How We are Gardening in Our 500sq. ft. apartment

We have always had a yard. We have had full creative reign to dig where we want to dig, build what we want to build, raise chickens, and plant whatever we wish in the new garden beds our imaginations dreamed of. Until now.

As we carried our mattress up the flight of stairs to our new front door, I looked down at what would be our lawn, a 12x12 plot of flagstone, currently covered in tools and a half built fence. (I would show it to you, but no-one wants to see that). I thought to myself, we’ll make some garden beds fit there. We have to.

One of the most important aspects of whatever new place we decided to rent was space for a garden. We are extremely limited in a tight rental market and for whatever reason, my husband and I chose proximity to trails and shaving a few hundred bucks off of our rent over square footage and a master bedroom…

Am I bitter about it? Admittedly, a fireplace, master bath, and huge kitchen would be nice. But we’ll get there! It’s worth it to downsize now to save up for a farm later! Let’s hope.

But no matter the challenge, we’re up for it. We also have a sunny patio and windows that line our walls. It may be small, but we plan to make this apartment work. For the love of food! It’s worth it.

So if you are like us, and you live in an impossibly small apartment, but still wish to garden, we’re right there with you. This is how we are planning to start a garden without a garden. You with me?

Building Raised Garden Beds

Like I said, the first thing I thought when I looked at the impossibly small “backyard” (Can we even call it that?) was, how do we fit a garden bed? Raised beds seem like the best answer. Our plan is to scrap some wood, buy some dirt, some compost, and some worm castings, build a rectangular box 3’x 5’ (whatever fits your space works, just make sure you can reach every part of the soil). The area gets quite a bit of shade. I think it will be perfect to grow greens in the hot summer without them bolting. We' also plan to plant a couple staple root crops: carrots, beets, radishes, and if we find a spot that gets enough sun, a zucchini or two (talk about maximizing output per square footage!).

Preparing Container Gardens.

When the world bought toilet paper…we bought seeds. Part of our hustling to get supplies for being quarantined is to gather up some furniture to get through the next month without throwing all of my things out the window in a furry. We went to Home Depot to buy a make-shift table, i.e. a door on two saw horses. While we were there, we grabbed a couple of terra-cotta pots, a bag of dirt, and some seeds. We have a patio we plan to fill with container gardens. In the meantime, we are still waiting for the weather to warm so we are giving these seed babies a head start inside before we transfer them to the spring weather.

Container garden vegetables: Radish, micro greens, spinach, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, kale, tomatoes, and basil. Do you any favorites we’re forgetting?

Planning an Herb Garden

One of the furnishings items we plan to buy is a media console to store books underneath this wall of windows. This will be the perfect spot to grow some herbs! I don’t have a lot of space, and I want them to look pretty. We will be looking at them all the time, so they might as well! Until we can buy these pieces, I am planning what I want to grow and making sure it will work in the space. My plan? Pretty pots, some ornamental and edible herbs, and flowers. Definitely flowers.

Indoor herb garden: Thrifted pots, the prettier, the better. Nourishing herbs and edible flowers: Calendula, nasturtium, chamomile, lavender, rosemary, sage, oregano, mint (hello summertime mojitos!), and basil. We might even throw a couple of tomatoes in there too.

Buying a Plot at a Community Garden

Sometimes we have to admit that we need things our house just can’t provide. Since we have moved to a new community, this will also be an excellent way to get to know other gardeners in town. Down the road from us there is a community garden, one of the biggest we have ever seen! We are planning to get a plot and grow some of the secondary vegetables we will want through the summer, fall, and winter. We also want to keep composting but don’t have the space. We’ve been involved in community gardens before, Ian used to build them and run the gardens for a non-profit! We’re excited to be part of one again.

Community Garden vegetables: Summer squash, winter squash, kale (yes, more kale), cabbage, carrots, and showy flowers (for beautiful arrangements, of course).

As for the rest of our food, we’ll buy local where we can. We plan on leveraging the farmers market, and getting to know some local farmers in the area. We definitely prioritize local eggs. We’ve been spoiled by having our own hens. Meats have always been outsourced. We’re pretty confident with this mix of effort, we’ll get to enjoy tending a garden, getting our hands in the dirt, and eating plenty of homegrown food. Let the season begin!