Are you wondering about how to make money homesteading?
Many homesteaders are attracted to this lifestyle because, although it's hard work, it is a great way to become more self-reliant. And it's true; producing your food and raising animals on a small farm or small homestead can be fulfilling. Yet you still need extra cash to cover expenses like taxes, medical expenses, or even insurance.
How to Make Money Homesteading With a Large Garden
If you're a gardener, you're off to a good start. You'll find many income ideas and different ways to make money from your garden.
1. Sell fresh vegetables and fruit
Many beginner homesteaders start with gardening.
Planting a backyard garden can help you reduce your food costs by producing food to feed your family. And when you've secured your own food supply, you can sell your produce at the local farmers' market for an extra income stream.
You could even market it as organic produce to appeal to buyers who prefer to avoid chemical fertilizers, food additives, and preservatives. Today, many consumers are willing to pay a higher price for fresh "farm-to-table" fruits and veggies.
2. Sell fresh herbs
If you're trying to figure out how to make money homesteading when you have little space or just a small acreage, think about which herbs are in high demand in your local market.
Herb seeds are inexpensive to buy. And they are one of the easiest ways to get started earning a little extra.
Keep it simple and begin to grow herbs in pots or raised garden beds. They don't take much work to grow. And they could help you earn a little bit of extra cash without a lot of work.
If you have extra seeds, consider planting more to grow herbs to dry and sell.
Learn more about herbs for therapeutic or medicinal use through a reputable organization such as The Herbal Academy.
3. Sell homemade jams and preserves
If you’re already canning and preserving at home, you’re halfway to making extra money from your homestead.
When making jams and jellies in your homestead kitchen, set aside a few jars of each batch for sale. These items sell well around the holidays and at farmers' markets.
The profits from this can help pay for your mason jars and supplies you use to can food for your family on the homestead.
4. Sell home-baked goods
Just like making extra jams or jellies, do the same with home-baked goods. Pies, artisan breads, muffins, and desserts are popular at the farmer's market. Or set up your own roadside stand.
You could even sell the baked goods from your favorite homestead recipes to a local coffee shop or restaurant. This might not get you a full-time income, but it is an easy way to pick up extra cash on the homestead.
5. Sell syrup
No maple trees? No worries.
Maple, birch, rosehip, cranberry, blueberry syrup - you have so many options when it comes to making and selling syrup.
Take a look around. What's growing in your area? Or better yet, your own backyard?
We don't see many maple trees growing wild up here, because it is too cold. Yet we see plenty of birch trees. And birch trees make birch sap which can be made into birch syrup.
Note: Producing cottage foods is legal in many states; however, watch out for restrictions on income earned from producing cottage foods. Also, be mindful of liability issues and health and safety regulations in your area, especially if you are in Canada. However, you may also find you qualify for tax exemptions when you run a business from your homestead.
6. Selling vegetable seedlings
Selling seedlings is a great way to make extra money from your garden.
When starting seedlings for your garden, simply start more seedlings than you need for your own use. Then ,list some of your own plants for sale.
Local gardening groups are a great place to sell these online when the planting season starts.
If you grow unique heirloom varieties, this can be a profitable way to make extra money. Along with seedlings, you can generally sell heirloom seeds. Just set some seeds aside from your heirloom plants at the end of each growing season. However, remember to save some seeds to plant for yourself next year.
7. Open a pick-your-own berry patch
Berry picking is a simple way to pick up some extra cash in the early summer. Open your homestead to local berry pickers, and offer them a simple way for families to spend time together outdoors.
8. Host a pumpkin patch
Do you grow pumpkins?
Consider charging a small fee to let visitors pick their own pumpkins.
Add in a tractor or hayride, a homestead petting zoo, a corn maze, or fill up a vegetable/ baking stall to earn a little extra. After all, a pumpkin patch visit is a wonderful way for families to make memories in the autumn.
9. Sell fruit trees as seedlings
Got fruit trees on your homestead? Country people aren’t the only ones who love fruit trees. Backyard fruit trees are popular with city and suburban homeowners, too.
Consider selling fruit trees or small seedlings directly to consumers or to a local nursery. Even local landscapers or contractors may be interested.
10. Sell microgreens
Microgreens are simply sprouts that you can add to your favorite meals, such as soups, sandwiches, or salads.
