Can homesteading in an urban apartment setting really be effective and more importantly will it save my family money? This is a question I would like to explore a little further. As with any good experiment you need a theory, so in this case I will begin with: By making a majority of my food and household items it will cut my expenses. This seems crazy considering I live in a two bedroom apartment in a big city. I can't have chickens, or acres of gardens, instead I have 1000 sq ft of living space and a small patio three stories up. So the challenge is how can I possibly be self sufficient under these circumstances?
I have been reading a ton of blogs lately all related to making my own food items and even furniture (I have to admit a slight addiction to www.anna-white.com) and I am intrigued to say the least. My family exists on a very limited budget and I am curious to see if I can really make a difference in our budget and still get the things that we need. My husband is a carpenter by trade, so furniture making will come easy to him, although Ana White's designs are very detailed so that even a novice can accomplish great things! After viewing Ana's site my list of wants has grown. Our dining table has definitely seen better days. We bought it at a garage sale probably 7-8 years ago. Since then it bows in the middle, has been decorated by a four year olds hand, it wobbles and creaks and is not suitable for public viewing without a table cloth. I have been looking at dining tables at various furniture stores and a decent sturdy dining table is not a cheap item! Most do not come with chairs and you could easily spend $700-$1000 or more for a lower end table. Since my boys are now sharing a room again, bunk beds would be a great addition to their cramped space. I love the loft beds with built in desks and book shelves etc. These are expensive as well with prices ranging from $1200-$3000. A coffee table would also be nice as would a farmhouse bed for my own room. Maybe even an entertainment center (as opposed to my converted thrift store book shelf). The other thing I have discovered is the lower end (cheaper) furniture is made of press board or laminated wood, the real wood furniture costs significantly more. Now my experience of mixing children and furniture is if the furniture is not sturdy and well made you end up with wobbly dining tables and broken book shelves. I have seen the plans on Ana's site and read the many posts of how people made this pice for $100 or that table for $300 and I am curious. Could I really furnish my space for less by building it myself? Now, I do not have a shop and I am sure my neighbors would not appreciate it if I built things inside the apartment. So, we rented a garage on site primarily for additional storage but it is equipped with an electrical outlet and not connected to any of the apartment buildings. We should be able to create our furniture without an issue. While I haven't begun this little adventure but as soon as we do, I will post our progress and all the details.
The other things I have been researching is making our own food products. I love to bake and often make my own breads so I have some skills in the kitchen. I also love good quality food items like yogurt & cheese. It's no secret that food can be expensive. I have read numerous blogs pertaining to making cheese, yogurt even butter from home. These kitchen experiments have peaked my curiosity and I am going to attempt a few of these to see if it is worth the additional effort on my part. Today I am making Greek yogurt in the crock pot following this Recipe. It is still in the crockpot at the moment and I will be sure to post an update on my progress. I hope to write about my future kitchen exploits and I will include the costs I have incurred, this will allow me to really see if this is an economical solution.
I have also planted a small garden on the patio. I purchased a 20x20 sq ft "urban gardening" container from Home Depot for about $30. This container came with an aerator and watering tube. I also grabbed a bag of gardening soil (miracle gro brand) for around $8. In this container I planted green beans, cucumbers, Carrots, and brocolli. I purchased the seeds on Ebay for $2 with shipping. I was at the dollar store a few weeks back and found a hanging basket for $1 and snapped it up. In this I have planted romaine lettuce, spinach and a french spring mix lettuce. All of these were started from seeds and are doing nicely thus far. From Sam's club I snapped up an italian garden (tomato, basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary) for $12. I know this will not completely supplement our vegetable intake (as a family of four), but I hope to supplement a good portion with our patio garden. The garden is not ready to harvest and I think we still have a month or two before it is ready. The plants have grown considerably and they seem to be thriving. I can't wait to see how much my little garden will produce.
So this is the little experiment I am undertaking. I should mention that I am a working mother, so with that in mind I will be sure to document how well this works with my schedule and if it does save our family money or not.
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