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homestead skills – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: homestead skills

  • Skills Every Homesteader Should Master

    Skills Every Homesteader Should Master

    Homesteading is more than just what you do with your land or in your home, it’s a way of life. And with that culture comes a certain set of skills that every homesteader should learn to master.

    Modern humans have forgotten so many of the specialized skills our ancestors relied upon for daily life. But the entire spirit of homesteading is to regain this knowledge, this autonomy, by doing it ourselves.

    Here are some of the most important homesteading skills that everyone should master, whether you’re living on a 10-acre farm or a studio apartment-turned-urban homestead.

    Gardening/Regional Gardening

    Growing your own is ground zero for modern homesteading, and wherever you live, there’s bound to be at least something edible you can grow. Learn what grows best in your climate and what you can cultivate that will thrive. Learn how to shop local, as well!

    Composting

    Trash is nearly always treasure to any modern homesteader! If you aren’t composting, you’re most likely throwing away valuable biodegradable material that can lend itself to the healthy production of fresh fruits and veggies. Learning the finer points of building, feeding, turning, and using homemade organic compost is one of the most valuable skills you can gain.

    Canning

    Canning is one of those few traditional forms of food preservation that, despite the increased availability of comparable food products at the supermarket, many people still choose to do it on their own! Canning your own food is essential to the homesteader, so you can preserve and store your excess harvest through the winter and on to the next year. Basic canning knowledge and equipment are a must for any homesteader, and it’s also something that anyone can do, no matter where they live! Make the most of the fresh produce at the farmer’s market over the spring and summer, and can extra for the winter so you can eat local all year long.

    Basic canning knowledge and equipment are a must for any homesteader, and it’s also something that anyone can do, no matter where they live! Make the most of the fresh produce at the farmer’s market over the spring and summer, and can extra for the winter so you can eat local all year long.

    Baking

    Breadmaking is one of the most ancient artisan skills, and archaeologists regard its discovery as a major turning point in the development of human civilization.

    This is another great homesteading skill that anyone can do, no matter where they live, and it’s a great way to have more control over your food, and your health.

    Healthy, homemade breads, especially those that are naturally fermented, are free of the many harmful preservatives and additives found in your average supermarket loaf.

    Butchering Animals

    If you’re going to raise animals, you will probably want to learn how to slaughter and butcher them! Of course, there are probably local butchers you can take your animals too, but you’ll probably want to get familiar with the process, just in case.

    A simple way to learn is to simply buy a whole chicken and learn how to butcher it. This can save money, and is a vital skill.

    Herbology

    You don’t have to have a fancy degree or study with some kind of shaman to learn how to use herbs. There are a lot of basic bits of knowledge you can aquire with a bit of research, such as using lavender to help with sleep or peppermint to sooth an upset stomach. Herbs grow all around us, and have so many wonderful applications in natural health!

    A great way to learn is to grow a few basic herbs yourself, and find ways to use them. Peppermint, rosemary, and basil are great to start with, and all have many wonderful applications for health and wellness. You can learn to make tinctures, soothing balms, healing teas, infused oils, etc. There are so many ways to use herbs, and the more you learn to use them yourself, the more your interest will be piqued!

    How to Ride a Horse

    This will naturally not be as easy for everyone to learn how to do, but if you have the resources to do so, take advantage.

    Horses are some of mankind’s oldest companions, and for good reason! They are vastly useful to us and will outlast our modern transportation and farming vehicles. Learning to ride them, as well as care for them, can be vital in this day and age, not to mention, incredibly fun and rewarding!

    Wild Edible Identification

    This is something anyone can definitely learn how to do. Find a guide for wild edible plants in your area, and gain some experience in identifying and foraging for these.

    You never know when this information might be vital for you. You might also be able to find some wild herbs to use for natural remedies! Local plant life can be a goldmine, you just need to know where to look.

    Firearm Use and Maintenance 

    Back in the day, firearms were essential for survival for many of our country’s early settlers. For hunting, slaughtering animals, and defending the homestead, knowing how to both use, and take care of, a firearm, is crucial. Anywhere you live, a firearm can be a vital tool for defense and survival.

    How to Hunt and Fish

    This is something else you can learn no matter where you live! No matter how much you can raise on your own homestead, it’s always important to also know how to hunt and fish. For both supplementing your local food supply, as well as potentially surviving one day, these skills are vital.

     

    Take back some of the skills we’ve lost over time through modernization, and invest your energy into long-lasting knowledge and skills that will help you become a better homesteader and more self-sufficient human being.

     

  • Why Should Homesteaders Hunt?

    Why Should Homesteaders Hunt?

    If you love the idea of homesteading, and you want to do the same types of things that your forefathers and foremothers did, you will want to add hunting to your list of activities for the homestead. Of course, it is about far more than tradition. You will find many benefits for the homesteader who hunts.

