Roots Without Land: Urban Homesteading Beyond Ownership

Think you need land to homestead?

Think again.

In this episode, we explore urban homesteading without land ownership — from container gardening and balcony permaculture to community gardens and guerrilla growing.

Because self-sufficiency doesn’t start with acres…

It starts with a single plant.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The city wakes up in layers, car engines turning over, footsteps on sidewalks, coffee brewing behind apartment windows. At first glance, it doesn't look like a place where anything grows. Concrete, steel, glass, a world built upward instead of outward. But look closer. A tomato vine climbing a fire escape, herbs tucked into a kitchen windowsill, a bucket catching rain on a back balcony. Life finds a way. Even here. Because homesteading was never really about land ownership. It was about relationship. With food, with seasons, with self-sufficiency. No matter the space. Today we're talking about how to reclaim that relationship. Even if you don't own a single square foot of land.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Welcome, witches, pagans, heathens, spiritualists, and anyone interested in living sustainably.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

This is Old Ways, New Days, where the old ways meet the good dirt. I'm Kayla, and I'm Noel. And each week we explore the sacred art of living close to the land. From compost to covens, chickens to charms, we're reclaiming self-sufficiency, seasonal living, and ancestral wisdom.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Whether you're stirring your cauldron or your soup pot, this is a space for wild-hearted folk walking the homesteading path with intention, magic, and muddy boots. So you have been super busy because your boyfriend what did he he bought his He is buying his dad's house. Which means you're moving out of your townhome with an HOA and into an actual house with a yard. Yes. So exciting. It is.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

It's very exciting. But unfortunately, the part of the yard that I would be able to have a nice big garden in doesn't get nearly the sun that it needs. Which is fine. It really is, because I'd rather it's just gonna be the two of us. So I'd rather just have like container garden anyway. Because his grandparents have a lot of garden.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

So we get a lot of our veggies from them.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

And there's nothing wrong, I you know, with having a few container gardens in the front yard where there's, you know, especially if the front yard gets all your sunshine. Yeah. Um. So yeah, but that's super exciting. I know. Which means you're super busy. Yes. Packing, packing, packing. And then moving, moving, moving. And my my daughter is also moving. Um her and her fr one of her close friends finally found an apartment. Nice. So, but she has she has to be out of her current apartment on the 31st, which I think this is gonna be after that, um, because we're recording before that. And then she has to she has three days basically to move in. Like the new apartment complex only gives you a small window of actually move-in days. So you can't like stagger it and bring stuff over.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Like she has to That's messed up.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

I know. So I said I told her, I said, well, you know, maybe you could uh pack up the moving van on the 31st with all of your stuff, hold on to it overnight, come stay with me for the night, and then you know, move everything in the next few days. Yep. So it'll it'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Well, that or you know, pack it up in lawn, move it, unload it, and just like the small stuff that you know can still come in and out.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Well, except that she has to be 100% out on the 31st, and she can't even begin to move in until the first.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Oh, that's dumb.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

So yeah. So it's it it's it's we're very busy, if you can't tell. Yes. We've got a bunch of stuff, so I'll have to next time you and I get together to record, because you're so busy, and I'll probably be helping her, so I'll be busy. Um, you know, we're gonna, you know, we'll record a bunch of episodes next time we get together, and we'll have to do an update on how your move is going and how her move went.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Right. Because my move won't actually happen until May. Sometime.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

And then I will be out of town the last two weeks of April. So we're gonna knock a bunch of episodes out um just in advance so that you guys can still listen to our beautiful voices. Yes, and you know, because life does get in the way a lot during the summer. Yep, and we are getting very close. Um, so I will I should probably post or send our admin some pictures um for Facebook on how my seedlings are doing because unfortunately I have lost quite a bit of them. And and you know, and that happens. It's it's you know, not I don't necessarily think that my house is the right environment, even with a heating pad or you know, a hot pad underneath the seedlings, and I now have two sets of grow lights. Uh my fiance neglected to tell me that there was power outage while we were in Chicago and the lights did not turn back on. And he didn't go in and check on them. And he didn't go in to check on them, and then four days later, after we returned, he's like, Did you know that the lights off? And I was like, No. Why didn't you tell me? Like, I haven't had a chance to go in there because I made sure it was very well watered before we left. You can't see me, but I'm motioning that I'm strangling him. Yeah. So that's yeah, I'm not gonna say that that's the reason why I lost almost everything in there. The one thing that seems to be hanging on is the lettuce.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

