While I’ve tried to embody the spirit in my third-floor apartment, buying a 10-acre farm will finally allow me to more fully align my daily routine with my ideal homesteading lifestyle – but this will require significant changes.
To jump-start my new lifestyle, I’m setting some rules for myself. These are not goals because I do not need to work towards them – with manageable parameters, I can implement these changes immediately. The first rule for my new life is that I will no longer purchase store-bought bread. The second is…
Rule #2: No Food Waste
My ideal homesteading lifestyle involves reducing my negative impact on the environment, reducing my day to day costs, reducing my reliance on external systems, and making the most of what I have. Eliminating food waste is a vital first step to achieving these goals.
I’ve always been mindful of food waste. I make grocery purchases thoughtfully, prioritize perishable ingredients in my cooking, and utilize the freezer as needed. But apartment living is tough – my apartment complex barely supports recycling, let alone composting. Each day I throw my coffee grounds, banana peels, and apple cores in the garbage, and my heart hurts knowing that they are hauled to the dump using fossil fuels rather than meeting their full potential.
My homestead will include a variety of ways to make use of food that would otherwise be wasted. The first step, which I’ve already been doing to the best of my ability, is to preserve and make use of vegetable scraps:
- Freeze, can, and dehydrate excess produce and herbs
- Turn the ends of bread loaves into croutons or breadcrumbs
- Use the stems, stalks, and skins to make vegetable stock
- Turn fruit waste, such as apple peels and grape mash, into vinegar
The homestead will allow me to better practice these skills; I’ll have more freezer space, my dehydrator will have a dedicated location on the counter, and I’ll be able to spend more time at home, which opens up more time for stock to simmer on the stove.
And for those bits of waste that fall further through the cracks, there are two other options:
1. Feed it to the Chickens
While I won’t have my own chickens right away, my adopted family’s farm next door has four chickens that will gladly eat some food waste – especially bug-riddled garden plants! I occasionally steal a few eggs for baking, so this feels like a fair trade.
2. Compost it!
Produce that is too far gone to be reused in another way can always be composted. The finished compost will serve as a nutrient-rich amendment for my garden. Some products don’t even need to be aged before adding to the garden – for example, coffee grounds are an excellent amendment for acid-loving plants like blueberries, and eggshells can provide a helpful infusion of calcium for tomato plants.
Expected Hurdles & How I’ll Overcome Them
1. Time: There is always a moment during a successful gardening season where every counter surface is covered with vegetables that seem to be just one moment away from rotting. It’s overwhelming; the time needed to process the harvest is significant! Staying organized will be key, as will utilizing my freezer space – many vegetables, such as tomatoes, can be frozen directly with no additional effort, and then canned later if freezer space is needed.
2. Building a Compost Bin System: Composting will only be efficient and effective if I periodically take the time to turn the compost over. This aerates it, giving the microbes much-needed oxygen to continue breaking down the plant matter. I will need to build a bin system that will allow me to turn over the compost as needed.
3. Bears: Black bears are increasingly common in my area of Connecticut, and they are known for loving food scraps discarded by humans. While avoiding bears entirely might be impossible, I will have to establish my compost system as far from the house as possible to avoid negative interactions between myself and the bears.
Exceptions!
None! With composting as the last resort, I really can’t go wrong here.
With less than 6 weeks until the closing date, I am trying to enjoy every minute of anticipation – but most days, I just end up wishing time would pass faster.
What “rules” have you set for yourself in your homesteading lifestyle? If you’re still in the dreaming stage, what rules do you look forward to following someday?
Talk soon,
KC