37: Urban Homesteading: How to Grow Your Own Food in the City with Carly MacQuarrie
Join urban homesteader and digital creator, Carly MacQuarrie, as she shares how her passion for gardening has empowered her and others during these challenging times. With tips for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike, Carly emphasizes the importance of taking action, giving yourself grace, and growing what you love.
Whether you have a backyard or a small balcony, Carly's practical advice and free resources will inspire and educate you on how to grow your own food, herbs, and medicine, and be more self-sufficient in your daily life.
Don't miss this episode and start your own urban homesteading journey today!
Summary
In these challenging times, one woman is using her passion for gardening to empower others. Carly MacQuarrie is an urban homesteader, teacher, and digital creator who uses her garden to grow her own food, herbs, and medicine. She uses digital resources and social media to teach people about gardening and empower them to realize that gardening is something for everyone, not just for people with space.
Growing your own food can give you freedom, independence, and peace of mind, especially during times of rising grocery prices and shortages. It can also be a gateway to connecting with your community, good for your health, and a source of enjoyment and beauty. Carly emphasizes the importance of taking action and not being afraid to fail when starting a new skill or hobby, such as gardening. She encourages individuals to give themselves grace and understand that failure is a natural part of the learning process.
For new gardeners, Carly offers tips such as starting by reading or listening to podcasts, watching videos, and learning as much as possible about gardening. It's important to have an open mind, experiment, and not have too many expectations in the beginning. It's also important to give yourself grace when things don't work out and to be comfortable with failing. New gardeners often make mistakes such as overwatering, not giving plants enough space, and not considering the amount of sunlight their plants need. MacQuarrie advises new gardeners to do their research, start small, and not be afraid to ask for help or advice from experienced gardeners.
One important tip that Carly emphasizes is to grow what you love when starting a garden, rather than choosing plants based on what looks cool or what others recommend. This can help keep individuals motivated and excited about their garden. For individuals with limited space, MacQuarrie recommends starting with herbs, which are easy to grow and do not require a lot of sun. Salad greens are also a good option for shady balconies.
Carly offers a free seasonal planting guide on her website, The Littlegreenshoot.com, and has a free Facebook group called Urban Homesteading for individuals to connect and share their gardening experiences. She also offers a course called Homestead in the City for those looking for more targeted advice and skills.
In conclusion, gardening is not just a hobby, it is a skill that can provide numerous benefits, from saving money to improving mental health. Carly is a prime example of how gardening can be used to empower and teach others. With her tips and resources, anyone can get started on their own urban homesteading journey.
Mentioned In This Episode
Where you can find Carly: Website
Carly's Free Gift: Seasonal Planting Guide (Know when to plant what!)
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Transcript:
[0:00:00] Dr. Destini Copp: Interesting. And my special guest today is Carly Mccorley. Carly is an urban homesteader and a teacher and a digital creator. She has a simple, fun, easy to follow ideas, and she will show you how to plan, plant, cook, grow, and harvest and preserve your own garden in the city. And today we're going to be talking about urban homesteading, how to grow your own food in the city. And Carly, I am super excited to be chatting with you about this, because I think a lot of people out there, they really don't have a lot of space to be growing their own food. So let's jump right in. But before we get into all the questions that I have for you, can you tell the good audience a little bit more about you, how you help people, but also how you get started in this?
[0:00:59] Carly MacQuarrie: Hi, Destini. It's so nice to be with you today. Thank you for having me. Like you said, my name is Carly McCorry, and I am an urban homesteader, which means I have a garden in the city that I'm using to grow my own food, herb, medicine. And part of that is not just the garden itself, but then how to use the things I'm growing to benefit me and my family and friends and community. So I use digital resources and social media to just teach as many people as I can about these things. It's my passion to kind of empower people, to realize that this is something everyone can do, whether you have space or not. And I've got lots of different ideas to share with that. But just teaching people that gardening is something for everyone, not just some people, if you want to do it and you have that wish in your heart, it's totally available for you.
