A large part of homesteading is learning and educating yourself to enhance your knowledge and skills for tasks that are no longer common in our society and culture. There are many homesteading skills and ways you can educate yourself before diving into homesteading full time which can be a big investment. Learning and practicing before making that decision will better prepare you and help you set expectations moving forward. Here’s a list of homesteading skills you start checking off the list.
Homesteading Skills for Food Preservation
- Canning Homegrown Produce
- Water Bath Canning Acidic Produce Like Tomatoes
- Pressure Canning Meat and Produce like Green Beans (non-acidic)
- Preparing Wheat Without a Grinder
- Preparing Raw Milk
- Making Preserves
- Freezing to Preserve Food
- Drying herbs
- Vacuum Sealing
- Dehydrating produce
- Freeze drying
Homesteading Skills for Cooking
- Cooking Food from Scratch
- Seasonal Meal Planning
- Making Homemade Foods
- Cheeses
- Butters
- Stocks (Vegetable and Meat)
- Vinegars
- Starter Doughs
- Breads
- Maple Syrup
- Brewing Drinks
- Kombucha
- Beer
- Wine
- Mead
- Fermenting
- Sauerkraut
- Pickles
- Kefir
- Kimchi
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Cooking with Cast Iron
- Cooking Over an Open Fire
- Making Your Own Smokehouse
Homemaking Skills
If you’re not sure what homemaking involves it’s anything that has to do with the management and maintenance of a home – even cooking is an important homemaking skill. Homemaking also includes the medicine cabinet in the context of homesteading values with natural holistic ingredients and homemade products as well as the clothes you and your family wear.
Apothecary
- Making Cleaning Products
- Making Skin Care Products
- Making Personal Care Products
- Making Soap
- Making Laundry Detergent
- Collecting Medicinal Herbs
- Making Medicinal Tinctures
- Extracting Essential Oils
Textile Care
- Making Clothes
- Mending Clothes
- Needleworks
- Crocheting
- Knitting
- Embroidery
- Hand Sewing
- Sewing Machine
- Starching Fabrics
- Hand-Washing Laundry
- Line-Drying Laundry
- Carding Fibers
- Spinning Wool
- Weaving
- Making Natural Dyes
Homesteading Skills for Gardening
- Identifying Hardiness Zone
- Garden Planning for Family Food Production
- Companion Planting
- Growing Vegetables
- Growing Herbs
- Cultivating Fruit Trees
- Straw Bale Gardening
- Attracting Pollinators
- Propagation
- Grafting
- Pruning
- Plant Hardening
- Seed Sewing
- Garden Pest Management
- Weed Management
- Learning Alternative Gardening Methods
- Hydroponic
- Aquaponic
- Vertical
- No-Till
- Seed Saving
- Soil Amending
- Composting
- Animal Waste
- Kitchen Scraps
- Vermicomposting (Worm Composting)
- Building a Compost Bin
- Building a Greenhouse
- Learning Arboriculture
- Learning Botany
- Learning Permaculture
Homesteading Skills for Animals and Livestock
- Building Shelters
- Barns
- Chicken Coops
- Chicken Runs
- Chicken Tractors
- Rabbit Hutches
- Lean-Tos
- Learn and Practice Animal Husbandry
- Breeding
- Birthing
- Live Births
- Candling Eggs
- Incubating Eggs
- Hatching Eggs
- Raising Animals
- Dairy Cows
- Beef Cattle
- Sheep
- Pigs
- Meat Birds
- Laying Hens
- Goats
- Beekeeping
- Caring for Animals
- Riding Horses
- Training
- Milking Dairy Livestock
- Sheer Sheep
- Healthcare
- Securing Livestock
- Protecting Livestock from Predators
- Making Your Own Feed
- Dog Food
- Chicken Feed
- Growing Fodder
- Cut, Bale, and Stack Hay
- Slaughtering
- Ethical and Humane Methods
- Butchering
- Meat Cuts
- Render Fat
- Preparing Meat
- Curing
- Smoking
- Preservation
- Skinning
- Tanning
Survival Skills
- Plant Identification
- Native Plants
- Mushrooms
- Poisonous Plants
- Environmental Awareness
- Dangers in the area
- Foraging
- Wild Edibles
- Medicinal Plants
- Handling weapons
- Sharpening cutting tools
- Handling Firearms
- Hunting
- Fishing
- Catching
- Cleaning
- Cooking
- Forecasting Weather
- Preparing for Natural Disasters
- Purifying Water
- Setting Traps
- First Aid
- Tying Knots
- Reading Maps
- Navigating with a Compass
- Making Fire
- Making Fire Starters
- Starting Fire Without Matches
- Making Waterproof Matches
Self-Sufficient Living Skills
- Tapping Maple Trees
- Harvesting Honey
- Beeswax Utilization
- Candle Making
- Building a Root Cellar
- Making Ammunition
- Implement the 4 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle
- Minimalism
- Waste-Free
- Resourcefulness
- Operating Heavy Machinery
- Construction Skills
- Building
- Plumbing
- Electricity
- Carpentry
- Welding/Metalworking
- Clearing Brush
- Foresting
- Felling Trees
- Preparing firewood
- Milling
- Utilization of Wood Ash
- Off-Grid Energy Sources
- Solar Power
- Wind Turbine
- Water Turbine
- Rain Water Collection
- Drilling Wells
- Bartering
- Budgeting
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