Late December in Phoenix Valley...

Ok, so maybe I have gotten too use to Phoenix Valley warmth, but blast it all it has gotten cold down here!  Besides that it is rainy not letting us warm up with the sun!  They say it wont get out of the 40s today... and I believe it.  I am glad spring is not long away and we bought the little electric fireplace heater not sure being sure if we would need it or not...sure enough, it has already paid for its self!  It's a poor substitute to our wood burner we had in Thoreau, NM, but sure better than the nothing we had before....

Note to self: Cinder block walls once they get cold stay cold for a LONG time!!!

~ Morria

Thanksgiving and New Job

Things have been on hold a bit here at the Nightstar Apartment Harvest, or more like they have been totally swamped.  My husband started college at Le Cordon Blue, two months earlier than originally planned, I got a new job working overnights (love the shift!), and we had Thanksgiving to get through.  Now that things have leveled out, and with first payday just around the corner, I shall be getting back to normal blogging.

I did get a good book which I have started reading, that I highly recommend to all my fellow apartment homesteaders: Apartment Gardening by Amy Pennington.  Haven't read it all the way through yet, but well worth getting!

~ Morria

Greenhouse

It came today! All 5 foot 3 inches, by 2 ft, by 1 ft of growing wonder!  My very own apartment sized greenhouse, which I bought for all of  $31.48  from Amazon.Com.  It paired with my sunny picture window and a plant light, and we should be growing food in no time.  Now I must be about gathering pots, seeds, and get to planning on what we will be growing.

The first greenhouses built in Roman times, were very similar to cold frames today.  It was simply a frame covered with the oiled cloth known as specularia or sheets of selenite. Cucumbers, the main food grown this way, were wheeled into the sun by day, and under the covers by night.  Technology continued to change and grow until the 1500's when a Dutchman invented the first practical greenhouse, which continues to advance change to this day!  Who knows what will come next?

Greenhouses are such a blessing, especially being an apartment dweller.  And believe it or not, greenhouses, or "conservatories" have long been apart of homesteading.  Remember Morticia Addams beautiful conservatory with all her meat eating and deadly plants?   In house greenhouses are not a new thing (especially in Victorian Gothic homes in the 1800s), I just have to get creative to make this work in an apartment!  ^_^

~ Morria

Seeds!

I found seeds!  Walked into Whole Foods in Tempe, AZ, and what stands before me in the seed section but a display by Native Seed/Search!  At last I live where my favorite seed company actually sells in store.  Now mind you certain plants I am looking for they don't have, and certain seeds from Native Seed/Search I will have to order as not sold in store.  But a lot I can get right near by.  So happy!

Why am I so big on Native Seed/Search?  For many reasons, among them the fact that they are gathering and protecting Heritage Seeds, Native to the Southwest (and some other Native Tribes).  These seeds are drought hardy, desert tested, and very hard to kill off.    Another reason is as they say @ NativeSeeds.Org, "We are a nonprofit organization working to strengthen food security in the Greater Southwest by conserving our region's unique crop diversity and teaching others to do the same."  This is something I can get behind.

~ Morria


* Logo belongs to Native Seed Search and is being used only to aid others in finding this great resource!

Beginning...

So I am beginning to homestead in earnest, in part to go along with my natural health course I am doing, and in part to start putting down roots, so to speak, in my area of future work... Problem?  I live in a second story apartment with a small open balcony that is also the walkway to stairs for my 3 neighboring apartments.  I do have a really good picture window in the bedroom, that gets afternoon sun.  My other challenge?  I live in Scottsdale AZ currently (my husband is attending Escoffier School of Culinary Arts).

So, this Desert Gypsy Gal is turning over a new leaf, literally.  We were able to make it from Farmington, NM with 3 plants: my husbands catus, my clover, and our mexican heather plants.  I have scouted out a metal shelving system at walmart that should go well in our bedroom where the plants can get sunlight, and I am also hunting for an additional plant light.  I found some awesome AZ made recycled wine bottle planters (refreshglass.com) which also fits in both the bedroom and living room windows, just perfect for herbs. Now the hard part, what to GROW?

~ Morria