36 Ways To Make Money On The Homestead

Many of us have the dream to live and work on the homestead full-time.  After all, that is the sign you've actually "made it", isn't it?  It can be downright scary to make the jump {we're halfway there!} but there are endless ways in which to earn an income while homesteading.  Of course, check with your town/city and state prior to selling anything.

Here is a list of some of the ways:

Things You Can Sell:

• Eggs
• Extra Milk
• Seedlings/Plants
• Cheese
• Meat (raise chickens, rabbit, cows, goats, pigs, or sheep for meat)
• Tilapia or other farmed fish
• Extra veggies and/or fruit
• Home-Baked Bread
• Home-Baked Sweets

• Jams/Jellies/Preserves
• Mushrooms
• Honey
• Beeswax
• Homemade Pasta
• Maple Syrup
• Herbs - fresh, dried or plants
• Egg-laying chickens or pullets
• Farm Animals {breed and sell}

  

• Handmade Soap, Lotion, etc.
• Handmade Candles
• Home-sewn items
• Hand-knitted items
• Handmade Furniture
• Christmas Trees
• Christmas Wreaths
• Spice Mixes
• Soup Mixes

Things You Can Do:

• Offer U-Pick veggies or fruit
• Turn your home into a B&B
• Offer a Fall pumpkin patch
• Rent space on your land to photographers
• Teach Classes
• Blog for an income
• Write & Publish a Book
• Board Dogs, Horses, etc.
• Pet-Sitting

Think out of the box with some of these items to offer things not currently found in your town or at local farmer's markets.  Example:

• If you have a brick oven, offer brick oven baked pastries and/or breads
• If you are going to sell preserves, make flavors not currently found such as adding herbs to fruit jams and jellies or selling low-sugar preserves.
• Sell regular honey and flavored honey {i.e. chili peppers added, lavender or other herbs added, etc.}
• If you can find a reasonably priced cotton candy machine, offer maple cotton candy in addition to your other maple products
• Offer veggies or fruit not typically seen {i.e. paw paw fruit, Asian pears, Lemon cucumbers, Cucamelons, daikon radish, etc.}
• Offer a CSA plus sell excess at a farmer's market or open your fields for u-pick to sell the remaining veggies or fruit

What are you doing to earn an income on your homestead?

Additional posts on this topic:
Selling At A Farmer's Market, Part 1
Selling At A Farmer's Market, Part 2
How To Start A Blog
25 Ways To Add Extra Income To The Homestead
10 Tips For Starting A Home-Based Business