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Starting The Apartment Homestead

June 1, 2020 Leave a Comment

Homestead dreaming here at The Apartment Homestead.

Goodbye, Real Food for One. And hello to The Apartment Homestead!

If you’ve ever visited my site before, you’ll remember that it was originally called Real Food for One. While I love talking about food and developing real food recipes, homesteading has always been my true passion and dream. More and more, I’ve found myself wanting to write about gardening, food preservation, self-sufficiency, and old-fashioned forms of cooking that fall outside the “real food” umbrella.

And I want to share recipes that include sugar or white flour once in a while. Haha.

The Apartment Homestead Project

So here I am at the start of a brand new project: To become a homesteader. To learn the information and skills I need to grow, prepare, and preserve my own food. To pay off debts, develop side income streams, and save up for property of my own.

Do I live in the country? No. Do I have chickens, a dairy cow, or beehives? No. Do I have an orchard full of fruit trees? No. Do I have a kitchen with plenty of food storage space? No. Do I even have a yard? No.

I live in a condo that I share with two roommates, and an HOA maintains all the landscaping around our place. I’m a long ways away from affording land. But that’s not going to stop me, and similar circumstances shouldn’t stop you either.

Because being a homesteader is about what you do and what you learn. It’s about who you are and what you’re becoming, not about what you have or where you live.

So I hope you’ll join me in The Apartment Homestead Project, where each week for the next two years, I’ll work toward mastering a homesteading skill. As we go, I’ll share what I learn, along with my usual recipes and personal updates.

Tagged With: Apartment Homesteader, Apartment Homesteading, Real Food for One, The Apartment Homestead

Butter and Herb Pork Tenderloin (Slow Cooker)

February 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Butter and Herb Pork Tenderloin

This Butter and Herb Pork Tenderloin is a set-it-and-forget-it slow cooker meal featuring carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, and plenty of buttery goodness….

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Tagged With: Main Dish, Pork, Slow Cooker

Wingers Loaded Bird Recipe (Copycat)

January 27, 2020 Leave a Comment

Wingers Loaded Bird Copycat Recipe

An easy-to-make Wingers Loaded Bird recipe copycat, featuring seared chicken breasts piled high with sautéed mushrooms and onions, bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese.…

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Tagged With: Chicken, Copycat Recipes, Main Dish, Real Food for One Main Dish

Winter Salad with Maple Pecans

December 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Winter Salad with Maple Pecans

With the holiday season upon us, I’ve been searching for ways to bring seasonal produce to the table. With the sweet meatiness of pears, the crispness of apples, and the crunch of pomegranate seeds, this spinach winter salad has it all. And it’s even Christmas colored.

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Tagged With: Christmas Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Real Food Recipes, Salad, Salads for One, Winter Recipe, Winter Salad

What My First Year Gardening Taught Me

October 14, 2019 1 Comment

This week should bring on the first hard frost of the fall, and with it the end of my first year of gardening. Though I’m far from being a master gardener, I’ve learned so much along the way.

…

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Tagged With: Community Garden, Container Gardening, Gardening for Beginners, Mental Health

Rainbow Pico de Gallo

September 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

Rainbow Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo, with its bold flavor and vivid red, white, and green colors, is a classic. Today I’m offering a more colorful twist on the original: Rainbow Pico de Gallo!

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Tagged With: Appetizers, Real Food for One

Common Community Garden Problems

September 23, 2019 Leave a Comment

Shared gardening space can be an incredible experience for apartment dwellers, but there are a number of common community garden problems. I know first hand. Fortunately, a little patience and ingenuity can make it an enjoyable experience for all. 

My community garden “tragedy”

I’ve never been so sad over a melon

Yesterday I visited my community garden plot, which I’ve lovingly tended since the spring, excited to see what might be ready for harvest. In particular, I was excited to check on two cantaloupes that were very close to being ripe when I had visited earlier in the week. All of my other vine plants – watermelons, honeydew, acorn squash, and delicata squash had succumbed to squash bugs long ago, and I had said goodbye to my long-suffering spaghetti squash plant just a couple of weeks before.

Through it all, my cantaloupe proved hardy. It stayed healthy and strong through inexpert planting, inconsistent watering, unexpected thunderstorms, and those pesky squash bugs, and I was so excited to try my first taste of fresh melon.

But when I arrived today, only one melon, far from ripe, remained. The other two were nowhere to be seen, apparently having been picked by someone else. I have to confess I’m a little heartbroken. That might seem silly, but I was so proud of those beautiful cantaloupe!

At least I brought my first two radishes home.

And yet community gardens are so worth it! Last week I shared all the wonderful reasons to join one, but today I want to share a few common problems you’re likely to run into. None of these are deal breakers, and with the right attitude, you’ll still enjoy your community gardening experience to the fullest.

