10 Skills Every Homesteader Should Know
In this post we’re going to cover the top 10 essential skills that every homesteader should master in order to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle in 2024 and beyond. Homesteading isn’t an easy way of life. Doing everything yourself, and practicing traditional life skills may not have been something you were taught about growing up and it could be a daunting challenge to learn, but it is still very rewarding. Plus, it can help you become less dependent on an increasingly unhealthy and unreliable supply chain in a broken society. So, here they are, in no particular order of importance, the top 10 essential skills for you to learn as a homesteader:
Gardening
Number one is gardening; knowing how to grow your own food is a crucial skill for any homesteader to learn. This includes understanding how to choose the right plants for your climate, how to prepare the soil, and how to care for and protect your plants against pests and environmental factors. If you can learn to garden well, you will be light years ahead of everyone else in terms of self-reliance.
Animal Care
Next is animal care. Many homesteaders keep animals for food, milk, and other derivative products like fertilizer or leather. It’s important to learn how to care for these animals well, including how to feed them, groom them, and provide for their basic needs. Add successful breeding and raising those animals from birth and later processing them humanely, and you’ll have a practically endless supply of healthy animals and animal products for your family to enjoy for years to come!
Building With Natural Materials
Natural-building with natural materials like earth, stone, and wood can be more sustainable and cost-effective than using modern, industrialized materials from the big construction stores. It’s worth learning how to build with natural materials, whether it’s a cobb oven, a simple wood shed, a massive hand hewn log home, or a post and beam barn made from local materials right from your homestead.
Water Management
Water is a precious resource and it’s important to know exactly how to collect, store, and purify it for use. This can include installing a rainwater harvesting system, drilling a well, building a cistern, or installing a water tank, using a water filter surface flow management of streams and creeks, or even developing a complex pond ecosystem. It can add dividends to any well-managed homestead. Remember, water is life and without it, you simply won’t succeed.
Energy Management
Next is energy management. Homesteaders often rely on renewable energy sources, like solar panels, or wind and hydroelectric turbines. It’s well worth learning how to install and maintain these systems, as well as how to use the energy they generate most efficiently. It’s also important to learn how to manage and use traditional fuel sources, like firewood or even coal, if you’re fortunate enough to have affordable access to those materials on your homestead.
First Aid and Medical Treatment
First aid and medical treatment is also very important. Accidents happen, and it’s important to be prepared. Knowing basic first aid skills can mean the difference between a minor injury and a life-threatening emergency. But under today’s strained medical system, it can also be vital to go beyond those basic skills and learn the advanced medical treatments so often
employed by First Responders and Nurse Practitioners. It could literally save you or your family members’ lives when the healthcare system fails you, or when it tries to force objectionable procedures or medicines on you.
Natural Medicine
Going along with the above one on the list is natural medicine. There are many natural remedies that can be used to treat common ailments and medical conditions. Learning about useful herbs, essential oils, and other natural remedies can help you take care of your family’s health in a more holistic way, that avoids the toxic chemicals so often forced on us by a commercialized medical system out to make a quick buck, without considering the consequences for us.
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Food Preservation
Next is food preservation. There are many ways to preserve food, including canning, drying, and freezing, among others. Learning these skills and obtaining the tools you need to do that can help you make the most of your harvest and ensure that you have a steady supply of food throughout the year, not just in the summer. After all, what good is being able to grow your own food if you can’t preserve it to eat later when you actually need it?
It can also ensure you have something to trade with others if the need ever arises.
Sewing, Mending, and Making Textiles
Sewing and mending is another essential skill. Knowing how to sew and mend your clothing can save you money on purchasing and repairs. Plus, it can allow you to customize your clothing and home goods. We’ve gotten really spoiled by cheap clothing from overseas for many years now.
But what if you could make customized clothing and accessories that didn’t wear out so easily and could serve you well for many years to come? You can even learn traditional methods of textile making, like spinning wool or weaving, knitting, crocheting, and many more related skills.
Basic Carpentry and Construction
Basic carpentry is an essential homesteading skill. Something like building a bookshelf or fixing a leaking roof can save you money on repairs and allow you to customize your living environment to your particular needs. It can also unlock your creative potential on building projects for simpler living, whether it’s a custom coat rack for your mudroom or a hardwood canning shelf for your pantry.
Bonus Skills: Bartering and Entrepreneurship
Without some sort of business sense and bargaining skills, homesteading will never become more than just an expensive hobby that you quickly burn out on. Spend some time researching the value of your services and products and learning how to market yourself and those products to others in order to make your homestead a profitable and self-sustaining venture for your family.
So there you have it! The top 10 essential self-sufficiency skills and one bonus skill that every homesteader should know to succeed in the new year. With a little knowledge and practice, you can become more self-sufficient and better able to take care of yourself and your family in 2024 and beyond.
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Originally posted on Medium