Being single and trying to prep In a small place

[Taz Baby]

How to you prep when it is just you? You have a apartment or a house and it is just you. How do you go to work come home try to get the gardening done,(if you are lucky enough to have room for it,) store what you need gather water ect. If you are in an apartment like me now with no yard, can't have animals, no one to help you prep, very little time to do anything but work and sleep, what do you do. I am turning my windows into greenhouses from the inside. Making a bay window from the inside with shelves and plastic. have to plant everything in a pot in front of the windows and hope the sun can get to it. but this will cause defused sun and you have tio turn it daily so it wont grow to fast and not produce. Help me out here fellow ants.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Comes a time for new challenges, take a deep breath. One bite at a time, "chew your food" as mom always said. This will take a little bit of planing and imagination. I'll have to see if I can come up with some ideas, looks like you've gotten off to a pretty good start. Right now you've just concentrated on the plants/herbs. You're in confined quarters and that makes it difficult, give me some time. But help me out and tell us your NEEDS. We are at your service.

[Possom]

I am not sure what area you are in but many areas have community gardens. If you can find an empty lot in your area, talk to the owner. They might let you start a community garden or lease the lot to you to grow a garden. It is tough to do in the city or town in an apartment.

Ideally you would be much better off from a prepping standpoint to move out of whatever town you are in. Move to the country. Buy a small parcel of land. It doesn't take a giant house for a single person. Build a small cabin or have one built.

[Onestep]

Like BR said, start with herbs. Tomatoes and peppers grow good in pots. I'm sure green beans (KY Wonders) in a large enough pot with a large tomato ring to support them would produce. Burpee even has a new corn specifically for patios (they have some other variety of veggies as well I think). There's also a method of gardening that is tiered but can't remember the name.
Small scale gardening does not really take much time at all, just water and feed, which can be done at the same time with liquid fertilizer. It's when you get bigger that they take time. Even then as long as you weed on a regular basis it's pretty easy once the ground is prepared and seeds are sown.

[Taz Baby]

Bwrr I need a hug. My needs are simple, I want what I want at the time I want it. Now with the BS aside, reality setting in, I am on the 2nd floor of an apartment that the other tenants keep to their self. the landlord is very nice and sweet. But I don't think he will let me till up the side yard for a garden or hang meat in the huge basement/laundry/storage room. I am in the corner so if he will let me I can put a rack with plants on it this summer because No one has to pass by my place to get to theirs and I don't think it will be a fire hazard. I just got a part time job 2 months ago and moved when I could afford the rent on this place so now I am extremely limited to what I spend as everyone knows this winter has been a COLD one. I know about container gardens but not when you live in an apartment, upstairs. Most of what I can grow will be inside and we all know that that really does not work well, except for herbs. Those I will always grow as most of you know me well enough to know I make meds with them. So what I need is a design for an inside greenhouse that does not have to have a grow light to make everything grow the way the sun does. Grow lights use a lot of electricity and they cost more that I can pay. Maybe when I get on full time I can swing one small one but now, NO WAY. So all you McGyvers sisters and brothers of this little ant, give me some Idea's. If it works I'll let you know and you can patent it, and please make it with free if not then cheap materials. Thanks Oh and by the way this family is the best.

[LUNCHBOX]

The gardening is a great choice. I would lean toward some dry goods....rice and beans as $$$ allows. Maybe even look at selling the medicinal salves you make and use that cash for materials.

I saw something about hanging tomato plants you might be able to put to good use. I can't vouche for the crop output.

[Caveman Survival]

Not sure about your indoor space availability, but for herbs or even smaller veggies (onions, baby carrots, etc) you can convert an old pallet into a vertical garden or even one of those hanging shoe caddies you can get at most dollar stores (the ones with pouches). Set these up near a window and you can grow year round. Invest in a small dehydrator and or canning gear and you can preserve these for later use.

You can even convert an old rain gutter into a window sill planter (prop up either side with stools or whatever your fancy). You could grow strawberries in this or other smaller veggies.

Remember, prepping isn't about having everything the way you want it NOW (if it were it would be called finishing). It's about learning the processes needed to get prepared.

Dry meats, fruits and veggies as they are in season (and cheaper) for use when they are out of season.

Not sure your social situation, but if you have friends or family relatively nearby, ask them if you can use a 2x2 or 3x2 spot of their yard for some containers or raised beds... You can grow your tomatoes or potatoes here... Get a few friends that are willing and start your own 'share' cropping... Each of you grow something and split it at end of season, or you maintain all the sites and give them some canned goods in exchange.

For me... Two good fall foraging days at the dog park in the fall get me enough berries and crabapples for a winter full of jams, applesauce, and sauces... All free. Find good young birch leaves and dandelions in the spring and you can dry your own tea.

Being single is no excuse... In fact it's probably better and easier for you. You have more 'me' space, you don't have to ask to reserve windowsills, something may look odd but it's functional and works so you don't have to worry if your other will approve, the only obstacles you have to overcome is your imagination and desire.

[Taz Baby]

Thanks for all the good advice It helps to get ideas from other people. As far as the outside stuff, it has to look pretty or the landlord wont go for it but ia can make it pretty. Now the inside yes your right, no one to ask permission.Buying extra can goods and stuff is not that hard to do. I got a good deal at the grocery store, Margaret Holmes can goods 10 for $10 so I bought 10 of everything they had. Came home with 140 cans, then they had pick 5 on their meats and 5 for $20.00 ea.alone was $5, so I got 80/20 ground chuck. pork chops and 2 different kinds of steaks. Anyhoo I wound up saving $68.42. I have a dehydrator so this weekend I am going to try it on the pork chops and ground chuck. I am finding out that it is harder on prepping when there is only one person doing it and you don't have any room for building or outside gardening. Most of my time is working and when I am home I am making my medicines , soaps lotions and stuff to try and sale.It just takes time to get it done. And as you guys have said every little bit helps and adds up in the end. Thanks guys and gals for the support.

[The Stig]

The key, IMO, is prioritization.

You have to figure out what you are prepping for, what items you will need to be prepared for those events and then plan accordingly.

You'll also have to make some cost-benefit decisions especially since you don't have assistance. In other words, is an hour spent tending a tomato plant that produces 3 tomatoes a wise use of time when in 2 minutes you could order 50lbs of food for dry storage. The remaining 58 minutes can be spent cleaning, building storage shelves, scouting out evacuation routes, etc.

The other thing I'd suggest is considering all the various SHTF events you might face and asking yourself about the probability of sheltering in place in your apartment.

If most of the scenarios have you leaving your apartment, for whatever reason, then you need to consider how much time & energy you invest in preps that would eventually be abandoned. Put the energy you would have put into another activity in figuring how how you can deal with more "mobile" preps.

All of us could stand to have a better understanding of what scenarios might unfold in our areas and how we would respond. For someone who has limited time, space and assistance it's even more important. Because that understanding will allow you to focus your plans, cut out the wasted activities and get right to the point.

Anyway, just some rambling. Hope it helps.

[Illini Warrior]

don't know about your individual area .... but in many small towns/suburbs people have to abandon their gardening for various reasons .... if you could hook up with a senior citizen type that gave up the garden for physical restraint reasons .... you could possibly get the use of tools and gardening wisdom along with an established garden space .... share cropping is an old well established tradition