6 Easy Homesteading Skills You Can Start Today.

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Do you envision a life somewhat like our ancestors lived? A place to breathe fresh air, connect with the land, and work and grow alongside those you love, while also growing your own produce or raising your own livestock on a farmstead. Luckily, you do not need land access to bring these skills into your life today. So, let me share some simple homesteading skills that you can start from your home today, while living anywhere!

Do you want to start homesteading but don’t know where to begin? Here are 6 simple traditional skills that you can start today to save on costs, gain confidence, and build a more self-sufficient and connected life. When I first started homesteading, I jumped headfirst into deep water. Here are some skills I would have shared with myself then to ease the transition into a rural lifestyle. Two years later, on my own homestead, I use these skills daily as a part of my survival off-grid on the farm.

1.) Trade, Barter, Swap, & Reuse

• Trade excess produce, food, crafts, and offerings with neighbors and community members. This is an excellent opportunity to save money and build community, rather than buying new.
• Reuse, mend, save, and exchange old garments and fabrics for patching, and get creative with your clothing as pieces that tell times and stories rather than shopping for the newest fashions off the racks.
• Repair, repurpose, and reuse!
• I visit my neighbors often and chat about what they have going on throughout the season. This year, when chatting with a neighbor about the pigs they were rasing, I asked if they used the lard for anything special. She mentioned that they usually discard the lard and arent fans of using it, so when the time came after the harvest of their pigs, we were given two large buckets of the lard to render. I canned the rendered lard and gave some to friends anf family. We use the lard to cook and bake with and plan to use it for soap this year.

2.) Compost & Collect Rainwater

• Rural self-sufficiency skills 101. Use small barrels and containers to collect rainwater or create a diy water irrigation/collection system to water plants. This saves on water costs ( if you are on city water) and implements a full cycle and mindful relationship of stewardship and resourcefulness.

• My mother’s family had a farm in rural Texas. When she was growing up, her brothers would bring buckets outside to fill with rainwater. After a rain, they would go out into the ditches and collect cactus. Then, they would boil the cactus down in pots with the rainwater until it was reduced into a thick gel which they would use as a homemade polmade to nourish and protect the hair.

3.) DIY Cleaning Products

Modern-day cleaning products contain harsh fragrances and chemicals that can be harmful to our body and our environment. You can easily create your own effective cleaning remedies that replace those harsh store-bought cleaners, I recommend saving and reusing the bottles from old cleaning products to replace with your own formulas. These are heritage skills anyone can start and are safe for the whole family.

• Some staple simple ingredients for creating your own home made cleaner include:
  • Baking soda
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Essential oils
  • Borax
  • Washing Soda
  • Distilled Water
  • Castille soap
  • Citrus Peels
• Make your own soap, laundry soaps, scrubs, sprays, and fresheners with these simple products to save on expenses and chemical exposure.
• I fill a 24-oz jar with citrus peels, distilled white vinegar, water, and a bit of essential oil to keep under my kitchen cabinet. When needed, I strain the liquid off and pour it into an old spray bottle for cleaning surfaces. This acts as a great multipurpose spray cleaner. If you don’t want to use leftover citrus peels, you can use this recipe for a great universal kitchen and bathroom surface spray.
  • 8 oz of white vinegar
  • 6oz of distilled water
  • 2oz of rubbing alcohol
  • favorite essential oils

4.) Preserve, Ferment, and Store Food & Medicine

• Buy seasonal foods; there is always a surplus of seasonal produce in stores with bargains and deals throughout the year. Buy these items in bulk and use preservation methods like canning, fermenting, and dehydrating. This keeps your food edible longer and relieves the need to buy out-of-season items, saves time, keeps you out of the store, and improves your everyday self-reliance skills.
• Harvest wild medicines and preserve them through tinctures, jellies, oxymels, syrups, and dried as teas. We will go into more depth into harvesting and preparing wild herbs in other posts. This is a crucial skill I encourage anyone to familiarize themselves with. Learn more from well-known and accredited herbalists on your own and use apps like i Natrualist to identify plants in the field. Some of my favorite sources are Stephen Buhner, Margi Flint, Sajah Popham, Mathew Wood, and HerbalReality.com.
• Our Amish friends preserve their entire harvest surplus, like fruits, apples, corn, tomatoes, squash, and beans, to store in the cellar for use throughout the long winters. One of the best canned items I’ve ever eaten was a year-old can of venison meat from a neighbor; it tasted like a decadent pot roast, which happens to be my favorite meal! This year, I look forward to canning the venison meat that we get from our neighbors in our water bath canner.

5.) Grow Food in Containers

• Use containers like hanging vertical baskets, window boxes, planters, large pots, seed sprouting jars, and trays for container gardening. Plant fresh, easy-to-grow indoor herbs and leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, peppers, green onions, or radishes outdoors. You can even plant strawberries in hanging baskets and use compact vertical containers to optimize space. Even just a few herbs and veggies on a patio or balcony space can reduce grocery bills and leave a lasting impact of happiness and seasonal connection in your life.
• Growing your own food, even in a small space, is a simple way to practice mindfulness and slow living. As you watch your plants grow each season, you grow with them. Eating something, whether it be from a farmer, from the wild, or from your own home, is a way to bring ancestral skills and ways of living into everyday life.
• This year, we are going to experiment with sprouting barley seeds as an extra supplement for our livestock through the long winter. We have large trays to spread and sprout the barley seeds to feed the chickens, goats, and rabbits in the cold season.

6.) Raise rabbits, Quail, or Pigeons

• Be sure to check your city ordinances, but these small animals could provide meat, eggs, and nutrient-dense food even when raised in a small apartment or balcony space. Rabbit, quail, and pigeons have been eaten and enjoyed for centuries all over the world and are a simple-to-raise delicacy to add to any home. These animals can also provide you with nutrient-rich compost. Even one or two of these small animals can reduce your grocery costs, provide fresh foods, and give you a simple start to understanding the foundations of animal husbandry.
• We keep a compost pile where we put hay, manure, and whatever food scraps the chickens, dogs, and rabbits don’t or can’t eat. We use chicken wire around some posts to form a huge square-sized pile where all of the matter can break down and turn into rich compost. The chickens love to get in the pile to pick the bugs and turn the soil, which makes a very rich compost to enrich the soil for growing.

These tips are simple ways to bring homestead and traditional skills into your life if you aren’t already doing so. If you have any interesting skills and routines that you practice at home, feel free to comment or share with us here and add to the discussion!

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