How To Cultivate A Green Thumb in Your City Apartment

September 15th, 2011 by Caitlin Morgan| Posted in Apartment Guide, Apartment Interiors, Apartment Living, Decorating, Etsy & DIY, Green Apartment Living, Healthy Apartments | No Comments »

Apartment living is efficient:  a practical and pleasant way to make a home, in the short or long term.  But it can sometimes feel sterile.  Finding ways to connect with nature—within the realities of an urban lifestyle—poses a challenge for many apartment dwellers. As Americans show more and more interest eating fresh food, creative urban gardening and local food sourcing solutions are cropping up everywhere.  Here’s a quick guide to simple ways you can get more involved with your next meal—short of actually moving to a farm.

Grow a Box Garden

Many Americans have no access to a backyard, and while we might enjoy sprawling on a park’s green grass, busting out our rake and hoe might not endear us to other park-goers.  Window gardens are an almost universally accessible answer to an itchy green thumb, and can improve your view as well as your salad.  With a little more space—say, a deck or roof—you could also start a box garden or a “square foot” garden, to get the biggest broccoli for your buck.

Join a Community Garden

If you prefer really getting down and dirty, or if you’d like to nurture some neighborhood unity along with those tomatoes, consider joining a community garden.  These shared spaces are managed in a myriad of ways, but most broadly are gardens shared by a group of people.  Even the state of California has formally recognized the importance of community gardening in multi-housing developments.   Search for a community garden in your area to start feeding your family, and to meet others interested in doing the same.

Support Local Agriculture

Luckily, there are many ways to support local farmers, and there’s nothing wrong with choosing the most convenient method for you—you’ll be more likely to make it a habit.  Farmers’ markets are a great place to meet the face behind the fruit basket, and eliminate the middleman.  Search for farmers’ market listings at Local Harvest. You can also search for CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) a no-stress option in the form of a weekly fresh, seasonal produce box directly from the source.  Look around for food co-ops, which support sustainable farming (one directory can be found here). Or, just take a peek around your grocery store:  many conventional markets are trying to keep up with the local food movement by stocking and labeling local products.  It never hurts to ask!

Guerilla Gardening

Okay, we confess:  the appeal of sneaky seedlings is too great for us to resist.  If you have limited time but still want more plant life in your vicinity, make some seed balls and toss those suckers anywhere you see some barren soil in need of a little love.