When you have a land, a homestead or a little farm, there are just so many ways for you to make some extra money.
That is the great thing about being a modern homesteader.
There are many options to make income WITHOUT ever leaving home.
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Here are a lot of the ways you can make money homesteading:
How To Make Money Homesteading
1. Sell Your Produce
If you harvest more than you need, then why not sell the excess instead of letting it go to waste.
Go to your local farmer’s market and install yourself a small booth.
2. Teach What You Know
You can teach farming, gardening, raising sheep, or your specific area of expertise.
You can host in-person or online workshops on the art of gardening, farming or homesteading.
3. Rent Your Property
Offer your acreage as a location for weddings and family reunions or as a campsite.
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4. Serve as a Bed and Breakfast
Do you have a a spare room or a cottage you don’t use?
Why not make more money by renting it on Airbnb or other online sites.
5. Breed Livestock
Breeding animals is a tried and true way of making money.
6. Start a Butchery Business
If you already raise animals, a butchery business may be a logical next step.
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7. Sell Your Heirloom Seeds
Harvest your best seeds at the end of each growing season and dry them for sale.
They can be a nice addition to your produce stand or you could sell them online.
8. Market Your Compost
You are already making your own compost, right?
Why not sell some of what you don’t need to other gardeners?
9. Freelance
Offer your writing, editing and/or technical skills online. Many platforms exist to help you market your skills and find clients.
10. Board and/or Train Dogs
Dog owners like to board their pets where they have room to roam.
If you have a special talent with dogs, consider adding a training or grooming business.
11. Raise Sheep
Sheep are valuable animals for the homestead. You can raise them for their meat, and/or you can sell their wool or the products you make from their wool.
12. Become a Beekeeper
A time-honored homesteading profession, beekeeping is more important than ever with the population of honeybees decreasing.
You can sell the bees themselves and/or their honey.
13. Raise Chickens
Most homesteaders raise chickens for their own use. You can earn a little extra income by selling your surplus eggs to others.
You also can sell your chickens.
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14. Board Horses
You can earn extra money by boarding horses on your homestead as well. Perhaps you could offer riding lessons, too.
15. Sell Your Flowers
Market your beautiful fresh flowers at your own stand or at a farmers’ market. Don’t forget that dried flowers are popular too.
16. Market Your Herbs
Plant more herbs than you need for your family, then sell the rest in fresh or dried form.
17. Sell Your Milk
Fresh, unpasteurized cow’s milk or goat milk is a sought-after commodity by many urban dwellers.
18. Make Your Own Cheese
Similarly, homemade, handcrafted cheese can command good prices.
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19. Sell Your Arts and Crafts
Whether it is woodworking, macramé, needlepoint, or you name it, you can reach potential customers for your handcrafted wares through online sites such as Etsy.
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20. Make Maple Syrup
Do you have maple trees?
Then you have a source of some extra income.
21. Open Your Orchard
If you have a large orchard and more fruit than you need, why not try a season as a u-pick destination?
22. Sell Homemade Jams and Jellies
Another use for all that fruit is to make and market your own jams and jellies.
23. Cut and Sell Firewood
If you have land to be cleared, you can earn some extra bucks by selling the wood to others.
24. Raise Fish
Turn your pond into income potential by raising and selling fish such as tilapia or catfish.
You also could raise worms to sell for bait.
25. Grow Mushrooms
Are mushrooms your thing? You may find a nice income source by selling your homegrown mushrooms to local restaurants.
26. Host Birthday Parties for Kids
Parents are often looking for new ways to celebrate their children’s birthdays.
You may find a niche for yourself as a birthday party location. Think about what you can offer. A petting zoo? Pony rides? Apple picking?
There are many fun possibilities.
27. Make Your Own Grape Juice or Wine
Growing grapes can be a rewarding activity for both your soul and your wallet.
28. Create Your Own Soaps and Lotions
Homemade soap, lotion, lip balm, and shampoo are popular items at farmers’ markets and at natural foods stores.
29. Open a Shooting Range
If you have a large property, your homestead may be perfect as an outdoor gun or archery range.
30. RV or Boat Storage
Many urban dwellers will pay good money for a safe place to store their recreational equipment in the off-season.
If you have an empty barn, you can charge an increased rental fee for indoor storage.
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31. Save Your Bunny Poo
Rabbits’ poop can be used for many things. That is so simple and yet can make you quite a bit of extra money.
32. Cash In On Thanksgiving
You can raise your own turkey. While you are raising turkey for the year, raise a few more to sell.
This will, at least, give you your birds for free. Some heritage breeds are threatened as well, so their eggs or hatchlings fetch a handsome price.
33. Make Your Own Candles
Candles are another easy product to make.
You can make them smell with natural products and sell them in a lot of the same ways you can with lotions and soap. Why not make all three and make three times the profit?
34. Cowshare Or Goatshare
This is new to me.
You actually purchase shares of a cow or goat. Then because you own a share of that animal you get so much of their milk
35. Become An Author
If you are like me and love to write, why not write a book?
This is something you can do from home, self-publish, and market all by yourself. It is an investment of time upfront with no immediate return but if you have that dream to
36. Raise Your Own Bait
People love to fish. They have to buy worms.Gardeners love compost and worms for their garden.
Are you seeing the pattern? Raise your own worms. They are great for both fishing and composting. They require very little upkeep.
37. Raise Chicken Treats
If you go to a chain farm storm, you’ll see bags of treats for hens.
Why not raise your own? You can raise mealworms with very little investment. They take very little room to raise and our chickens love them.
Market them and you might be surprised to find that people will buy worms from you.
38. Bring The Local Bakery To Your Home
So you have a great talent for baking. Why not make a living from it?
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You can sell your treats such as homemade bread through online markets like etsy.com or sell them at the local Farmer’s Market. Take it one step further by milling your own flour and sell the bread for even more.
39. Sell Handmade Furniture
If you are gifted with carpentry skills, share them!
People love unique items. So go ahead, showcase those items!
Bonus
Hopefully, these ideas have sparked a few plans of your own. Are you ready to take the next step? Rules and regulations for home-based businesses vary depending on the business itself and your location.
Check with your local planning office to find about any restrictions that may apply to you. Here are a few links to articles from the Small Business Administration to help get you started.
- https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/how-start-business/business-types/home-based-businesses
- https://www.sba.gov/blogs/run-home-based-business-find-licenses-and-permits-you-need
And here’s a very inspiring story about John Crestani, a 28 year-old medical test subject turned internet millionair. (The full story).
