Turning Point USA

When you’re going through your student and young professional phases of life, you will probably find yourself in a tiny apartment, or if you’re lucky, you might be renting a home without much of a yard.

I had my fair share of living situations with limited space, but it never stopped me from wanting to set up a garden or greenery section to keep things fresh.

I think taking care of plants and cultivating a mini garden has multiple benefits, including improving your mental health, adding a level of responsibility to your plate (you can’t let those plants die!), freshening up the space with the natural fragrance of herbs, and of course, the addition of healthy and fresh ingredients to your meals.

Here are some of my tips to set up your own garden in your tiny space as you grind it out for a few more years:

Tip #1: When starting out, keep your items simple

If you’re a newbie to cultivating, I would stick with basic herbs and one or two house plants. Then you could consider moving into lettuce, small vegetables, and a few pads of microgreens!

For herbs and anything you plan to eat, keep in mind how much you actually will consume. Grow what you know you will use! For herbs, I started with pots of basil, parsley, and chives.

As I got better at maintaining each plant, I began growing lettuce. Eventually, so much lettuce was growing from my little pots that I was able to make salads every day for lunch!

For house plants, I bought one or two potted plants known to improve air quality in a home.

Tip #2: Be Creative

At this age and in this stage of life, our living space can be cramped. I’ve tried many different ways of storing my plants over the years, but these options below have been some of my favorites.

Design #1: Hanging on the wall. This could be easily replicated by installing a few curtain rods and hanging buckets from the rod.

Design #2: Stacking Shelves Vertically. I’ve been lucky enough before to have large window sills where my pots would line up, but sometimes that just is not the case. Stacking your pots vertically using some affordable shelves is a great alternative if you want to keep things simple while making sure your plants get plenty of exposure to the light from outside.

Design #3: Little Pouches! Okay, I’ll admit I haven’t personally tried this approach. Safe to say, you’d need to have some sort of outdoor space to utilize this tactic!

Tip #3: Label the plants!

I have a terrible memory, and once my herbs started taking off, they all started to blend together in my head. That makes it quite difficult when trying to cook, haha!

I hope this addition of cultivation in your daily routine helps you take a step into greater self-sustainability and improves your quality of life.