Making Money On A Modern Homestead
Modern homesteads need to make money in order to survive Gone are the days when we could simply live off the land with no need to connect to the country’s infrastructure in any way. Yes, it’s possible, but most of us want at least a few modern conveniences that will need to be paid for. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy having a cell phone, a car and access to the internet, to name a few.
No matter how self-sufficient you are on your homestead, you will likely need at least a small source of income, if not a significant one. The good news is that there are easy ways to do this! You likely already have the skills to do most of the things I recommend and if you don’t, there’s no better time than now to start learning.
Sell Goods
This is probably the easiest way to make money with your homestead. First, let me add a little disclaimer here. Always check with your city ordinances about their rules for selling things. Some items, especially those you make in your kitchen, will require special permitting due to safety concerns.
Okay, back to the good stuff. You’ll be creating all these things for yourself anyway, so why not make a little extra to sell? If you have an abundance of eggs, sell them locally. People are always looking for farm-fresh eggs.
If your garden produced and abundance this year and you’ve run out of space to store it all, selling it is a good option. Facebook groups are a great place to sell your excess goods and most places have a local homesteading page you can join. If your town doesn’t have that, start your own page! That’s what I did.
Ideas For Things To Sell to Make Money on Your Homestead
Eggs
People love assorted colors when it comes to farm fresh eggs, so it can be a good idea to select a variety of breeds when buying your chicks. It’s also a good opportunity to educate people on the different egg colors.
If you have a rooster, you can market your eggs to people who would like to hatch chicks. Most people will want a certain breed (depending on the color of the egg they want) but some won’t care. If you’d like to appeal to those looking for certain breeds, you’ll need to keep those breeds separated from the rest so you know what breed of chicken egg you’re selling.
Fruits & Vegetables
Bundle up your produce and sell it to anyone who’s interested. You can set up a table at the street to sell to those driving by or post it on Facebook. If you have a real abundance, you could even rent a booth at your local farmer’s market to sell your produce.
Jams & Jellies
Offering people jams and jellies that they can’t find in the store is an excellent way to make some extra money. One of my favorite jams is a nectarine jam with a hint of cloves. It’s the most delicious jam I’ve ever had and I can’t get enough of it. Try different flavor combinations and make some truly unique jams that people will love.
When choosing your fruit for jams, be sure to check a trusted source (like Ball or your local extension office) to make sure it’s safe to can that fruit. For instance, peach jam is amazing, but white peaches are not safe to can. Only use yellow peaches when canning.
Dehydrated Goods
Since your dried food won’t contain any harmful chemicals, be sure to package them well to avoid spoilage. Vacuum bags work well for this and your dehydrated food will keep for a very long time. If you’d rather not use plastic bags for vacuum sealing, there are also vacuum sealers for mason jars. I’ve had limited success with these seals lasting through the season, but I still love the ease of being able to seal my dry goods in glass jars rather than plastic.
Baked Goods
I think this would work best with a roadside stand or even setting up shop outside a local store that would be willing to host you, but you could also take orders through Facebook posts or things like that.
Considerations
Selling Craft Items
Another way to make money from your homestead is to sell crafts. I’m not talking about toilet paper roll crafts…I mean things that require a great deal of skill to create.
Many, many craft skills are being lost to time and convenience, but as a homesteader, you likely have a greater appreciation for these skills and the items they produce. Hone your skills and practice making useful items that you can sell online or at your farm stand.
Homemade Items To Sell
These are just some ideas of the things you could make. Your skill set might include many, many more things and hopefully, these ideas will spark your own creativity.
Home Decor
Make home decor items from things in nature, at thrift stores or on sale is a great way to be creative while earning income. Be careful…you might not want to get rid of your amazing creations!
Knitting
If you know how to knit or want to learn, knitted items tend to sell really well, especially around the holidays. Local craft fairs will likely have a booth available where you can sell your items.
Crochet
Stuffed animals are some of my favorite things to crochet. They make amazing gifts and most of them come together really quickly. Etsy is a great place to sell these online if you don’t have your own website.
Candles
Candles are easy to make and people love the assortment of scents that they come in. You can make your own candle molds from almost any object you can wrap some silicone putty around, so you can easily make some really unique candles.
Run A Homestead Workshop to Make Money
Once you have mastered some skills, you can host a workshop for others to learn. There are thousands upon thousands of people who want to learn the skills you now possess. You can charge whatever you’d like and offer to teach whatever skills you are willing to share.
At first, you might just want to teach one thing, but as you gain confidence in not only your homesteading skills but your presentation skill as well, you’ll be able to share so much more and offer much more value to those who come to learn from you.
There are always people who want to learn and those who are serious about it are willing to pay for it. How much you charge is entirely up to you, but your skills are worth teaching and they are worth learning. College professors don’t give away their knowledge for free…you must pay for their experience and skills. The same is true of you. You become the teacher of your very own homesteading school.
Make Money Homesteading
No matter how you choose to make money on your homestead, every bit of what you make includes the love you put into it. Your time and skills are valuable, so don’t give them away for free. I know that as you sharpen your homesteading skills, you’ll also be able to increase your revenue and before you know it, you’ll truly be able to live off your land.
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