How to Start Micro-Homesteading in Santa Cruz: Build Self-Reliance Without Land or Livestock

What Is Micro-Homesteading?

Micro-homesteading means applying traditional homesteading skills — gardening, preserving, fermenting, baking, and even herbal medicine — in small, urban or suburban spaces.

Think:

A patio herb garden and raised bed for greens
Sauerkraut and yogurt bubbling on your counter
Dehydrated tomatoes in your pantry
Fresh sourdough bread on your table

With just 50–100 square feet, you can grow, preserve, and prepare tons of real, nutrient-dense food.

1. Vertical & Container Gardening

Why start here: You don’t need a backyard to grow food. A small patio, windowsill, or even a sunny balcony is enough.

How to Begin:

Use 5-gallon buckets, grow bags, or repurposed pots.
Choose beginner crops: leafy greens, radishes, green onions, basil, cherry tomatoes.
Install vertical trellises or wall-mounted containers to grow peas, beans, cucumbers.
Commit to watering daily and feed plants with homemade compost or worm castings.

Local Tip: Visit The Garden Company or the Downtown Farmers Market for seedling starts adapted to Santa Cruz's microclimates.

2. DIY Food Preservation: Canning, Fermenting, and Drying

Preserving food helps you eat seasonally year-round, reduce waste, and save money. Here’s how to get started:

Water Bath & Pressure Canning

Use water bath canning for pickles, jam, salsa, and fruit.
Use a pressure canner for bone broth, soups, and beans.
Follow safe recipes from Wylder's very own Essential Canning & Food Preservation Cookbook.
Buy canning supplies in bulk from Azure Standard (use code MollyBravo1).

Fermenting

Start with sauerkraut, carrot pickles, or kefir using just vegetables, salt, and time.
Supports gut health, boosts immunity, and lasts for months.
Order beginner kits from Cultures for Health.

Drying

Use a dehydrator or oven for apples, tomatoes, herbs, and greens.
Great for snacks, teas, soup mixes, and food storage.
Source produce from Live Earth Farm and dry it for winter.

3. Sourdough Baking

Why start here: Sourdough bread is cost-effective, and easier to digest.

How to Begin:

Order a starter from Cultures for Health.
Feed with unbleached flour and filtered water daily.
Learn one no-knead recipe and bake weekly. Try a few of these (you'll find more recipes like this within our on line community ....(it's kind of like Bon Appetite or Food and Wine, meets a community of likeminded people, making great food together).
Track your starter’s growth and experiment with add-ins like rosemary or pumpkin seeds.

Local Class Alert: Companion Bakeshop offers occasional baking classes perfect for beginners.

4. Yogurt & Herbal Medicine

Yogurt

Heat milk to 180°F, cool to 110°F, stir in live cultures.
Incubate for 6–12 hours and refrigerate.
Customize with raw honey, fruit compote, or granola.

Use Cultures for Health to order starter cultures and fermentation tools.

Herbal Remedies

Start an apothecary with chamomile (calming), lavender (skin soothing), lemon balm (anti-viral).
Make salves, teas, or tinctures using dried herbs and infused oils.
Forage responsibly in the Santa Cruz Mountain's or plant in containers.

Financial Impact: Real Savings from Day One

Micro-homesteading is not just meaningful — it’s financially wise.

Habit	Savings Per Month
Grow leafy greens & herbs	$30–40
Bake sourdough bread	$15–20
Ferment vegetables	$20
Preserve fruit in season	$50+

Buy in bulk from Azure Standard to save on staples like beans, grains, and dried fruit.

Local Education: Where to Learn in Santa Cruz

Take advantage of these local resources:

UCSC Center for Agroecology: Community-supported agriculture, events, and garden tours
Santa Cruz Public Libraries: Classes on sustainability, cooking, and wellness
Cabrillo College Extension: Offers food preservation and fermentation workshops
Santa Cruz Permaculture: Regenerative farming and local food systems education

Your First Week Micro-Homesteading

Here’s how to begin without feeling overwhelmed:

Day	Action
1	Buy a basil plant and place it in your sunniest window
2	Start a mason jar of sauerkraut (just cabbage + salt!)
3	Download a no-knead sourdough recipe and prep your first starter
4	Visit a local farmers market and ask what’s in season
5	Order dried goods and tools from Azure and Cultures for Health
6	Make your first herbal tea infusion
7	Reflect and choose your next micro-skill to learn

Small Steps, Big Roots

Micro-homesteading is about starting where you are, using what you have, and growing what you can. Whether you're canning tomatoes, baking sourdough, or picking chamomile flowers in your backyard, you're moving towards a slower, simpler way of life.

This lifestyle brings you back to the way our grandparents did things, the old fashioned way — while saving you money, feeding your family well, and restoring local food independence.