15 Easy and Cheap Urban Homesteading Ideas You Can Use Anywhere
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Although my wife and I now have country homesteads in two states (Ohio and Kentucky), we used to live in some of the largest cities in the USA – like Atlanta, New York City, and Seattle, to name a few.
And although it was a bit scaled-down for our liking, we always explored cheap and easy ways to make our lives simpler, more self-sufficient, healthier, and overall happier.
We learned that even though we sincerely wanted to get out of city life, once and for all, we could still do many everyday things to simplify our lifestyle together and help ourselves embrace a more country way of living, even in our very urbanized environments.
Plus, our urban homestead saved us A LOT of money relative to living to work and working to live as so many of our city friends did, and most still do.
Oh well, to each her own, right?
That’s what we say anyway!
OK, to the point, you do not have to own land in the country – or even have a yard – to engage in various methods of urban
Nope, you can do it in an apartment, even if you live on the 76th floor and only have a little sunlight entering through a single window. And really, even the window is optional.
Let’s explore 15 fast, easy, and wise ways to begin urban
Excitement Time – Let’s Go!
15 Ways to Start Urban Homesteading Today
Collecting rainwater, growing a patio garden, learning how to fish, and shopping for recycled goods are just a few of the many rewarding ways to begin your family’s urban
1. Bee-come a Beekeeper
If you have access to a rooftop or backyard, beekeeping can be an excellent source of extra income and, more importantly, something you can do to enhance your family’s health.
The health benefits of natural honey are well-proven and amazing! Did you know that bee honey is highly nutritious, an excellent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, a wound healer, and possibly, a cardiovascular system enhancer?
It’s true, and you can begin a mini-sized beekeeping operation for very little initial investment. Of course, check with your landlord, if applicable, and your local authorities because some localities don’t allow residents to practice this wonderful, nature-balancing, health-enhancing hobby.
2. Collecting Rainwater
In the cities and suburbs, most rainwater ends up in the sewers. What a wasted resource! Today, there are loads of products from various manufacturers, like systems of 55-gallon barrels that you can connect to your downspout system on your house to collect rainwater. This free water accumulation allows your family and homestead to run more efficiently for less money paid to the municipal water supply company. Use this free natural resource to water your plants, keep things clean around your yard, bathe Fido, and a lot more!
3. Canning
My family has canned fresh produce, meats, and various other foods for decades, and I couldn’t imagine life without them. We combine our
Canning foods in Mason jars like I do means that you require no preservatives, and they never need to get heated past the point where nutrients begin significantly degrading. When stored properly in a chilly, dark, dry environment, canned foods stay viable for years.
You can scale your
4. Cook from Scratch
In my experience, the fewer ingredients a culinary dish contains, the healthier it is. We all know how reading food labels is off-putting. We see dozens of ingredients that are multi-syllabic and difficult to pronounce. Nobody wants to eat a chemical concoction of death!
Learning to cook from scratch ingredients, like raw cuts of meat, raw vegetables, spices, lard or cooking oil, whole grains, milk, cheese, and other traditional food sources, can change your life – for the better!
Using fresh cooking ingredients you can identify (and pronounce) makes your recipe healthier. And it also empowers you to take over and control what you’re putting into your body, with no chemical additives you can’t even pronounce unless you’re a Ph.D. chemist!
My wife and I have cooked at home for so long that only a top-class restaurant could pull us away from our kitchen. We save a ton of money every month relative to eating out in the city the way we used to, and our food tastes better, is healthier, and is enjoyed in our private environment. Food production at its finest!
Read More!
- 9+ Smart Ways to Start Apartment Homesteading Today – Self-Sufficient Urban Living!
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- Living Off the Land 101 – Homesteading Tips, Off-Grid, and More!
- 71 Practical Homesteading Skills and Ideas You Can Learn Today!
5. Grow Vegetables
You don’t need much space to grow fresh produce on your patio in small garden beds or even sitting inside your living room in front of a sunny window. If you need to, you can add indoor plant-growing lights to accentuate the lack of sunshine you’re exposed to where you live. You can grow a substantial amount of healthy, beautiful food in five-gallon buckets – or a tiny backyard garden.
Think about it: fresh tomatoes, kale, radishes, onions, hot peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, and much more, all right out on your patio. Or even inside in gardening bags. And if you have a backyard or a front yard to utilize, even better!
You can grow a ton of fresh produce in a small operation and then preserve it by
6. Compost
The US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recommends composting to improve soil health, reduce greenhouse gases, mitigate drought, and sustainably recycle existing nutrients. That’s a load of notable benefits, all for simply breaking down organic material like extra produce food scraps, leaves, grass, plant clippings, and other suitable compost materials from your yard or patio. If you lack space, consider a compact compost tumbler from Home Depot. Or cheaply construct a compost pile from scrap pallets if you have the exterior space.
7. DIY Dermatology
Skin is the largest human organ. And it’s critical for looking, feeling, and being healthy and vital. Of course, the best thing for the skin is pure, clean, untainted water. But loads of plants and natural supplements are great for enhancing skin health. Plus, you can use them for healthy cooking.
Consider growing chamomile, aloe vera, sage, mint, lavender, calendula, thyme, and rosemary, all of which are getting studied for their skin health benefits. And, of course, they aren’t only good for the skin. Unless you have a rare allergy to them, these enriching herbs invigorate the entire body. Homemade products like these rock!
