How I Started Homesteading in the City With Almost No Space
Because I wanted to feel rooted, even in the middle of concrete and traffic.
There was a season where I felt really disconnected. From nature. From rhythm. From the kind of slow, hands-on life I always imagined for myself.
I was living in a small space in the city, a little backyard, barely a garden bed, no chickens or acreage in sight. And yet something in me kept craving that feeling of homegrown. I wanted my life to feel slower, more intentional, more… handmade.
But I had this idea in my head that homesteading was only for people with land. Big gardens. Root cellars. Maybe a goat. Not people in small crowded areas, or apartments with no room.
So I waited and I kept putting it off. telling myself, “Someday, when we move…”
Until one day I realized: I didn’t need a farm to start homesteading, I just needed to start where I was.
And that shift changed everything.
Here’s how I slowly began homesteading right in the city with barely any space, and how it brought me back to myself.
I Planted What I Could, Even if It Was Just in Pots
My first “garden” was three mismatched containers on a tiny patio, growing tomatoes, snap peas and one sad little pepper plant.
It didn’t feed my whole family. But it fed something in me.
Now I grow more: strawberries, kale, herbs, and a few other things that I learned to tend to over time. But that first step was everything. Watching something grow, with my own hands? And then eating it? It gave me a sense of hope I didn’t know I needed, and it was everything.
I Started Making Things From Scratch (That I Was Already Buying)
I didn’t try to become a sourdough master overnight. I just looked at the things I was already buying, and asked myself: Could I make this instead?
- I started with veggie broth from leftover veggie stalks
- Then simple granola, formed into energy balls and bars
- Then my own DIY cleaner from fermented orange peels
- Then I learned how to crochet and began making my own dish cloths (bye paper towel!) scrub pads, clothes and more
- I got brave enough to try a simple loaf of bread, and then got into a rhythm of making 1 loaf a week
Nothing fancy. Just small shifts toward nourishing, real home made things that felt personal and felt good.
I Slowed Down My Cleaning + Laundry Rhythm
I used to do everything on autopilot. Scrub, toss, swipe, rush. Always rushing. Then I started choosing tools that felt more natural, like wooden brushes, wool dryer balls, homemade sprays. I hung some laundry outside. I lit a candle while I folded.
It felt small, but it brought something back. A feeling of presence. Of tending. Of being at home in my home.
I Stopped Throwing Everything Out
One day I looked at a glass jar and thought, “Could I reuse this?” So I did. Then I started saving vegetable scraps for broth. Then I froze overripe bananas instead of tossing them. I used orange and lemon peels to scent vinegar and make sprays.
This part of homesteading taught me to see waste differently. To see it as potential instead of something in my way to dispose of.
I Let It Be Quiet and Simple
Homesteading in the city isn’t loud. It’s not goats and harvest baskets and perfect sun-drenched kitchens (though I still dream of those sometimes). It’s tiny, meaningful things.
Like hanging herbs to dry in the window.
Like putting your hands in soil, even if it’s just a small pot.
Like lighting a beeswax candle you made all by yourself.
Like feeling a little more human, a little more grounded, in a world that moves too fast.
Start Where You Are
You don’t need land to grow something.
You don’t need a farmhouse to live rooted.
You don’t need to move to the country to start feeling closer to the earth and yourself again.
If you have a window, a stove, a little container of herbs, you have enough. Start there.
Homesteading isn’t about the land. It’s about the way you live on the land you have.
More Slow Living
If you’re looking for more ideas or inspiration on living a slower, more grounded life at home, check out my post on the little things I do every day, to fully enjoy my life exactly where I am, as I am. For free.
With Love Always,
