If you are reading this post you are most likely either a homesteader, or have a desire to be one. We believe it’s a life worth living and one that has for decades given us satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Our dream has always been to be able to make money and live off the homestead. Now that we are retired from the rat-race it’s time to make that dream a reality. We’ve run the dairy in the past and had a few years of fulfilling our dream, but now we are back to fulltime homesteading and loving life! So we thought you might like to see some of the things we are doing- here are our 9 Ways to Make Money On The Homestead!
Do we think it’s easy to make money off the homestead? Absolutely not! From experience we know that most things involving the homestead also involve hard work and perseverance. We love everything homesteading but sometimes those feed bills rack up week after week, and it often seems like you’re getting nothing in return. That’s why we use the tips below to try and bring in some income from our homestead. Some are easier than others, and some require networking and some serious marketing efforts. We hope these will help you out and feel free to share any other ideas you have in the comments!
1. Eggs– Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Even though it everyone seems to sell eggs these days this is a great source of income and something we think every homesteader should be doing. People love farm fresh, free range, pastured eggs. There is minimal effort in putting out a sign that says “eggs for sale”, or you can take them to a Farmers Market. Are you wondering how to price your eggs? They range anywhere from $2-$5/dz around here, some of that depending on the time of year. A lot of chickens do not lay as many eggs in the shorter days of winter so the price sometimes goes up during those months. We found a breed that keeps on laying- the ISO Brown hens are the best we have ever had and seem to lay no matter what! Here’s a link to learn more about that breed- https://www.chickensandmore.com/isa-brown/ . We think they are the best chickens we have ever owned! It’s also a good idea to check out your local stores to see how much brown eggs are selling for so you know what the competition is charging, and then price your eggs accordingly. This book by Lisa Steele is a good reference-
2. Rabbits– Now, we haven’t had much success recently with rabbits breeding around our farm (I know, I know). But rabbits are a great way to add some income. You’ll want to consider the type of rabbits you want to raise- Meat rabbits, such as New Zealand Whites and Californians or Pet rabbits, such as Holland Lops or Flemish Giants. Meat rabbits vs. Pet rabbits vary in price and demand. While a NZW (New Zealand White) might only sell for $5-$10 at weaning age, a Flemish Giant could sell $20-$30. Rabbits don’t take a ton of room, making them a good addition to the homestead. Their cages can be built easily and fairly inexpensively and feed for rabbits is one of the cheaper of all farm animals. You can check out this book to learn more about simple rabbitry-
3. Fruits & Veggies– People love to see where there food is coming from. Selling fruits and veggies off the farm seems to always be in high demand. Plus, growing fruits & veggies is like growing your own money! Last summer we set up a “self-service” farm table. Each morning we placed our excess produce in baskets. Folks could stop all day long and choose what they wanted for 50 cents each, and place their money in the money can. This is something that was not very labor intensive since we were growing and picking for ourselves anyway, and we didn’t have to go anywhere or staff a stand.
4. Farmers Markets– If there are farmers markets around you and you can take the few hours every week to sell at them- I urge you to do so! You can easily sell a variety of things from your table such as handmade items, foods (fruits and veggies for example) and so much more. The sky is the limit. For us, we sell breads, milks, scarves, salves, wash cloths, soap and a ton more at our local farmers markets. We have found that customers love talking to the producer of the items they are purchasing!
5. Teach Classes– Now, this definitely isn’t for everyone. But, it’s a good way to add some money to the homestead. Is there a certain part of homesteading that you love to talk about? Maybe how to raise chickens or how to trim goat hoofs? Maybe you can teach folks how to make butter or cheese with the milk you sell them? Or is canning a specialty of yours? Consider teaching a class on one of these topics to add some money to your income!
Whether you are just wondering how you could go about starting a home-based food business, or you have doing it for several years, this is a great resource. In 221 pages, the authors cover topics such as the Cottage Food laws (what you can sell, where you can sell it, how much you can sell), creating business goals, marketing your products, creating your brand and what to do when your business really starts taking off- and you want to move up!
I absolutely love how easy to read this book is and how clear the authors make the “difficult legal stuff”, along with all their examples throughout the entire thing. Plus, scattered throughout the book, there are “profiles” of people who are doing the same thing. I love being able to read other people’s stories and feel like I’m really getting that one-on-one first hand experience.
We have been selling food from our home-kitchen for quite a while now, but I still learned so much from this book, such as how to really organize my kitchen & learning what good ways there are to advertise my products. We learned so much and now we are over-the-top happy to be able to share this book with you- “Homemade for Sale: How To Set Up And Market A Food Business From Your Home Kitchen” by, Lisa Kivirist & John D. Ivanko!
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