
Love this and I love how the chickens come when they are called :)
Lori H Aww I want some chickens
Lori H No! Not the CFZ!!!! (chicken free zone).
Yep.
Lori H agree
I have always loved the idea of self reliance people forgot to just grow their own food and reuse and repurpose stuff. I love what this young woman is doing. Also, I love Kristen and her husband. They bring so many great stories and people to our lives through UA-cam and their stories and lives are amazing. So two amazing people show us more amazing people so we can remember that we to are or can be just as amazing. So thumbs up on another great video guys.
In this country renting is very common (the 'landlord' being a housing corporation). You can rent a real house with garden, or an appartment, and you can do with your garden whatever you like. But many people do not make good use of their garden. It seems to be 'in fashion' or have the garden all paved and then put some ornamentals in pots on the pavement. So my garden with lots of edibles, Hugelkultur and rainwater system (with small pond for the overflow, this is a rainy country) looks a little strange in my neighbourhood. And now I am going to have chickens too; the coop is already here, I have to make a 'run' area and then the chicks can come (next spring). Thank you for showing your lively garden and chickens!
Inge Leonora-den Ouden Yeah. This is good stuff.
Inge Leonora-den Ouden agree
Inge Leonora-den Ouden I live in fort.lauderdale fl and I rent a house and I have a large garden
I got it made on top of a mountain in East Europe! Chickens and ducks come next after I figure out what to build for my new family addition of 3 baby goat girls today! So from 1 girl and 1 guy to four girls and one dude! Mornings on my mountain homestead will be interesting indeed! Oh and compost all I want! Something I dream about since last year when I watched the Back to Eden film!
Wow very inspiring what they did with the amount of space they had!
Cool video, didn't know Oakland let you keep that many chickens. We had a hen growing up that lived for 11 yrs. While it wasn't a great egg producer towards the end, it was great for insect control and weeds. After it died, the cocroaches became a real problem at home. I'm all for keeping chickens and even if they don't lay eggs daily, they do have a lot of benefits for many yrs.
The best presentation from such a young gifted person. I have to watch it again. Well done!
Wow! I'm just blown away! So young and so conscientious. It's great to see!
Planting squash with corn, good idea, make the most of my small veg patch. Thanks inspiration. Your girls look really happy.
i can't wait to get my chickens..... and plant my own garden
LOL.... I feel ya !
I hope you give lectures and encourage other urban dwellers to do this.
Enjoyed the video Kirsten. Lots of great ideas, a homestead in the middle of the city, neat.
I loved this one. Sheila did a great job. Really inspiring.
Hi Kirsten, I have been following you for over a year now, and I really admire and respect your passion for your work. I've enjoyed almost every single one of your videos - they are very educational, informative and inspiring for learning to reduce one's carbon footprint and living consciously.
I loved watching this. This young lady is so inspiring. I want some chickens and a garden more than ever now. Thanks
Awesome video! And the young lady is very informative and educated about plants . You can tell her chickens and bees are happy n healthy So inspiring!
this is a very informative and intelligent young lady. Impressive how she came up with the fly trap!
great ideas, even the water saving bucket shower thing. a total inspiration and pleasure to watch. yes we need more people like this couple. wow, bless you and may you be well always
Wonderful. So many great ideas. We are doing more or less the same up here inNewfoundland. So much useful stuff gets thrown away. We have raised beds, a small greenhouse built from discarded glass, our home canning is crowded now in a new shelving area. We have chickens and goats next door. On our small property we also have 27 fruit trees and bushes, for fresh eating, during , jams, jellies and w8ne.
Hi Kirsten, this is a great episode. I would love to see more garden and farm living. Your videos are super great!
If your ever in Northern Germany come drop by for coffee and some healthy raw cake and of course a tour of my plastic free urban farm.
(I grow vertical veg, berries and herbs, flowers for me and the bees, chickens and ducks for eggs, bees for the flowers and for honey, have a mini peach orchard and a lot more)
Scarlett
Good job. Love the recycling. Some very clever touches.
I love these self reliance docos you upload ~ they're my favourite, keep em' coming & thank you for making these little films also. I share them often to spread the inspiration around. Blessings !
What a wonderful video! So much happening in such a small space - everything looks so healthy. Some terrific tips shared and the information is conveyed in such a positive, happy way. A delight to watch - many thanks!
How nice to see a kindred spirit.
