Last year I posted this Farmsteading Skills list as a way to audit our capabilities as urban farmsteaders as well as and we’ve accomplished a bunch more of them. From getting through our first year as new beekeepers, to making our first batch of farmer cheese, to learning to cut up a pig and cure the meat for bacon, etc., to building a coop for our ducklings that arrive this week, to Dan installing our kitchen sink and faucets without contractor help. Wheeeee!
So we’re pretty psyched…and of course ready to go to the next set of goals. I’ve highlighted in red what we want to definitely do this year, although if there’s time of course we’d like to learn more!! The un-bolded items we’ve yet to attack – as you can see, I’ve not highlighted anything to do with sewing/knitting – there’s some fears to overcome there, hahaha…and there are so many more things I know I could add to this list if I took 5 seconds.
So tell me, what do you want to learn? Anything on this list you want to know about/ learn how we did it / etc. ? Happy to share!!!
95 Farmsteading Skills for the Urban Farmsteader
Bake bread from scratch √
Cook a whole chicken in a cast iron skillet √
Cook beans from scratch √
Make a Quilt √
Crochet a blanket
Crochet a beanie/hat
Darn a sock
Mend a rip in a shirt
Build a beehive & keep bees √
Catch a swarm √
De-bone a chicken – husband can do this but I need to buck up and learn
Dehydrate Foods √
Dehydrate Herbs √
Use scrap wood to build a structure √
Harvest Honey – last year we got a bit of a late start as new beekeepers so we didn’t have a harvest, so this year’s going to be the year!
Knit a scarf
Make a beeswax candle
Build & use a compost Bin √
Compost meat with black soldier flies
Make broth in a crockpot √
Make Marmalade / Jam / Jelly / Preserves √
Cure & store garlic √
Roast a pumpkin for freezing √
Make English muffins √
Make soap in a crockpot
Make sourdough bread and maintain a starter – we tried twice last year but are committed to making third time’s a charm!
Make your own laundry soap
Use a sun oven
Raise & milk a goat – we no longer have room for them because we chose ducks so this will move to our ‘someday when we have land’ list…
Render lard or tallow
Give birth at home – let’s hope this 6th & final round of DEIVF works so we can do this in early 2018, otherwise this comes off the list…
Preserve using a pressure cooker – I need to of course buy a pressure cooker…
Learn to make the perfect pie crust √
Use cloth diapers on our baby – if the final round works that’d be us in 2018…
Learn basic First-Aid and CPR √
Learn home canning √
Set up a pantry √
Learn basic metalworking skills – As soon as I can sit for an extended time I want to take the Trackers PDX Blacksmithing Workshop 🙂
Learn basic plumbing maintenance skills √
Learn how to use a sewing machine – of course we’d need to buy one…
Build an Earthquake Preparedness Kit – While we bought earthquake insurance last year, now I have a shopping list for this in case the Cascadia big one hits…
Make homemade cough remedies √
Barter and trade √
Brood day-old chicks – ducklings arrive this week!
Build a greenhouse or cold frame √
Build a small fence √
Host a yard sale √
Roast a whole pig
Butcher a chicken
Change a tire (never had a flat to change in 20 years…)
Cook over an open fire √
Dye yarn or clothes from plants
Forage locally for wild edibles √
Give an injection – Being a multiple IVFer, this is my husband’s job. √
Grind wheat into flour for baking
Split and stack firewood √
Pay off credit cards and student loans √
Embrace Radical Homemaking and pay off our mortgage – by end of 2018 we hope this is checked off!
Make butter
Make cheese √
Make herbal extracts, infusions, poultices, and tinctures – not sure what I’ll make but I’ve been kinda curious in this area.
Brew cider
Brew beer – we are planting more hops this year against/up the house so husband is bound and determined to try his hand at this!
Grow hops √
Make beeswax & herb salves
Make lotions
Make sausage – Dan’s goal!
Make my own deodorant √
Make bacon and other cured meats √
Make vinegar √
Plan and grow a vegetable garden √
Plan and grow a kitchen herb garden √
Properly handle and shoot a gun √
Prune and graft a fruit tree – we plant our first apple tree next week!
Save seeds √
Know crop planting times, season length, and when to harvest √
Season a cast iron skillet √
Sharpen a knife √
Sharpen a saw, mower blade, & other tools
Build and use an outdoor clothesline for laundry √
Propagate plants from cuttings √
Build a coop and run √
Keep chickens or ducks for eggs √
Set up & use rain barrels √
Set up a grey water management system (from laundry, shower, etc)
Store root vegetables (successfully) through an entire winter
Home-school our children (if this kid thing works out!)
Grow mushrooms – husband’s wish list!
Install solar panels on the house to get off the grid
Build a smoker (DIY)
Use lacto-fermentation to preserve foods √
Weave a basket
Make organic pesticide √
Catch, prepare and cook a fish we caught
Get or Build a Dehydrator √