[0:01:56] Dr. Destini Copp: Well, I love what you said, that gardening is for everybody, not just somebody who lives out in the middle of nowhere with three to five acres to garden in. So I definitely like that. So can you talk and tell us a little bit about why people should think about growing their own food?
[0:02:17] Carly MacQuarrie: Sure. So there's kind of the spectrum. There's so many different reasons. I feel like, especially maybe now more than ever, for people to start growing their own food. And the spectrum kind of goes from maybe like utilitarian to kind of enjoyment. And so, like, on one end of that spectrum, it gives you freedom and independence. The prices in the grocery store have been going up so much, and we've had shortages and things like that. So there's just kind of this peace of mind and freedom and independence from growing your own food. And then as you go down the spectrum, that's kind of more of like gardening to survive. But as you go down the spectrum, I think of it more as gardening to thrive. So when you start your garden, it's kind of this gateway. As more of a connection to your community. I've met my whole neighborhood just by being out in my driveway gardening, and they all have different questions. If you're someone who enjoys gardening, it's just a lot of fun. It's so exciting when your seeds sprout.
[0:03:17] Carly MacQuarrie: Being outside and growing your own food is really good for your health. You can get so creative by making new recipes in your kitchen from food you've grown yourself. And maybe this is maybe like the most frivolous reason to grow your garden, but probably one of my favorites. Definitely. It's just pretty it's so nice to go out and just see something beautiful that you had a hand in creating. And I think it's just kind of something that's fun to walk by each day that just kind of makes you smile. And I think we could all use.
[0:03:47] Dr. Destini Copp: More of that lately, and we certainly could. And I love the spectrum that you outlined there where it was gardening to survive all the way up to gardening to thrive. And that's such a beautiful picture there. So can you give us some tips for people who are just kind of dipping their toes in this urban homesteading?
[0:04:13] Carly MacQuarrie: Sure. I always say, like, we've kind of alluded to it. These times right now can be very challenging and hard. But I also think that right now is one of the most magical times ever to be alive because we have all these incredible resources at our fingertips for free and so we can learn so much about gardening or whatever topic interests us through the internet or books or talking to people on my side. I've got tons of free resources for people. So I think giving yourself knowledge is giving yourself power. So I think in the beginning, when you're just starting to think about it, it's just start kind of dipping your toe in and reading or listening to podcasts, watching videos about these topics just to kind of sort of water the seeds in your own mind before you get started. And then when you do start, try not to have too many expectations tied to it. Think of it as an experiment, something new you're trying, just doing something with an open heart that's not tied to results. Because I think when we expect too much from ourselves or situation, it's just kind of a recipe for disaster. So just be easy with yourself. Do things for the enjoyment of it and realize that you're going to get better and better with time.
[0:05:37] Dr. Destini Copp: And I love what you suggested there, which is going at it with just kind of an open mind, experimenting and not necessarily expecting too much in the beginning. I know back in 2020 when the pandemic was happening, a lot of people were starting gardens. I was one of those starting one in my home and I thought I was going to have this beautiful garden. And the reality was it didn't turn out the way I thought it was going to be. I had a lot of high expectations there that yeah.
[0:06:13] Carly MacQuarrie: And I think that's the secret. It's just the grace we give ourselves when things don't work out. Because being comfortable failing, it's like when you learn how to speak a language or tie your shoes, it's impossible. Ride your bike, it's impossible until it's not. And so in the beginning, with no matter what you're trying, it's going to be hard. And I like to think of those failures more like steps in the road that you're paving to learning this new skill. And, you know, with riding your bike or tying your shoes, you went from something being impossible to something that you don't even have to think about. It's like automated in your brain. And it's the same thing when we're learning any new hobby, gardening or whatever it is, it's just giving ourselves that grace as we go from being someone who has no idea to someone who's doing it automatically. You know what I mean?
[0:07:10] Dr. Destini Copp: Yes, for sure. And one of the things that you mentioned earlier was how much fun it was to cook and try out new recipes with food that you've grown yourself. So do you have any favorite ones that you want to share with us today?