It's nice to see free and happy chickens, I hope they'll never end up on somebody's plate
If our Planet would treat one another like this young lady relates to animals, environment and others....wow, the peace. I truly believe there are people who are who actually basically healthy good and descent folks. I think parenting does play an incredible role. Unfortunately there are many today who don't know how to do that. People with genuine connection can influence others for good so it is not completely hopeless. I believe that our love and sensitivity can win out in the end. Thank you for being awesomely real, refreshing, reminds me of my up bringing... Aloha
Absolutely wonderful.... totally enjoyed your video
Incredible resourcefulness. Has me second guessing how much I can achieve with the small amount of land I have available.
Making a small homestead farm on rented property is such a good idea, and a great way to eat well and save funds.
I love everything she's doing here and give somewhere between 2 and 5 thumbs up ;)
Such a cool video and we need more thoughtful and kind people like this in our society!
That pallet furniture absolutely blew my mind, great video :)
That gorgeous blue, black, and white hen.
On a less negative note, I really enjoyed this video! She's created a beautiful home for herself and she should be very proud. Thanks again Kirsten for another great video! Going to do the shower bucket trick. A brilliant idea!
The city I live in has ordinances against keeping 'farm animals' which includes chickens, my late grandparents raised chickens in Chicago during the first depression for both meat and eggs for the family and the excess was given to the neighbors. They also had a huge Victory Garden that supplied the family and again the neighbors.
While I envy Ms Cassani for her ability to have a mini farm within the city limits, my partner and I have several Ornamental Grass plants in our landscaping in front and have been told by City Code Enforcement to remove them, I'd have to draw the line at the bees because I have to carry an EpiPen whenever I'm outside.
The city we live in is a very conservative, closed minded place but it's Indiana where it's legal to discriminate against people you don't like.
***** :( Wow. Indiana is not sounding like a great place at all. I hope things change so that you have a more free place to live
Great! Really enjoy and support that attitude and creativity!
Companion planting is great. We have planted a lot of bee friendly trees and plants. It's really important because bees are having a hard time.
Every animal is better if you make sure that you give them attention, they are much happier if you handle them frequently. They're going to be less stressed if you give them a bit of time. I really like the way she is doing things. She is very clever and she knows instinctively how to do the right things. Sorry I'm speaking about you as if you weren't there... I love what you are doing if you do read this. You seem to be a natural is what I mean.
Those are the most friendly, docile chickens I've ever seen. Awesome urban farm!
Wow, I would love a renter like them.
She’s one smart, young lady and her partner. Great ideas . Thanks for sharing.
Your chickens are awesome, I see you have Golden Wyandottes, hens they are very docile chickens. They do not mind confinement. I do companion planting as well. I use a lot of the greens that I grow in the garden for the chickens they love it. Swiss char, kale lettuces etc. They also love yogurt, its very good for them, probiotics , good live bacteria for their tummies. .I would love to learn more about the bee keeping. That would be next. Kirsten, good job, enjoyed the whole video, looking forward to see more of them. Laura M.
amazing I didnt want this video to end!
+Jess Chappell yeh right!! When it ended I was like... noooo!
Would you do an update of how they are doing right now? This lady is amazing and inspiring.
I wish that I could thumbs up this a thousand times.
Beautiful, young and smart and she LOVES to garden. Wow, she is amazing!
Very informative. Thanks for sharing how you run your little homestead.
Love this! I'm renting and not sure how long I'll be here, so I'm setting up wicking buckets and pots and a raised bed from a repurposed shipping crate. Also putting in a small rainwater system that's portable when I go. So much you can do!
i love people like you . kind to animal . let them live and enjoy they life . iam with you on that . bless you .
Aloha Kristen & Sheila, Kristen I LOVE ur fabulous videos!! Sheila, I applaud all that you have done with the space, fantastic job!! U both are incredibly awesome & inspiring!! Mahalo nui loa & Aloha nui to you all from the Big Island of Hawaii!