And that's why they say it's hardy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

So today uh we are talking about um you're having an urban homestead without actually owning land, um, and that you don't really need to own land. That's really kind of a myth. You know, as and that's you know, again, I know we reiterate this over and over and over again, um, but that's why we wanted to do this podcast. Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And another thing is is you can always look and see, like in your small communities, even in larger ones, um, go to your local library, they usually have a um posting of like a bulletin board or something. Yeah, of a local group that gets together and has this plot that they work on fork gardening and it's a you bring and you share.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Well, City Hall here for a fee gives you a raised bed. And they do all the watering, you just have to go in and plant your your veggies and wheat make sure it's weeded out. But they're all you know, that's yours for the summer. I don't know what the fee is, but it is hot, hot, hot. Like full morning sunrise to sunset, sunshine like that. It is that's almost too much sun for some plants, yes. And I'm sure they have restrictions on what you can plant. Yeah. So they probably don't want viny plants like tomatoes or melons, or sorry, not tomatoes, but melons and squash and cucumbers. Yeah. So it's probably mostly your carrots and celery.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

So I saw this one where um it was a pallet that you have one of those um black grow tarps, and they stapled it around the pallet so that you had the front facing, packed it with soil, and then put strawberries in it. And had it just leaning up against the side of your a building. And the strawberries never technically hit the ground.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Hey, that's that's one. That's a really great idea for limited space. Uh vertical is always the way to go for uh limited space. Um I had seen a post somebody had play uh put up on I think in my one of my growing groups that I'm in, where they painted rocks red with little black dots to look like strawberries because the crows were eating all of their strawberries. And so when the crows saw the bright red, they thought there were strawberries, and then they went to peck at them and they're rocks, and they're like, uh, so then they learn to leave them alone. Nice. Right. So this is the kind of things that we want to share with you. And I have to start painting rocks. Maybe. Alright, so let's let go of that myth of uh quote unquote land. Somewhere along the way, homesteading became tied to an image. Acres of land, a farmhouse, rows of crops stretching into the distance. And if you don't have those things, it can feel like you don't qualify. But historically, that's not the full story. People have always grown food in small spaces, courtyards, shared plots, window boxes, alleyways, the sky's the limit. Use your imagination. Urban growing isn't new, it's ancestral. The difference now is that we've been taught to overlook it. So the first step is a mindset shift. You don't need to own land to participate in the cycle of growing. You just need to start where you are.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

So container growing is often the doorway into urban homesteading. A single pot can hold tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens, herbs, and it doesn't require much a balcony, a windowsill, even a sunny corner indoors. What matters is attention. Watering becomes a daily check-in. Watching leaves develop becomes a kind of meditation. You start to notice light patterns throughout the day, how quickly soil dries, the subtle changes in plant growth. It brings you back into rhythm, even in the middle of the city. And over time, one container becomes five, then ten, then so on and so forth. Not overwhelming though. Just evolving. I don't know, it can be. Well, it depends on if you're a plant enthusiast or not. I suppose.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

And I guess it depends on how much you want to pack away onto your small space.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Right. Right now I think I have like three, four, six, twelve plants right now. Okay. Three of them are orchids. One of them I am trying to nurse the roots back. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Well, good luck with that. There's um rooting hormone that you can use.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

