Growing Food without a Garden – Food Prepping With No Yard

My goal as a prepper is to be able to grow a large portion of my own food on my property. This is also the aim of many preppers. Nowadays, it would seem that everyone is talking about growing their own produce. People are creating gardens in their backyards, planting in pots on their balconies and patios as well as starting small farms in the suburbs.

Not everyone has a garden to grow their food in. For them however, not all is lost. Even if you live in an apartment, there are still are few things you can do to produce your own food.

For people who have no space for a garden they will have to set up a windowsill garden.

With just a sunny windowsill, you will be able to grow your own herbs and greens at home. Plants with a shallow root system will thrive in a small pot on a windowsill.

Some plants you might want to grow are:

Microgreens

Growing: Sow seeds in a shallow tray filled with around 2 inches of damp potting soil. You can use seeds such as radish, Swiss chard, basil, mint, dill and kale. Sprinkle seeds on top of the soil followed by a layer of soil. Place the tray in a sunny window and mist them with water once or twice a day. Your microgreens will be ready for harvest once they are 2 inches tall. You can harvest them by cutting off the leaves with scissors. By not disturbing the roots you will ensure more harvests in the future.

Using: Microgreens are young green shoots making them full of nutrients and full of flavour. You can add them to a salad or a stir fry.

Herbs

Growing: Herbs will do best in a warm, sun filled window. You could grow basil, mint, rosemary, parsley, thyme or chives. Use pots with good drainage and are 6 inches deep. If sowing from seed, keep the soil moist and once they have started to get leaves they prefer drier soil. To harvest, simply cut the leaves as needed.

Using: Herbs such as mint and thyme can be used to make herbal teas and they are all useful for cooking.

Green Onions

You can easily grow green onions by planting onions in a shallow pot. Place them in a sunny windowsill and keep them evenly watered. Once the plant is around 6 inches tall it can be fully harvested.

Garlic Greens

Plant individual cloves of garlic in a pot. Make sure the pointed end of the garlic is facing upwards. As they grow you can cut off the greens and use them as you would chives or green onions.

Growing lettuce requires the same conditions as growing microgreens. Lettuces, on the other hand, need to be planted a deeper as well as further apart. Sow the seeds in planters with good drainage. Place the holes 4 inches apart and sprinkle a few seeds in each hole. After around 3 weeks you should thin out the plants. When harvesting your lettuce, to ensure repeat harvests in the future you should only take the outer leaves of your lettuces.

Growing Fruit at Home

You don’t have to be limited to herbs and greens when it comes to have you windowsill garden. You can even grow fruit. Some of my favourite fruits to grow at home in a windowsill are lemons and kumquats. Both are a good source of vitamin C.

Even if you live in the city, you can still have a small garden of your own to grow your own food making you less dependable on other people for your food.