[0:07:26] Carly MacQuarrie: Yeah, so I actually just started this with my email list. I have a little mini cookbook in one of my courses, and it's really fun because when you're growing your own food, you get to be really creative with different recipes. And one of the reasons I started gardening is because I have chronic illness. And as some of your listeners might know, or maybe you or a family member, when you have chronic illness, there's a lot of changes that you have to make to your life. And for me, I was always a healthy eater, but when I found out all the things that I had to cut out from my chronic illness, it was just crazy. And so being able to garden and grow my own things just kind of makes cooking still fun, even with those limitations. And one of my favorite recipes in the cookbook is Borrig lemonade. And I don't know if your listeners are familiar with Borrig, but it's this beautiful medicinal herb. It's got these little blue star flowers. It's a great pollinator. It's really healthy for you. So it helps with things like inflammation and arthritis, detoxification stomach issues. And I like recipes that are beautiful and taste good, but are also healing to our bodies. And so this is a lemonade that you can make by blending the herb with like, a simple syrup and lemon juice and things like that. And it comes out this vibrant, gorgeous chartreuse color.
[0:08:49] Carly MacQuarrie: And then the flowers, because they're edible, you can use them as a garnish, and you can also even use them for like you can put them in ice cubes and make all kinds of pretty things like that. And I think when you are growing your own food and herbs, take that extra time to make it pretty and make it special for yourself too. It's kind of a celebration of all that hard work you've done.
[0:09:09] Dr. Destini Copp: I love that. And I have arthritis, so that sounds like something that I definitely need to try out there.
[0:09:16] Carly MacQuarrie: Yeah.
[0:09:17] Dr. Destini Copp: So, you know, so let's talk about some mistakes that some new gardeners make. And do you have any advice to them on how they can kind of not make those mistakes when they're first starting out?
[0:09:34] Carly MacQuarrie: Absolutely. So I think we've kind of alluded to this, but after you're learning and kind of absorbing this information, then really just starting and taking an action, even if it's a small thing. I think sometimes we get kind of paralyzed where we're like, I don't know, kind of scared to start, but just jump in and get comfortable with failing. I say failure is just part of the process. And I even tell clients, I'm like, pour yourself a cup of tea and get comfortable with it because we're supposed to fail. It's how we learn. And like I said, we're in this time where we have access to all these resources. So in a lot of cases, we can kind of jump ahead where we can learn from someone else's failures, so we don't have to make the same mistakes. But it's inevitable that we are going to make our city, we are going to make mistakes. And so I think just skipping that process of beating yourself up when things don't go as planned and just understand that you're learning a new skill, I think we all sometimes have this expectation where we have to be perfect all the time and it's unreasonable. So I think just giving yourself grace, knowing you're going to fail and then not giving up, I know we've all done this where we get excited about something, we try it one time, it doesn't work, and we just kind of call it a day and give up. I did that with learning how to play guitar, but just sticking with it because the reality is the things that you stick with are going to be the things that you're successful with. And then I also like, this is kind of a little gardening tip. A lot of times when people are starting a garden, they want to start with seeds just because it's what we're most familiar with. But especially if you live in a colder climate or any climate, when you're using seeds, there's a lot that goes with it.
[0:11:19] Carly MacQuarrie: So, like, in a lot of cases, you have to start them indoors. And then there's a whole process that you need to go through to transition them to being outdoors. And there's just a lot that can go wrong, especially for a new gardener. And so a tip that I really emphasize with new gardeners is take a little help from the nursery by starts. These are small plants that have already been started. They're still super affordable. And all that kind of challenging hard work has already gone on for you and it's just setting you up to be more likely to succeed.
[0:11:52] Dr. Destini Copp: And maybe that's what I did wrong with my garden because I did exactly I did the exact mistake that you're talking about, getting the seeds, put them out there and it did not go as planned. So that is a really good tip for us. Carly, before we wrap it up here today, do you have any last minute tips for the audience?