I have like a moss.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Okay. Alright. There's something deeply powerful about growing your own medicine. Not the kind that comes in a plastic bottle from a pharmacy shelf, but the kind that begins with soil under your fingernails, sunlight on green leaves, and the quiet patience of the seasons. For thousands of years, people all over the world turned to plants first. Long before modern pharmaceuticals, families kept small plots of healing herbs close to the kitchen door. Plants for fever, for cough, for sleep, for calming the nerves after a long day's work. Those gardens weren't just practical, they were sacred. Medicinal garden is one of the simplest ways to reconnect with that tradition, even if you only have a patio, a balcony, or a few containers in a sunny window. That's why we have partnered with a medicinal growing kit that's perfect for beginners and seasoned plant lovers alike. This kit comes with carefully selected seeds for classic healing herbs like chamomile for calming teas, calendula for skin healing, lemon balm for stress and sleep, peppermint for digestion, lavender for relaxation. What we like about this starter kit is that it removes the overwhelm. You're not standing in a garden center staring at hundreds of seed packets, wondering where to begin. Instead, you start with the plants that have been traditionally used in herbalism for generations. With your seed kit, you'll also receive a copy of the herbal medicinal guide from Seeds to Remedies. This guide will show you how to turn these 10 plants into tinctures, ointments, salves, poultices, decoctions, infusions, essential oils. All in minute detail so you can follow the guide even if you've never made an herbal medicine in your life. And if you're someone who practices earth-based spirituality, herbal magic, or simply wants to reconnect with older ways of caring for yourself and your family, growing medicinal herbs can become part of your seasonal rituals. Planting seeds becomes intention, harvesting becomes gratitude, and every cup of tea carries a story from the soil to your hands. If you're interested in starting your own medicinal herb garden, check out the affiliates link in the show notes. Supporting the link also helps support the podcast and keeps episodes like this growing. Because sometimes the most powerful medicine is the kind you grow yourself. Community gardens are a shared land, shared power experience. If you don't have space at home, community gardens open another door. These are shared spaces where individuals or families can grow together, often on land that no one owns privately. Community gardens are more than just practical. They're relational. Relational.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

I love it when you mess up words. Because I do it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Alright, so community gardens are more than just practical, they're relational. There we go. You might meet, oh my, you meet people you might never have spoken to otherwise. You exchange seeds, advice, and sometimes entire harvests. There's something deeply grounding about tending soil alongside others. In a world that often feels disconnected, these spaces rebuild community in a very real way, and they remind us access doesn't always have to come through ownership. Sometimes it comes through cooperation.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Permaculture isn't limited to farms. At its core, it's about designing systems that work with nature instead of against it. And yes, that can happen on a balcony. Even a small space can become an ecosystem. Vertical growing to maximize space, companion planning in shared containers, catching and reusing water, creating microclimates with shade and placement. A balcony can hold more than just plants. It can hold intention. You begin to design not just for production, but for balance. A place where pollinators can visit. Plants support each other. Waste becomes resource. It's a shift from growing things to living with them.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

My favorite is gorilla gardening. Specifically with native flowers, I once gave my neighbor a Christmas present of uh native seeds in a seed bomb format. Like a whole bunch of them. And I told her, I said, if you ever want to be a gardening uh a native flower terrorist and do some gorilla gardening, I will go with you.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I will drive and you can toss them out the window. Speaking of seeds, yes, those seeds that we got from Chicago. Oh, um, somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Yes, I know. That's that is that is the secret to gorilla gardening, is stealing seeds from established native plant areas. But they're plants that are outdoors. It has to be expected that people are gonna pick seed pods.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yes. It's not stealing, they're spreading the love and growth that it once be was.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

I suppose if everyone did it, then the likelihood of that garden becoming more lush and full of the native plants would probably become greatly reduced. So it is it is frowned upon.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Unless you're grabbing them and just sprinkling them all over underneath it. Like you did. Right. Yes. See, I assisted to it.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

