Apartment Gardening
We’re all familiar with the same old song and dance at the grocery store. We see a bag of lettuce and lie to ourselves that we will indeed eat it all, only to find its wilted and moldy remains in the fridge a week or two later. I’m no angel myself - I too have fallen victim of this deceitful purchase.
While our intentions might be good, the byproduct of our decisions isn’t pretty. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food waste in landfills surpassed any other single material found in our trash cans in 2018. To put this to scale, that’s approximately 72 billion pounds of wasted food and around $218 billion worth of food thrown away. YIKES.
Don’t get yourself too down in the dumps. Us consumers can combat this vicious cycle of food waste. During the 2020 pandemic, I found myself constantly cooking at home during quarantine and realized that any unique dish requiring fresh herbs resulted in me purchasing WAY more than I needed at the grocery store. Not only was I buying too much, but the fresh herbs I did buy always came in a plastic container meant for single use. Again, YIKES.
I wanted to figure out a way I could reduce my food waste & plastic use while still getting the produce/food I needed. Looking out onto my apartment deck, I began to envision this unused space as a lush, mini garden situated right outside my kitchen. My previous gardening experiences did not pan out too well as I had a winning streak of killing just about anything I planted. Overwatering, under-watering, no sun, too much sun… you name the cause of death and I can say with most certainty that my poor baby plants encountered that fatal ending.
However, that was the old me *cue dramatic music!* I have turned a new leaf and decided that I was ready to be in a committed relationship with my garden. And let me tell you, it’s paying dividends people. Not only have I been able to cut down on wasted food, reduced my plastic use, and saved my money at the grocery store, I’ve discovered a new passion of mine and honed a new skill. Ultimately, my dream is to expand my garden to become 100% self-sustaining with my produce but until that day comes, I’ll continue fine-tuning my mini apartment garden into the beautiful slice of heaven that it is.
For those of you thinking of how you can cut down your food waste & plastic use, I encourage you to try your hand at gardening. You might surprise yourself with how green your thumb really is. It’s a fairly simple & cost-effective process to get started. Below are 3 steps in getting your garden started for under $20:
Scoping out your garden space
I understand from first hand experience the struggle of apartment living and battling with how to best utilize the limited space you have. Before you even take out that credit card of yours to buy supplies, figure out the general square footage you have available for your future green babies. Consider the light that hits the area you’ve carved out for your garden too, because this will indicate which types of plants to grow.
Picking out what veggies, fruits, and/or herbs you’d like to grow
Once you’ve pinned down your gardening area, it’s time to pick out those seeds! Figure out what you like to eat & typically buy at the grocery store to determine what you want to grow. I’ve made the mistake of planting a hot pepper plant last spring, and while I love spicy foods, I found that I didn’t really cook with hot peppers that much. In turn, I had to get a little creative so I was actually using the produce I was growing, and now have red pepper chili flakes for days.
Don’t forget about the lighting! While certain plants require a lot of direct sunlight, there are other that will not fair too well in super sunny spots. For instance, I planted Mesclun (lettuce) which really only needs a few hours of sunlight before it begins to wilt, so I made sure to locate these plants closer to my apartment which becomes shady earlier on in the day.
Purchasing your supplies
To get your amazing garden started, you’ll need the following supplies: seedling packets, containers/pots, trays, and gloves
Seedling Packets - For smaller apartment gardens, you can purchase 1-off seed packets from places like Home Depot or Lowes. These little seed envelopes cost anywhere between $1 to $4 and will definitely include enough seeds for your garden. If you’re going for organic, expect those prices to be slightly higher. For example, Roma Tomatoes at Home Depot only cost $1.69
Containers/Pots - If you’re starting off with seeds, you can either buy biodegradable containers for around $3-5 (like the ones found here) OR use an old egg carton. Both are equally effective, but I have found that the egg carton container doesn’t drain as well so make sure to poke a hole in the bottom to allow for proper drainage. While you have about 1-2 weeks before needing to transfer your seedlings into bigger pots, it never hurts to start figuring out what size containers you’ll need. Check out this post by Gardens.com to figure out what pot will provide the best home for your green babies.
Soil - Depending on how many seeds you’ll be planting & how big your garden will be, there’s no need to go overboard with the size bag of soil you get. I’ve had the best success with moisture-controlling soil by Miracle Gro, which has run me about $5/bag
Gloves - This is not a necessity but always nice to have, especially as your garden grows! Typically price point for gardening gloves range from $5-10 but I’ve seen some go up to $20 - To me, they all accomplish the same goal of keeping dirt off your hands
Gardening has been so rewarding, not only for myself but for my impact on the planet we all share. I look forward to continuing to share my experiences & knowledge of gardening and sustainable food with you all. Let me know how your gardening adventures go down in the comments!