[0:12:14] Carly MacQuarrie: Yeah, one that's really important and it sounds obvious, but I say it, I'll just kind of scream it from the rooftops is just grow what you love. So a lot of times we'll be at the seed store, the nursery, and we're like, oh, this looks cool, this looks cool. Who knows if it grows in our area or maybe it's green beans and no one in our house even likes them. Skip all that because what will happen is you'll be growing all this stuff. You'll get stressed, you'll get overwhelmed, and it'll be harder for you. But if you love cucumbers or you're someone who wants to learn how to canned tomatoes, really focus on those things. Or maybe you're a flower gardener and you just want things to look beautiful, or you want to start putting herbs in all your foods, grow what you really love because that's going to keep you coming back and keep you excited. And then also surround yourself with other people who have your common interests, whether it's like a free Facebook group, people in your community, following people on social media or YouTube, because then you can have an outlet to share those passions, see other people's mistakes, get help when you need it, that kind of thing. I know when we all get passionate about something, we drive everyone crazy around us because they're like, I don't want to hear about gardening one more time. But if you put yourself with a group like that, you're around like minded people and you can really thrive off of each other.
[0:13:39] Dr. Destini Copp: And I have to ask you, assuming we're in a place where we don't have a lot of room, maybe we're just doing this on a patio or an outdoor balcony on a condo or whatever, what is one kind of food would you recommend somebody starts with? Would that be like a tomato plant? Is that easy to start?
[0:14:01] Carly MacQuarrie: So it all depends on your space. If you're someone who's just like in an apartment with a little balcony garden, if your balcony happens to get a ton of sun, then you're going to be fine with tomatoes. But a lot of times balconies are more shaded and so you're going to want to stick to things like salad greens. Herbs are really good, especially things like rosemary, parsley, thyme, things that don't need as much sun, basically anything where you're going to be eating the leaf. So if you have something like a tomato or a pumpkin or cucumber pepper where you're eating the fruit, that's going to require a lot more sun. So if you have a sunny balcony, you're good to go. But if you have a shady one and I live in Washington, so I'm just using all the shade, but doing those kinds of things. And for people with small spaces, herbs are like a champion because you know how expensive herbs are at the store and the second you put herbs on anything, your food just looks amazing. It's got all these medicinal qualities, it's flavorful, and herbs don't take up very much room and most of them don't need a ton of sun. So if you're looking to kind of dip your toe into gardening, I think herbs are a really good place to start.
[0:15:13] Dr. Destini Copp: And that is some really great advice there. Now, Carly, can you let people know where they can find you? And I also believe you have a free gift for them, too.
[0:15:24] Carly MacQuarrie: I do. So one of the things for maximizing space in your garden is growing throughout the different seasons. I think lots of times people think we can only grow in the summer, but we can actually grow depending on your climate through all different seasons. Like I said, I'm up here in Washington and I can still grow in four seasons. So to share with your listeners, I wanted to give them the seasonal planting guide and that just shows them basically when to plant what different plants to plant throughout the year. So that's a really good freebie for them. My website, The Littlegreenshoot.com, is just tons packed full of free information. I'm on social media. So Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest. One cool thing on Facebook, we have a free Facebook group called Urban Homesteading, and it's just a place for people to come, like, brag about their successes, share their photos of their gardens, ask questions when they need it, commiserate when they have a failure with like minded people. So that's a good thing. And then for people who are looking to really get into gardening and want some more targeted specific skills and advice, I have a course called Homestead in the City and it takes you through every single up of this with tons of free bonuses. It's on demand. It's just great for anybody who's wanting to get started. So that's probably the thing I'm the most excited about.
[0:16:49] Dr. Destini Copp: So, Carly, thank you so much for joining us. And we will make sure that all of those links are in the show notes so that the audience knows how to reach you.
[0:16:58] Carly MacQuarrie: Perfect. Thank you, Destini, it was so great to see you today.
[0:17:02] Dr. Destini Copp: Thank you.