So anyway, there's uh more rebellious side of urban garbage urban garbage. There is a more rebellious side of urban homesteading called gorilla gardening, planting in abandoned lots, tucking seeds into neglected corners, bringing life back to spaces that have been forgotten. It's not always legal, but it's often meaningful. At its heart, gorilla gardening is about asking who decides what gets to grow here? Then when land sits unused while communities lack access to fresh food or green space, some people choose to act. Even small acts, planting flowers in a roadside strip or herbs near a bus stop, can shift how a space feels. From empty to alive. Weird.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Weird how that is. Whoa thump. Right. So urban homesteading may not look like total independence. You may still rely on grocery stores, you may not produce everything you need, but self-sufficiency doesn't have to mean all or nothing. It can mean growing even 10% of your food, learning one new skill each season, reducing reliance in small intentional ways. It's about participation, not perfection. And every step toward growing something yourself is a step towards reclaiming knowledge that has been slowly lost. So you don't need a deed, you don't need acres, you don't need permission to begin. All you need is a willingness to see possibility where others see limitation. A pot becomes a garden, a balcony becomes an ecosystem, a shared space becomes a community. Urban homesteading is not about escaping the city.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

It's about transforming your relationship to it. Because even here, surrounded by concrete and noise, life is waiting to grow. Okay, so I know that was technically our ending of the end of the episode, but I wanted to go through our stats and see if we have any new people. So currently our listeners are contained to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. Looks like we lost our Asian listeners. At least for the moment. For the moment. Maybe they'll be back. Maybe. Uh cities currently include Jacksonville, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Wow, my brain. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brineville, Oregon, Springfield, Nebraska, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Weisbeck, Cambridgeshire, Ashburn, Virginia, Fontana, California, Hellerton, Pennsylvania, Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, South Benfleet, Essex. Ooh, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Satch C Texas in Cloney. Cloney Meath. And I know we're probably we're probably butchering those foreign ones.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Yeah. So we just wanna, you know, remind everybody to please, you know, share with your friends. Uh, we are trying to grow the channel as much as possible. We're not trying to become famous, we're just trying to help you. And the more people that we can help, the better off everyone can be. Um, right now we have an average of nine episode downloads in a week. Um, we would like to get that a little higher if. We can.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Because you know, unfortunately, the entire world now runs on metrics. Yes. So share, like, and review. And review, because I don't think we've had a review yet either. I don't think so. So if we can double our listening downloads. If we at least get like five reviews, that'll help it too. But I would like to offer another incentive.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Ooh. I know.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

What do you have up your sleeve this time? So I have neglected to tell you for multiple episodes now. Of course you have. We have a sponsor. What? Yes. The biggest thing and you forget to tell me? There is so much going on, I know. So our sponsor. What I deal with, people. What I deal with. The absent-minded no Kayla. Yes, I know, I know. Um see, did I keep it up here somewhere? I think I may have closed it. And you closed it? I closed yes, I closed it too. So it is. And yes, I just face pumped my corn. Um, it is a medicinal uh garden kit. So it comes with 10 uh seed packets for 10 medicinal herbs, along with the instruction manual on how to you know grow them and turn them into medicines. Anywhere from tinctures to salves, yes. Ooh. So I want one. So I I think um, even though that is you know our our current sponsor and we do get a small percentage of uh the sales uh to pay for our podcast, um, I think I would like to offer a packet, you know, a whole package to somebody. So I think we should probably do another event or is it a giveaway? Giveaway, yeah. Thank you. Um words are eluding me. Um we did work today. We did work today, yes. Uh yes, so I would like to do another giveaway. Ooh, another shimmy. So we'll we'll we'll ponder and we'll think about what rules we want in place. We'll let our admins know. And what kind of giveaway it's going to be. Um, so what we need you to do to get credit for it. And when the due date is for that credit. Nell has my senior kitty happily perched on her lap. That I can't move my legs because if I move, then she'll get mad. Right. So, yeah, so that's that's the news. I know, I'm sorry, I kept forgetting to tell you. Even on our trip, you named Holly? No, I didn't. And we had how long of a drive, both there and back, but I kind of wanted it to be a surprise for all.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Oh my lanta woman.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So all right, we love you guys. Thanks for listening. Till next time. This has been Old Ways New Days.