5 Urban Homesteading Projects for Beginners
Urban homesteading is on the rise in cities and suburbs across the country. The practice of urban homesteading involves making your household as self-sustaining as possible by producing your goods and foods at homethink raising chickens, growing vegetables, sewing your own clothes and beekeeping.
People start homesteading for a variety of reasons. Some want to know where their food, cleaning products and clothes come from and whats in them. Others simply like the idea of minimizing environmental impact by keeping all production close to home. Still more want to transition to living off the grid completely.
Rest assured, you dont need to go all in all at once. If you want to give urban homesteading a shot but arent quite ready to jump right into raising goats, here are some great projects for beginners:
Start a Small Vegetable Garden
If you have the space, a small vegetable garden can help you start growing your own food. Dont feel as though you need to convert your entire yard into a vegetable garden right away. A small strip of land alongside your house (that gets adequate sunlight) is perfect for constructinga raised bed that runs the length of your home, and will give you plenty of space for growing veggies. Beginners should stick to the basics. Lifehacker recommends salad greens, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans for those new to gardening.
Compost
Composting is really quite easy and only requires a little bit of effort each day. Once youve gotten into the swing of it, youll have ready-made compost that canact as fertilizer for your yard and vegetable garden. In order to compost successfully, your mixture will need organic matter, some moisture, warmth and oxygen, according to self-proclaimed composting guru The Compost Guy. Store your compost bin in a warm place, make sure to mix it up regularly to allow oxygen into the mixture, keep it moist and add plenty of organic matterkitchen scraps, manure, fall leaves, grass, straw, cardboard and hair are great for composting.
Collect Rainwater
This is a pretty straightforward tip. Collecting rainwater is great for water conservation as you wont have to turn on the hose in order to water your plants, wash your car, do your laundry or scrub your dishes. If you really get into it, you canpurchase a water purification system to use your rainwater for showering and bathing (though that would require quite a bit of rain). Collecting rainwater is super easy, too: Simply place a rainwater collection tank outside.
Make Your Own Cleaning Products
Cleaning products are expensive and often toxic. Making an all-natural, all-purpose cleaner at home is super easy, if you have the right ingredients. The natural homemaking blog Wellness Mama recommends combining 1 teaspoon of Borax, 0.5 teaspoons of washing soda, 1 teaspoon castile soap and a few drops of your favorite essential oil with two cups of distilled water. Put the mixture into a spray bottle and use it anywhere in your home without fear of toxins.
Hang Your Laundry to Dry
Wet clothes dont necessarily need to go into an electric dryer. Conserve energy by hanging your clothes out to dry! During the winter months, you can assemble a drying rack within your home thats quick and easy to take down once your wardrobe has driedtrust us, your clothes with dry just as efficiently and you wont use as much power.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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