Common Community Garden Problems (And How to Deal with Them):

Theft

Common Community Garden Problems

This is the obvious one, given my experience yesterday. Our garden has a sign urging people not to take the fruits of anyone else’s labor, which I’m sure helps, but it’s an inevitable issue in a garden that doesn’t sit safely behind your own fence. Luckily, this is the first time I know of this happening to me, and given the garden’s location near low-income housing, I’m just going to assume it was someone who needed that food far more than I do.

Confusion over plots

This might not be such an issue in other gardens, but I’ve had enormous trouble keeping people from planting in my plot. The garden sits on land right next to an apartment of elderly tenants, who frequently get confused about the plot assignment process. You may need to put up a small sign saying your plot is already assigned if you want to avoid this problem (but make sure you’re certain it’s really your spot first!). Planting early and visibly helps too.

Infestations

Community Garden Dill

In a shared space, some gardeners may be less diligent than others, resulting in weed and insect problems (and those problems can arise even with careful attention). This can be one of the most frustratingly common community garden problems, but when this happens, just care for your own space and do what you can to help in other areas. Other gardeners may be less experienced or less physically able, so it’s worth it to pitch in whenever possible.

Limited time to garden

Since gardeners sign up year by year in my community garden, we’re all expected to clear everything out by the end of October, and the water isn’t turned on until the beginning of May each spring. That means we miss out on some early and late crops. 

For that reason, starting your plants from seed at home can really lengthen the growing season. If your garden will allow it, it might also be worth planting in self-watering containers at home and bringing them out to the garden once the water is on.

Volunteer plants

Mint can be a problem plant in community gardens
Mint is beautiful, but aggressive. Limit it to containers, or it will take over the garden.

This can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on your reaction. Some plants, like mint and strawberries, spread very aggressively and are likely to show up in your plot whether you planted them or not (I recommend only planting them in containers if you’re a community gardener). Others have their seeds dropped by birds and can show up totally by surprise. If you don’t want them there, just pull them out. Or roll with it and enjoy the surprise. I ended up with a lovely marigold this way.

Common Community Garden Problems

Lack of privacy

I’ve gotten used to it now, but I initially felt very self-conscious planting in a public space. (Maybe this is less a common community garden problems than it is a Shaina problem). But if you also feel uncomfortable doing something new so publicly, just know that the more you do it, the less you’ll care about working alongside fellow gardeners or being watched by pedestrians as they pass by. Just enjoy the time outside and don’t worry too much about other people’s reactions. And maybe you’ll even make new friends!

Community Garden at Sunset

So if you’ve ever hesitated to join a community garden, don’t wait any longer. Sure, common community garden problems arise, but these gardens also offer unique benefits. It’s the perfect environment to learn how to garden, so look into joining one today!

Common Community Garden Problems

And in the meantime, please pray for my remaining cantaloupe.

Common Community Garden Problems and How to Solve Them

Tagged With: Common Community Garden Problems, Common Gardening Problems, Community Garden, Gardening for Beginners, Real Food for One

Eleven Reasons to Join a Community Garden

September 10, 2019 Leave a Comment

Buying my condo was both a big achievement and a bit of a disappointment. Of course I was excited to have a place of my own and to start paying off a mortgage instead of paying a stranger rent, but I was also sad to buy a home without a yard. I’d been dreaming of gardening for years, and it seemed like that dream was being put on hold in a major way.

Luckily, a home garden isn’t the only way to grow your own food. …

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Tagged With: Apartment Homesteading, Community Garden, Garden, Real Food for One

The Beginner’s Guide to Container Vegetable Gardening: How to Plant

June 16, 2019 Leave a Comment

Welcome back, aspiring container gardeners! In case you missed it, last month I shared about the planning phase of container gardening, so now it’s time to talk about planting. If you’re a perfectionist (ahem, something I know nothing about), putting plants into soil can feel a bit intimidating. But never fear, reader dear! I’m here to guide you through the process….

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Tagged With: Apartment Homesteading, Container Vegetable Gardening, Container Vegetable Gardening for Beginners, Real Food for One

Fresh and Easy Tomato Salsa

June 10, 2019 Leave a Comment

The food I crave most intensely is fresh tomato salsa. Every once in a while, especially in the summertime, I frantically have to have it – and right away. It’s a need, not a want.

I’m gonna blame it on vitamin deficiencies or something….

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Tagged With: Fresh and Easy Tomato Salsa, Real Food for One

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About The Apartment Homestead

Hello, friends! I'm Shaina, a container-gardening, small batch-canning, apartment-dwelling homesteader. I'm here to help you achieve your homesteading dreams, whether you've got the homestead or not!
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