We grow microgreens in our Aerogarden through the winter, when produce gets expensive here.
Grow microgreens and sell them to gourmet and specialty food stores, at a farmer's market, or even online, directly to local consumers.
11. Sell foraged greens
We've been foraging for years, and enjoy it as a family activity.
While we use foraging to teach as part of our homeschool lessons, you could certainly make money homesteading by foraging the wild herbs, wild berries, mushrooms/morels, or other greens growing right on your property.
12. Grow and sell mushrooms
Yes, you can grow mushrooms at home or on your homestead to make money. First, learn about mushrooms through a reputable herbal academy course such as The Mushroom Course from the Herbal Academy.
Next, check the rules for starting a mushroom growing operation in your area.
13. Sell cut flowers
Not all small farms or homesteads grow JUST vegetables or fruit. Some grow flowers, and you could too.
Sell cut flowers to local churches, funeral homes, wedding planners, or even florists.
Making Money With Small Homestead Animals
There are many ways to make money homesteading with small animals.
And by the way, you don't need dairy animals or larger animals to make money. (Although, if you have large animal knowledge, you could start a side business as a livestock consultant.)
14. Sell eggs for steady income
If you're already raising chickens, it isn't much trouble and doesn't take a lot of time to collect extra eggs. If your flock includes chicken breeds such as Americaunas or Araucanas, which lay blue eggs, you can even charge a little extra.
When we had a flock of 40 chickens, we gathered as many as 20 eggs per day. And while our large family (at the time we had five adults and two children living here) ate between 7 and 10 eggs daily, we often had extra eggs.
We did preserve some for the long term. However, our sixth child, Ava, got a good egg-delivery business going. She made almost $1000 to put towards her university fund.
15. Sell day-old chicks or turkeys
Depending on the local laws, you might also have the opportunity to make extra money from your homestead by selling day-old chicks or turkeys.
We bought twenty day-old Western Rustic chicks a few years ago. About a month later, we added 10 more barred rocks. And last year, we bought turkey chicks.
As our supplier told us, day-old chicks are very popular with people looking for ways to secure their family's food supply.
As more people look for ways to start homesteading and become more self-reliant, the market for chicks will keep growing.
15. Sell quail eggs
Not everyone wants chickens or turkeys. People with little space often prefer quail, which are quieter and produce small but delicious eggs.
If that’s what you’re raising, try selling your eggs to a local restaurant or market.
16. Raise fiber animals
People interested in homesteading and pursuing a more self-sufficient life have been doing this for a long time! The wool from fiber animals such as angora rabbits, sheep, and alpaca is in high demand by skilled fiber artists.
17. Rent out your goats
Do you raise goats?
My dad, who lives in southern Ontario, told me that renting goats to "mow the lawn" is becoming quite popular in his area. The goats free-range on large country properties, eating the grass down and removing the need for a ride-on lawnmower or tractor.
So if you have a herd of goats, you might be able to make a few extra bucks by renting them out!
18. Breed your dogs
Good dogs are an essential part of the homestead lifestyle.
If you’re a dog lover, consider breeding your purebred livestock guardian dogs and selling the puppies. Check with your local vet and the American Kennel Club or the Canadian Kennel Club for qualification requirements.
More Great Ideas on How to Make Money Homesteading
Gardens and animals are the only ways to make money homesteading.
19. Sell your own furniture or fiber crafts
Craft businesses have become increasingly popular, and plenty of people are pursuing the homestead lifestyle. Artisans and craftspeople find creative ways to earn a part-time or even full-time income from a homestead.
Many people find that the quality of handcrafted items is much better than that of mass-produced and commercially sold items. This has made handcrafted furniture, pottery, fiber crafts, homemade soaps, and essential oils increasingly popular.
20. Homemade bath and body products
Consumers have become more mindful of harmful ingredients in bath and body products in the past two decades. They want all-natural and safer health and beauty products.
This demand for handmade soaps, homemade body lotions, and other baths and body products is an excellent opportunity for crafty homesteaders.
Do you have goats or bees? If so, your goat milk soaps or beeswax lip balms could prove popular at the local farmer’s market.
