If you are waiting to have a homestead and some land before learning how to preserve your own food, think again. Many people dream of when they have acres of land, then they will automatically know how to manage the land, grow a garden, preserve their harvests and live self sufficiently, all within months of moving onto their homestead. The truth is these skills take time to master, sometimes years of time. Here are some ways you can start learning even if you live in a small apartment.
Buy Locally and in Season- Start paying attention to what grows when. For instance, berries are abundant in the spring and summer, sweet potatoes and corn in the fall. Grocery stores give the impression that these things grow year round, when in fact they only grow in certain months in any given region. Get to know what grows when in your gardening zone.
Preserve the excess- When a fruit or vegetable is in season, it tends to be a cheaper than other times of the year. Buy a little extra and preserve the abundance. Maybe you’re not canning fifty jars in one go. Perhaps you make a few jars of jam or can four or five jars to add to your pantry, or maybe you ferment or pickle your favorite vegetables. The act of doing this on a small scale will build your skills and liven up your meals in the next months.
Experiment with abundance- Canning is not the only way to preserve food. Drying fruit, meat, or herbs in a dehydrator is another great way to keep food in your pantry. Remember those bundles of herbs you bought for one recipe and now the rest is wilting in the fridge? Learn how to dry the leaves and put them in a jar for the next time you need some.
Stock up on dry goods- The pandemic has shown that many people do not actively store extra food for a rainy day. Having two or three months of beans, rice, pasta, and flour are easy to do in a small space. It will give you peace of mind and be the storage you could draw from if you couldn’t make it to the store that week or didn’t have enough cash for a full grocery shopping. Stock up when times are good for when they are not.
Sprouts- Learn to sprout beans and seeds. Sprouts are some of the most nutritious foods you can eat and it doesn’t take a lot of equipment or space to grow them. Most people who grow sprouts have trouble eating all of them before the sprouts get too old! One 5 lb. bag of seeds can last a long time in the pantry and provide food for months of fresh greens. You can effectively replace lettuce with sprouts for a fraction of the cost and still get all the greens and fiber you need.
Regrow kitchen scraps- It’s surprising how many kitchen scraps can be planted for more free food. In an apartment setting, there isn’t a lot of space, but if you have a sunny window you have options. If you buy green onions, use the tops and leave about three inches from the root to stick in some soil. You’ll have more green onions in about two weeks. Have a garlic clove that’s sprouting? Stick it in soil and harvest the green shoots when they get five or six inches tall. The green part tastes just like garlic. Have some extra rosemary on hand? Pick the thickest branches out, put them in water and wait a few weeks for roots to grow, then stick them in some soil. You’ll have a whole new plant for free. This works for thyme, and mint as well. Sweet potatoes make for a pretty trailing houseplant. The possibilities are endless, but since space is an issue, experiment a little and find your favorites.
Forage your area- Lots of nutritious plants grow wild and lack of knowledge makes people think there is nothing in their area to forage. This is not true. Dandelions grow everywhere and every part of a dandelion plant can be eaten. They even grow in cracks in the sidewalks of cities. (By the way, be careful of eating plants that may be contaminated with foot traffic, car exhaust or animal poop.) In most of the U.S. pine trees are abundant, and pine needle tea (excellent source of vitamin C), or pine needles soaked in vinegar for a cleaning solution is available to everyone. Get to know the nature around your home. It might surprise you.
It takes time to learn about what grows naturally in your area. It’s not something that is taught to young children when growing up, though it should be. Even if you had land and space to grow food, the skills needed to know what to grow, when, and how to preserve food are the same as if you lived in an apartment. Start the process on a small scale right where you are. Your budget will thank you, your diet will be healthier, and you will have peace of mind knowing that when times are tough, you will always have something to eat.