And don’t forget the excellent skin health benefits of coconut oil, olive oil, and baking soda. And, my wife’s favorite, gelatin. She loves making gelatin masks for us. We leave them on for about half an hour. And then peel them off, along with all the gross stuff that accumulates under the skin. It’s fun and good for your health!
8. Eat Whole Animals
Apologies for this section if you don’t eat meat. You might wish to skip it!
Eating whole animals saves mucho dinero relative to buying meat, piece by expensive piece, at the grocery store. Plus, consuming organ meats like liver, and highly nutritious bone broth, is excellent for health. Consider packing a small meat freezer (if you have the space) with ¼ cow or ½ pig.
The freshly butchered meat tastes much better than mass-processed grocery store meat, plus you can save a lot of money, which is one of the foundational reasons behind urban
Eat Nose-to-Tail – YUMMY!
9. Embrace Your Circadian Rhythms
Circadian rhythms are natural behavioral, mental, and physical changes that most living organisms cycle through daily. Chronobiology, the study of circadian rhythms, explores the integral importance of living in harmony with these natural impulses and biological stimulators – like waking with the sun and sleeping with the moon, for instance.
According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), it’s good, especially for those living in urban settings, to use darkened window shades when sleeping and keep devices and televisions turned off. Think about how animals in nature exist, and then try to be a little more like them!
10. Explore Mycology
The field of mycology, the study of fungi, including yeast and mushrooms, is immense yet barely explored. And with just a tiny portion of this giant kingdom examined, the health benefits are promising. Some of the potential health advantages linked to medicinal mushrooms include:
- Decreased risk of cancer
- Improved brain health
- Lower blood pressure
- Better nutrition
So, it’s wise and fun for everyone to explore some rudimentary mycology education. And then start a small grow operation wherever you are. There are loads of space-friendly kits available, like mushroom logs! They usually come with spores and everything you need to start quickly and easily.
11. Forage
I can forage for ages! I love meandering around in the woodlands or wherever I can find areas of organic plants that I’m welcome to harvest. Free natural foods help save money. And they have loads of valuable nutrients, and many have potentially powerful health benefits.
For instance, dandelion root and leaf are associated with anticancer, antioxidant, and hypoglycemic effects in humans, to name a few.
Some others to scan the wild for include stinging nettle, lavender, mint, nuts, pollen, wild mushrooms, grains, spices, moss, and tubers. There are hundreds of nutritious, delicious, and medicinal fresh food that you can harvest while having fun days outdoors. Enjoy your new sustainable lifestyle!
12. Grow Fruit
You don’t have to be able to house and grow a 50-foot fruit tree to grow fresh fruit at your urban homestead. You can grow berries and fresh fruit in a small container garden on your balcony in the city. Or, if you have a little more space, consider cultivating a mulberry bush or starting some raspberry shoots. And if you have some extra property to utilize, consider planting full-size fruit trees. My friend, Smokey, has eight beautiful, productive fruit trees on one-third of an acre! We’re talking about massive amounts of food!
13. Raise Some Backyard Laying Hens
Laying hens are female chickens raised to lay eggs not intended to hatch. Of course, some laying hens might get harvested for food when their laying capacities dwindle with age.
My wife and I keep 14 birds in a chicken tractor in Ohio. That amount keeps us and our neighbors in more eggs than we can eat. We give at least a dozen away every week. Having egg-laying hens on the homestead saves us a lot of money – even more so since the egg cost has increased about 300% over the past few years. Criminal.
Plus, having backyard chickens around our plot of land adds life and even some humor. I get a kick out of my little cluckers, and they’re also excellent natural pest control agents! If you have the room, consider adding some of these valuable, easy-to-keep, and funny animals around.
14. Second-Hand Shopping
My wife and I always shop first at second-hand markets. And we are almost always surprised that they have the excellent values we find there. Plus, you can use social media networks like the Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, and others, to find many second-hand stores, especially if you’re willing to travel a bit to get to them. You can find fantastic deals on clothing, tools, household items, and much more, all for so much less. Why pay the retail price for clean, usable items when you can buy them far cheaper?
15. Showing Love to Local Farmers
Small local farmers can be an urban homesteader’s constant ally. These food providers for society are constantly battling the weather, keeping their farm machinery and equipment in proper working order, keeping up with the cost of diesel fuel, and competition from large grocery store outlets that can provide their goods at low prices.
Supporting your local farmers is a wise way to upscale your environmental conservation efforts while providing income for local farmers. So, pick up what you need in terms of produce each week at your local farm instead of the grocery store!
Homesteading for Beginners by Elise Baker is an excellent beginner-friendly homesteading reference. The book contains many hidden gems, including tips for homesteading on a tiny budget, maximizing garden space, avoiding common homesteading blunders, developing smart homesteading goals, and the best veggies and herbs to begin growing as a novice gardener.
Let’s Summarize!
There are dozens of ways for your family to increase self-sufficiency, stay healthier, save money, and positively impact environmental conservation. Work on one or two things at a time until you establish fluent habits and techniques. Then, scale up your operation to include more healthy and fun projects.
Every little thing you can do to become more self-reliant and thriftier will add to the value of your efforts. In the long run, these actions and habits will become ingrained in your lifestyle, and you, like my wife and I, most likely will not be able to think about living without them.
Thank you so much for reading along today, and I hope the information is helpful and thought-provoking for you.
Enjoy your urban