    When Times Are Lean

    One of the biggest benefits to those who hunt is that they have the capacity to put extra meat on the table. Even if you raise chickens and other livestock to use as meat, having extra in the freezer is always a good feeling. If you have a garden that is not performing as well as you had hoped, you will appreciate the extra food. Your bank account will appreciate it, as well. Consider just how much money you are spending on meat each year. Wouldn’t it be nice to cut down on those expenses?

    Game Management Is Essential

    Another one of the reasons that homesteaders should hunt is that it is good for the animal population in the area. While this might seem contrary to some, it makes sense. With the expansion of the human population and the encroachment on animal territory, it means their food supply is not what it used to be. By having controlled and legal hunts, it helps to reduce the population, which reduces the instances of starvation and disease among those animals that remain.

    Good Exercise

    If you have always wanted to get more exercise, few things are better than hunting. You will be out traipsing through the woods for much of the day, and that is going to burn off quite a few calories. Hunting, if you do not spend your entire day up in a tree stand, is a nice form of exercise that gets you out into the wild breathing fresh air. You will love the way you feel even if you do not bag a deer. Of course, it is even better when you do make a kill.

    You Can Pass the Skill on to Your Children

    Learning to track and follow animal signs helps people to get closer with nature. Teaching your children to hunt provides them with a skill, and lessons, that will last them a lifetime. They will learn where their food comes from and what it takes to get it, and that will make them more appreciative. In addition, it is good for kids to get outside and away from all those electronic screens for a while. In addition to hunting, you should also teach them to fish. Make sure they are not only a part of the process of hunting and fishing, but also teach them how to clean and prepare the animals and fish for cooking.

    Hunting is one of the skills every homesteader should have. It is not only necessary to make sure you have a full freezer of meat, but it can also be an enjoyable experience out in nature. If you don’t already hunt, make sure you consider these benefits.

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  • First Time Butchering Chickens (Video)

    First Time Butchering Chickens (Video)

    Being able to raise and butcher your own animals is a dream of many aspiring homesteaders.

    I think a lot of people don’t think about what it actually involves to butcher chickens, and in this video, you hear the account of some novice homesteaders trying to butcher two roosters for the first time.

    Chickens are feisty and evasive, and it’s never as simple as simply grabbing them, killing them, and roasting up dinner, and you’ll hear the various challenges this couple faced when they spontaneously agreed to take two roosters for butchering.

    They did do a bit of research before butchering the roosters, so you can both learn from their mistakes as well as the knowledge they acquired along the way.

    I’m a big fan of learning by doing, and I think this couple’s haphazard experience will probably help them a lot for the next time they butcher chickens, and, thanks to the magic of the internet, we can learn from them too!

    If you are planning on butchering chickens but haven’t ever done it before, this is definitely a great video to watch, and I learned a lot. Enjoy!

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  • How to Cultivate the Homesteader Mindset

    How to Cultivate the Homesteader Mindset

    Let’s be honest. People like the simple things in life. They enjoy when things are nice and easy, and if given a choice between an easy path that leads to an average life and a more rigorous path that leads to true joy, people will take the easy path.

    They live the fast food lifestyle. Everything is instant. People gorge themselves on Netflix and never bother getting out and having real adventures any longer. They have forgotten how to do many simple things. It’s a shame. You do not have to live that way though, and since you are interested in homesteading, you are already starting out on the more rigorous and more interesting path.

    Those who want a challenge, and who want to learn to become more self-sufficient, will want to learn more about homesteading. However, it does take a very different mindset to become a homesteader. Things are more difficult, and you need to work harder, and this is where most people fail in the first year of being a homesteader. They like the idea of it, but they lack the discipline.

    You need to take time even before you are a homesteader to start cultivating the mindset. You need to start learning how to do without certain things that you might want, such as fast food, easy access to the Internet, and instant entertainment. You need to learn the joy in watching the sunset and staring up at the stars at night, or sitting in front of a fireplace. You also need to learn the joy of working hard on your homestead. When you do this, you are changing out the elements in your life that provide that dopamine effect of happiness in your brain.

    Once you have successfully changed your mindset and realized that you do not need to have all of those useless luxuries, you will be much happier.

     

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  • Homestead Hog Slaughtering (Video)

    Homestead Hog Slaughtering (Video)

    I think hogs are some of the best animals to have on the homestead. They are cost efficient and can produce a lot of meat in a short amount of time. And who doesn’t love lots of pork and bacon?

    Of course, there’s the dirty business of slaughtering them. They’re pretty big, heavy, strong animals, so it’s important to know what you’re getting into. I like this simple guide to slaughtering a pig, and seeing how it’s done by seasoned hog farmers. Check it out! Hopefully it won’t scare you off from raising hogs, but I found it quite fascinating!