21. Raising bees to sell honey
It seems like everyone loves honey. If you have a hive on your homestead, you could make extra money by selling your honey.
However, make sure you don’t run afoul of your local, provincial, or state food and drug regulators.
For example, in Canada, as per the Urban Bee Network, you can sell honey from your hive at local farmers’ markets without a permit. And in the United States, check the Local Honey Finder.
How to make money homesteading for the modern homesteader
22. Reselling
Finding items at resale shops and listing for sale on sites like eBay and Etsy is a great way to make extra money. Reselling popular items of good value for more than you paid at resale shops and yard sales is a great way to make money and help keep things out of landfills.
23. Refinishing furniture
Another great option for the crafty is to improve furniture that you find used or even on the curb and refinish it to sell for a profit.
This is a great way to make extra money doing something you love while helping the environment by keeping these pieces out of the trash.
Upcycling furniture into something completely unique can add value. And often popular vintage furniture only needs cleaning and small repairs, restaining, or reupholstering to make a profit.
24. Virtual assistant work
Virtual assistant work is easier and easier to find as more businesses encourage the work-from-home model.
Finding side jobs working on websites, running social media profiles, and even creating content for popular websites is a great way to make a bit of extra money while homesteading. This is especially true for people who have left an office job in the city to begin homesteading.
25. Teaching and coaching
If you have a passion for something that can solve a problem for others, you have a passion that can become a great income source.
Teaching and coaching are great business models for those looking to share their homesteading skills.
Consider teaching an online course or working one-on-one as a virtual coach. Take a look at the skills you have to offer others and work from there to find a business opportunity to help others learn a skill or start their own business.
How about teaching someone to garden or care for animals?
26. Start a small website
One of our income streams is this very website, An Off Grid Life. Other homesteaders I know use their own websites to sell their market garden produce, CSA boxes, and day-old chicks.
Even if the main purpose of your site is to sell your produce, or backyard chickens, homemade soap, or even your maple syrup, look for opportunities to monetize it.
A Google AdSense account or affiliate links to products or services you love are a good opportunity for the modern homesteader to make a few extra bucks.
27. Host workshops/tutorials
When you have mastered a homesteading skill, consider sharing that knowledge with others through hosting workshops.
Do you know how to make sourdough bread? Are you an expert quilter or canner?
People everywhere are eager to learn everything from how to butcher a chicken to making compost with a hands-on demonstration.
28. Become an online teacher for kids
As more families start to homeschool, online homeschooling platforms need accredited teachers.
Our family loves Outschool for classes on chicken care, composting, gardening, foraging, as well as essay writing, coding, and math skills. If you have the credentials, consider teaching online through a platform like Outschool.
29. Doula services
Many women are finding that they can make money part-time helping new mothers. Postpartum doula services include helping care for newborns, cleaning homes, and even caring for toddlers and preschoolers. This allows the mother to stress less and focus on healing.
30. Odd jobs/helper
As a handyperson, some people supplement their homestead earnings and make money by doing simple projects around homes.
This could include minor repairs, yard work, or even completing light household duties and offering companionship for the elderly.
31. Rent your land
If you have more acreage than you need to grow enough food for your family, consider renting it out to a local farmer. You could even rent plots of land to other families who want to garden.
32. Host events
Weddings, family reunions, and business retreats are just a few of the events that your homestead could host. If you have a barn or other outbuildings, a pretty location, and some good marketing chops, you could have a new income stream this summer.
33. Bed and breakfast
We've all seen them in the movies: those charmingly rustic, shabby-chic farmhouse bed and breakfasts. If you're known for your hospitality and have a farmhouse that you're comfortable sharing with strangers, running a bed and breakfast could help pay the bills.
34. Sign/trailer rental
Does your homestead include good highway frontage?
If so, consider setting up an old truck, trailer, or simply a large sign nearby. Then paint the side of the trailer or lean a sign on the old truck and rent it out as advertising space to local businesses.
35. Boarding kennel
Another option for dog lovers is operating a boarding kennel if you have the space. This works well if you don't have nearby neighbors and your local bylaws allow it.
There are many, many ways to make money homesteading. Some are traditional, and some are based on new technologies and opportunities. Consider your own skills and interests and what's in demand in your area. You'll soon find one (or more) ways to supplement your homestead income.
