Homesteading is a lifestyle with plenty of opportunity. More and more people prefer to eschew the hustle and bustle of urban dwelling in favor of moving back to the farm. But how can you make extra money on a homestead in the face of uncertainty?
Becoming self-sufficient as a property owner proves easier than you think! From raising chickens to sell the eggs to growing medicinal herbs, tons of ways exist to make money from your property. Here’s how.
1. Grow Medicinal Herbs
More people today turn to medicinal herbs to treat many common ailments, especially since the rise of the opioid epidemic. Have some wild cherry trees? The bark works well for treating coughs, colds and bronchitis.
Love the smell of lavender? Grow a bunch and make your own fragrant sachets. Suffering a bad case of the blues? Try growing St. John’s wort and making a tea to treat depression (but wear your natural sunscreen as the herb can make skin sensitive).
2. Sell Some Seeds
Have a bumper crop of tomatoes coming in? Save some of the seeds to sell at local farmers’ markets. This works particularly well if you cross-breed varieties and come up with a particularly hardy crop.
You want to save some seeds for next year as well — why spend a ton at the nursery when many plants propagate fine with a bit of help? Alternatively, save the pots from new plantings and use them to get plants started germinating toward the end of winter and sell them in spring when people look to plant their gardens.
3. Get Buzzy
Save the planet and make money by becoming an amateur beekeeper. Bees produce honey which you can sell for profit, and they also pollinate plants. The most difficult part of raising bees involves treating them for mold or disease — other than keeping them healthy, bees require little more than sugar water to thrive and do their sweet thing.
4. Raise a Flock
Love eggs? Why not invest in some backyard chickens? Some chickens lay five or more eggs per week, so you’ll never need to fear going hungry. Pro tip: you may find your backyard egg yolks look more orange — this is normal, as healthy hens raised naturally produce eggs with darker yolks.
5. Milk a Goat
If you love animals, why stop with just raising chickens? Goats do a handy job of keeping lawns trimmed and lactating moms can produce up to 12 pounds of milk per day. While the sale of raw milk is prohibited in many areas, no law prevents you from saving money at the grocers’ by making your own cheese.
6. Have a Yard Sale
Nearly everyone has a junk drawer or four cluttering up their home. Why let outgrown objects decay when you can make a few bucks by hosting a yard sale? After all, as the cliche goes, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. Enlist the family to help in pricing items and monitoring sales.
7. Get Crafty
Adore making your own soap or scented candles? These items bring in bank at local farmers markets, flea markets and artisan fairs. All you’ll need, other than the base materials, is a table and a portable canopy cover to set up your wares.
8. Knit & Sew to Sell
Are you a sewing expert? People will pay good money for homemade items bringing back fond memories of sleepovers at grandma’s house. Instead of storing your afghans in a chest or a closet, peddle them at craft fairs for extra moolah.
9. Rent a Room Out
Sites like URBO and AirBNB make it easy to rent out your spare bedroom to travelers. If you own a particularly picturesque homestead, you can earn extra cash by renting out the space for weddings or other special occasions.
10. Live the Writer’s Life
The advent of the internet makes it possible for anyone to start their own blog with very little upfront investment. All it takes is a domain name and a website builder like WordPress to get started. Granted, the cash won’t pour in immediately, but once you establish an audience, you can create a residual income stream.
Make Extra Money on a Homestead
Those lucky enough to own property possess a ton of ways to earn extra income without leaving home (at least, not often). Get started on your path to a self-sufficient lifestyle by learning to make extra money on a homestead.