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  • Tips for Pruning Fruit Trees

    Tips for Pruning Fruit Trees

     

    Fruit trees, like all perennials, are a great source of food for years to come, and should therefore be taken care of to keep them healthy and productive.  Some find it hard to bring themselves to cut anything from their fruit trees thinking that pruning will harm the tree, or that it will reduce productivity since in other cases in the garden, the more the plant grows the more food that it will be able to produce.  But this isn’t the case, fruit trees can benefit greatly from pruning when it is done correctly.  Here are a few tips for pruning your fruit trees.

     

    Clean Cut

    Always use a sharp saw or sharp snips.  If your tools are dull you can cause the branches to break or split rather than produce a clean cut.  Splitting will increase the risk of disease and will cause the affected portion of the tree to die back.  When removing a large heavy branch make a cut at least two feet from the crotch since the weight will likely cause a snap, then the final cut can be made at the crotch after the weight has been removed.

    Selection

    It’s important to know which branches to remove.  Focus on broken or sick branches first.  Then look for branches that interfere with each other or point back to the center of the tree.  Branches with sharp angles are likely to split when weighed down with fruit, remove branches with angles sharper than 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock.  All shoots coming from the roots can be removed, they will only interfere with the top branches are unlikely to produce good fruit.

    Timing

    Pruning should be done when the tree is dormant.  This is when the tree is not growing, for the most part this will be in the winter or the fall.  Emergency pruning, like branches that have been damaged by wind or broken under the weight of fruit should always be removed as soon as possible and not left until winter.  Root shoots can also be removed out of season.

     

    Proper pruning can help your fruit trees, so don’t shy away from removing a few well-selected branches this winter.

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  • 3 Homesteading Skills to Learn

    3 Homesteading Skills to Learn

    Whether you have been merely thinking about homesteading, or you’ve given it a go for a while now, it is vital that you have a good and varied skillset. The goal of homesteading is to be as self-sufficient as possible, and the following skills are all good to have under your belt. You will find that some of them can be quite fun as well.

    Candle Making

    Making candles has several advantages. First, if you’ve considered buying any decent candles lately, you’ve probably been struck by just how expensive they are. When you learn how to make your own candles, you will see that it’s one of the cheaper hobbies that you can enjoy and skills you can acquire. In fact, this and soap making could even be a good side business if you choose to make and sell the products.

    In addition, you can determine just how much scent, if any, goes into the candle. Many of the store-bought candles today are oversaturated with scent, and you and your family might prefer something a little less offensive to your nostrils. Understanding how to make your own candles also means you will never run out of them. When the lights go out, you will have a supply of your own handmade candles ready to go no matter how long they stay out.

    Soap Making

    Keeping clean is important if you want to stay healthy, and having some quality soap is one of the best ways to keep clean. You don’t have to stock up on Dove though. Instead, you can learn how to make your own soap. It’s generally a good idea to learn several different techniques and how to use different ingredients.

    While you can experiment, and make some nice and wonderful smelling soap right now, it’s also a good idea to learn how to make “survival soap” from simple ingredients. All you need is wood ash, water, animal fats or plant oils, and salt.

    First Aid

    While it is always a good idea to seek out a medical professional when it comes to serious health issues, you should still learn some basic first aid that you can employ at home. If you live in an out of the way area that could get snowed in or if it could take you a long time to reach civilization for whatever reason, understanding how to perform first aid becomes truly essential. You should certainly learn the basics, but you might want to go beyond and learn how to suture as well.

    Since we’re on this subject, it’s a good idea to know some basic animal first aid and care as well, especially if you are raising animals. It can make a huge difference in the health of your livestock in those times when you can’t get to the vet or the vet can’t come to you.

    Of course, these are certainly not the only skills you should try to learn when you are homesteading. You want to become a repository of knowledge with many different types of skills. Also, be sure to share this knowledge so more people in the family have the same skills. It’s much easier when you can share in all these tasks and more.

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  • Quick Candle Making Tips

    Quick Candle Making Tips

    Making candles is fun and easy, and it can be a great activity for any homesteader. You can make candles for you own use, for gifts, and even to sell if you choose. Getting started with candle making is much easier than you might think, and before long, you will even be making custom candles that are good enough to buy.

    Get the Right Supplies

    First, you need to make sure you have the right supplies on hand. If you are making pillar candles, you will need to have aluminum molds, which are readily available online. You could also make molds of your own if you choose. This might be something you do in the future once you become more adept in the hobby.

    You also need to have wax. You can buy wax, or you could even use beeswax to make candles. Some of the other required supplies include jars or containers, string for the wicks, and essential oils for the scent.

    Recycle Wax

    Instead of throwing away old wax from your candles that you’ve been burning, save it. You can recycle it and use it again. Try to keep scraps of the same color together, of course. If there is scented wax, keep it in a different pile. Clean the wax, melt it, and strain it to make sure there is no debris in it.

    Melting the Wax

    You want the fragrance oils you use to bind with the wax when it melts. The best temperature for this is 180 degrees. Get a thermometer so you can measure the temperature before you add your oils.

    Making candles can be a lot of fun. Take the time to learn the proper way to make candles and implement the tips found here to help with your projects.

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