How To Start Homesteading In An Apartment

When someone thinks of homesteading, most people think that the only way you can homestead is to buy a farm or ranch with a ton of land to start your new adventure.  This is simply not the case.  You can actually be a homesteader while still living in the city in an apartment.  It just takes some creative thinking to get started.

First, what exactly is homesteading?  In short, it is an attitude of do-it-yourself, streamlining your lifestyle and recycling what you have to save money and to keep cost low.  It is also about giving back to Mother Nature as much as possible.  Starting a garden indoors is a great way to dip your toe into homesteading.  It is also about preparation and planning ahead so that when times get tough, you have enough food to tide you over for a while.

Obviously there are certain things you cannot do in an apartment, like raise chickens, or have a dairy cow.  But starting your own tomato or strawberry patch is a cinch in pots, and can produce wonderful and flavorful fruit, that will save money on grocery bills.

One way to recycle is to take water bottles and use them to grow your vegetable gardens hydroponically.  I recently came across a site that promote "window farms" and give lots of details on how to grow a great garden in your windows using water bottles.  They generously offer instructions at their site at http://www.windowfarms.org.

Learn how to can your own fruits and vegetables.  When organic fruits and veggies are in season, learn to home can so that you have those fresh things available to you during the winter months.  It is also wise to learn how to store food without refrigeration.  Most root vegetables can be stored in clean sand in a cool dark place and will actually keep for months. 

Finally, start teaching yourself skills that will come in handy once you can move into your country space.  Learning how to use power tools to build something is just the beginning and can be quite fun.  Just make sure you understand what the safety requirements are.

The best thing to do when living in an apartment is to start small, and just take it a little at a time until you can afford to get that little country place to make the homestead dream a reality.