Back to Basics: Growing Your Own Food in an Apartment

It can be incredibly satisfying to grow your own food. If you grow your own vegetables, you get to see them flourish and progress every couple of days — not to mention, it’s easy and delicious.

Perhaps most importantly, homegrown veggies are packed with nutrients. Broccoli sprouts, for example, have up to 10 times the amount of cancer-fighting ingredients as fully-grown broccoli. The sprouts are great in salads and sandwiches.

Yes, you say, but I live in an apartment, not a house with a backyard.

No problem. It’s very easy to grow food in an apartment. Read on to see just how easy it can be to start a small kitchen garden.

Broccoli sprouts

Take broccoli sprouts, for instance. All you need is broccoli seeds, a glass jar, water, and cheesecloth or plastic screen and rubber band to secure it.

Put two tablespoons of the seeds in a quart jar. Cover the seeds with several inches of water and place your cheesecloth on the jar.

Put the jar in a dark, warm place for eight hours. Then drain the water, rinse the seeds and drain again then secure the cheesecloth once again.

For the next few days, drain all the liquid off and rinse the seeds, then put back in the enclosure. Make sure to do this two to three times daily.

If they smell bad, they are sitting in too much water. You need to make sure you drain the water each time you rinse.

After three days you should begin to see leaves, at this point you can place the jar in indirect sunlight till they turn green. When the sprouts turn green, they are ready to eat.

Store broccoli sprouts in your fridge

Besides broccoli seeds, you can also sprout beans, microgreens, nuts, fenugreek, radish, celery seeds and more!

Lettuce

Take your leftover lettuce butt and place it in a bowl with a slight amount of water in the bottom. Place the bowl in good sun exposure.Mist with water two to three times per week.

In three to four days, roots and new leaves will start to show. At that point, place the lettuce in a pot with good soil. Continue to mist, and make sure the leaves have sufficient sun.

Onions

Don’t throw away the bottom roots after using a green onion! Place the bottom of a green onion (2-3 inches long) in a cup with enough water to cover the roots and a little part of the white section. In a few days, the green onion will regrow itself.

Herbs

You can easily grow herbs inside on windowsills. Try growing basil, thyme, cilantro, and parsley. Most grocery stores now sell potted herbs. When properly cared for these herbs can lost a long time, here are a few tips: 

Repot your herbs into larger containers and fresh organic soil to replenish nutrients twice a year.

Instead of drenching the herb with water, if the pot has holes in the bottom sit it in a plate of water to allow it to soak up the water.

Clipping leaves off the plant will encourage growth so don’t be afraid to clip often and then just store those herbs in the fridge or dry them to add to your dried seasonings.
 

You don’t need a big yard to start a garden, even growing flowers in your apartment is easy. Growing plants at home is easy, simple and healthful. Enjoy!

Article By James White |  ForRent.com  |  May 28, 2018