If only we had room for piggies …(image source)
Over the past few years, I have fallen in love with a number of homesteader blogs where people from all over the world share their stories of living off the land, whether as urban backyard farmers maximizing their city spaces or as good old fashioned homesteaders enjoying (and working their bums off in) some acreage in the country. As one on the backyard side of things who occasionally has those grass-is-greener moments thinking wistfully about homesteading a la Ashley English‘s clan in North Carolina (yet not having a clue how we’d get by without a cafe within walking distance nor being able to imagine saying goodbye to the gorgeous diversity of our neighborhood), there are many things I’m realizing I can still do and learn right here in the city. The Tattooed Homesteader did a great post about the 165 homesteading skills she and her husband would like to gain, highlighting what they’ve learned so far – a bucket list of sorts.
I went through the list and there were a bunch of cool things that on our city lot of 0.10 acre (50×100′) however aren’t exactly realistic, so I removed those and put together a modified version for the Urban Homesteader and answer the questions myself with a “√”. For those diggin’ this kind of thing (or wanting to…?), I’d love to hear what’s on your bucket list or a recent thing you’ve learned that’s made your life more sustainable!
95 Homesteading Skills for the Urban Homesteader
Bake bread from scratch √
Cook a whole chicken in a cast iron skillet √
Cook beans from scratch √
Make a Quilt √ (well, I did all the knot-ties and then paid a seamstress to sew up the borders since I don’t know how to use a sewing machine)
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
Dehydrate Foods √
Dehydrate Herbs √
Use scrap wood to build a structure √
Harvest Honey our hive started a bit late so we’ve decided to wait til next year to harvest honey and leave the existing comb for the bees to have over winter – their health first, our honey second!
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 have tried, unsuccessfully, twice to make our own starter…any tips out there?
Make your own laundry soap
Use a sun oven
Raise & milk a goat
Render lard or tallow
Give birth at home let’s hope this 5th round of DEIVF works…
Preserve using a pressure cooker
Learn to make the perfect pie crust √
Use cloth diapers on our baby tbd…
Learn basic First-Aid and CPR √
Learn home canning √
Set up a pantry √
Learn basic metalworking skills
Learn basic plumbing maintenance skills
Learn how to use a sewing machine
Build an Earthquake Preparedness Kit I have a shopping list for this to keep, that’s it so far. However we did purchase earthquake insurance in 2016 since it’s cheaper than getting the house reinforced and heh, if the big Cascadia one hits we decided we’d rather rebuild than repair!
Make homemade cough remedies √
Barter and trade √
Brood day-old chicks
Build a greenhouse nursery I built a cold frame from windows but want a real one!
Build a small fence √
Host a yard sale √
Roast a whole pig
Butcher a chicken
Change a tire
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 √
Pay off mortgage
Make butter
Make cheese I tried unsuccessfully a few years ago not realizing I was using ultra-pasteurized goat’s milk. Pretty funny watching NOTHING happen after 10 hours on the stove (not).
Make herbal extracts, infusions, poultices, and tinctures
Brew cider
Brew beer
Grow hops √
Make beeswax & herb salves
Make lotions
Make sausage
Make deodorant √
Make bacon and other cured meats Husband has charcuterie class on his Xmas list 🙂
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
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 with nesting box and feeder
Keep chickens or ducks for eggs
Set up & use rain barrels √
Set up a gray water management system
Store root vegetables (successfully) through an entire winter
Home-school our children obviously this is a future goal
Grow mushrooms
Install solar panels on the house to get off the grid
Build a smoker (DIY)
Use lacto-fermentation to preserve foods
Weave baskets
Make organic pesticide √
Catch, prepare and cook that caught fish
Build a Solar Dehydrator I put herbs on a cookie sheet on the back shelf of our hatchback Ford Focus, but I can’t really do this for everything 🙂
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