Thoroughly enjoyed the whole video!! We have been working toward turning our urban home into our little homestead little by little. We want to get chickens but have to wait because we have a huge unsafe tree in the back yard and in order to benefit from this tree at all, they are able to mulch it for us as it comes down , BUT it will be blown into a pile exactly where we want to put chickens. But unfortunately it will cost $2000 to get done and is slowing our progress of what we want to do. 🤦🏻♀️ I enjoyed seeing companion planting and found it interesting you were able to plant corn?? This past year we planted a row of mammoth sunflowers along our fence and then planted indeterminate tomatoes in front of them the tomatoes used sunflower leaves as supports to grow up on. We did give them a little support with twine in case a wind storm happened and made it hard to hold on to the plant. Then we planted bug repelling, bee loving plants around and in front of that and we had a fantastic harvest of tomatoes!! 😀❤️ We love fermenting but haven’t tried fruits yet so hopefully we will get to try that in near future. 😊 Thank you for sharing your journey, there is a lot of inspiration! 😊❤️🤗
This is my dream space!! lol I too rent and my landlord is very open to letting me do something like this. My neighbor (we share a duplex) has a great little garden on her side of the yard that's heading in this direction and she's helping me out a bit but there's just so much information to absorb! I really loved watching this video and listening to her voice. Am I crazy for saying that? lol She's just so likable and really knows what she's talking about. I'll watch again and take notes this time. Thanks!
such a beautiful home and life! i love her garden. her squash harvest was amazing
Kirsten Dirsken, you are making the coolest videos! Thank you for positively contributing to our world!
Smart good girl
Thank you for sharing your valuable experiance.
Another amazing vid, Kirsten. It’s as if you anticipate questions that we out here in cyberland might have and you so gently engage with the person who’s giving the tour to get the answer.
I also appreciate how we can always hear the speaker well on your vids... not overpowered by music or, what I’ve seen elsewhere, the filmmaker’s own voice. You have a lovely voice btw.
This is one of my favorites, SO many wonderful ideas in such a small space! Sheila is AMAZING!
One of my favorite videos from Kirsten. Bravo!
When i graduated Highschool i doubted myself and i ask , Why do i like to Plant , then i answered, It is An old Culture and no one now wants the same as what i want,Just go with the modern flow., now At (Second year college), Finally I know what i want I really want to become a farmer, i really want to deal with nature and create my own food , Now i'm. Smiling because we're millions That understand each other😀😀😀
Wow this is great homestead. love this family and everything going on here!
Look at the great details of the little bungalow home, awesome! Thanks for posting!
ooo...she is really smart girl.........lots of gems....hacks....!!!! ...something urbans would not know..especially the agriculture related stuff
I love this video, I watch it all the time helps keep me motivated in my self sufficient journey! Thank you for sharing 😁👍
I'm renting a 800 sq metre block!! Slowly but surely I am filling it in!! In a limited space I do a lot of container gardening!! Love it!!
Another great one Kirsten. Said it before...but keep doing what you do....we love it
Nice garden... The fruit in 3:01 is called Taxo in Ecuador, is mixed with cream and sugar to make ice cream and with milk and sugar to make juice. So good! and diferent from passion fruit!!
Wonderful! Sheila has way more sense and wisdom than I did at her age, and even way more than I do now as a 64 yr old. I'm embarrassed how ignorant I am. Except for thinking of making the chickens meat birds when their egg laying years are over. No!
Down in Mexico we call the companion planting of corn, squash and beans MILPA. It's the way to go! Great ideas! Thank you for sharing!!
people used to do things like this in the city and the burbs a long time ago. very nice set up
I grew up with chickens.... mannnnnnnn. I went home for a funeral a few years back and I had forgotten why I loved them in theory but hated them in practice. So damn loud in the morning.... and I couldn't complain cause everyone would wonder what my problem was. It was so common place to my family and I had outgrown it. Some things about growing up I love and appreciated... chickens ain't one of them....and boy do they poop everywhere... poop, scratch, poop, scratch. On a kinder note, I think this lady has a great deal of ingenuity doing this in the middle of Oakland.
Chickens were having a great day till they heard, "we'll see.." LOL Love her garden and her chicken set up. Great use of limited rental land. The owner must be thrilled. I also love the beekeeping idea. Something I've been reading and thinking on for a long time. Just have to work around my fear of being stung.
Sheila I love the space you have created.
SSOOO INTUITIVE!!! I LIKE THIS!!!!! there still some empty space in the garden for chia seeds!
Glad this old vid popped up as an New to channel. Really hope they are still there and have written a book of doing online teaching. Urban living perfected. Worthy of a follow up K?
I scratched the screen, I'm not the only one right?
I LOVE this video!!!!! Thanks so much!!! I'm now inspired!!!