Learn some of the different ways you can make extra money homesteading, and how to make money homesteading while still living the life you love!
Have the homestead of your dreams, and make money with it?! That’s the life isn’t it?! Well, its totally possible, you just have to get creative and be aware of all of the different avenues that there are to monetize your homestead.
When I was in college I took a few different Business Marketing classes. In one of my classes we had an assignment to think of a hypothetical business and come up with a marketing plan for it.
My hypothetical business was a ranch/homestead! Could you have guessed? In my marketing plan, one of the ways that the ranch/homestead was promoted was to have a quarterly ‘Ranch Day’ where everyone in the community was invited out to the ranch.
We (because of course its us and our dream business!) would be grilling up fresh beef, lamb, and pork for everyone to enjoy. It fed the people and it also gave them a taste of our product and would hopefully convince them to buy some.
There would be a stand with all of our fruits and vegetables that we had grown and harvested. There would be tractor rides for children, and animal petting/feeding. A stand with fresh honey and honey products, and a stand with handmade goods (aprons, quilts, jams, jellies, canned goodies, etc.) For the fall ‘Ranch Day’ we would have a pumpkin patch, and Christmas trees in the winter.
There was much more to it, but you get the idea! When I came up with this marketing plan it was SO fun thinking of all of the different ways you can make money from a homestead. Pretty much anything you do on your homestead can be monetized. How incredible is that?!
All of the work that you’re already putting in, if you just make a few changes, add a few things in, etc. you can produce enough extra to sell. Or, if you think creatively you can make money in other ways like teaching a homestead class, starting a blog, or selling beautiful, homestead photography.
If you have some kind of homestead, or maybe you’re thinking about getting started homesteading, and you’re wondering how you can make extra cash, this is for you! I’ve rounded up 56 ways that you can make extra money on your homestead, big or small.
After you’re producing extra goods or you have something to sell, you can try having friends, family, and even the community out for a fun day on the homestead to give them an idea of what you have to offer and to market your products;)
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- vegetables – plant extra seeds this year and when you have a surplus of vegetables in the summer, sell them! Take them to your farmer’s market or market them on local buy/sell groups on Facebook.
- fruits – try planting an extra strawberry vine or a few more watermelon and cantaloupe plants this year. Just like with your vegetables you can sell extra fruit that you grow.
- seedlings – many first time gardeners struggle with starting their plants from seeds. If you have experience with gardening, save them the trouble by starting the seeds and selling the plants as seedlings.
- seeds – another way you can profit off of your garden is to save your seeds and sell them.
- fruit trees/orchards – if you have fruit trees or a small orchard, sell your harvest. You can even allow customers to come pick their own fruits. U-Picks are very popular!
- pumpkin patch – If you have a space large enough, you can plant a big pumpkin patch and host customers in the fall. Whip up a batch of homemade, warm apple cider, make some spiced, Einkorn flour donuts, and invite everyone out to pick a pumpkin for a small fee.
- Christmas trees – Start planting evergreen trees now that you can sell in a few years as Christmas trees! Be sure to plant more every year once you start to sell them. This time offer homemade, raw milk hot cocoa, and sell your handmade mittens and hats for customers getting their trees. Can you tell I’m all about the experience?! Not necessary but definitely a nice touch.
- any other trees (small nursery) – if you have the space you can also sell any other varieties of trees. Trees don’t need much room when they are little and you can easily plant a plethora of trees to nurse for a few years before selling.
- fresh herbs – If you are experienced with growing fresh herbs you can start a small herb garden and sell the excess. You can market common kitchen herbs as well as medicinal herbs.
- dried herbs – some folks are more interested in the already dried herbs. If you’re drying your own why not dry extra to package and sell?
- cut flowers – Farm fresh flowers that haven’t been treated with chemicals are becoming more and more popular. If you have a variety of cut flowers try selling what you grow. You can even watch videos on making flower arrangements and bouquets and sell your homegrown and homemade flower arrangements at a higher price.
- compost – If you have a garden and you make your own compost for it, try making extra to market and sell to other gardeners.
- manure – If you have livestock and homestead animals your’e probably in a surplus of manure. Did you know you can sell it?! Aged manure has a ton of nutrients that are great for fertilizing a garden. Be sure to snag some for yourself and then sell the excess.
- mulch – leaves, pine needles, and yard clippings can all be made into mulch. Homesteading is about being resourceful with what you have an not letting things go to waste. You can also make mulch out of branches and wood clippings if you’re able to buy or rent a small wood chipper. Mulch is great for landscaping and gardens and many people would pay to get it locally or at a cheaper price.
- firewood – If you have land with with an excess of dead trees, you can clear it and sell the firewood. You can also offer to clear someone else’s land for a price or if they allow you to keep the firewood to use or sell.
- milk – is your dairy cow working overtime? If you have a dairy cow (or goats!) and you’re not a huge family, you may have more than you need. If its legal in your area (sometimes it can only be done through a share program), you can sell your raw milk.
- cheese – do you make cheese?! If you’re skilled at making homemade cheeses a lot of people in your area would probably love to buy some fresh, homemade cheese.
- eggs – probably one of the easiest ways to make a little extra cash on your homestead is to sell your fresh eggs. You’re collecting them for yourself anyways and already caring for the chickens, so try raising a few more so you can have extra eggs to sell.
- train animals – if you’ve had homestead animals for a while you might have some experience under your belt with training them. Whatever animal you have the most experience with, say its your dairy cow or your goats, offer training services to local animal owners. Even if its just helping them get more comfortable with their animals, you have something to offer!
- meat chickens for meat – raise, butcher, and package meat chickens. If you’re already raising some for yourself, you can add in a few extra to sell.
- sell baby chicks – you can hatch and sell days old baby chicks to anyone wanting to get started with chickens.
- pastured lamb – if you have the land available you can raise and sell pastured lamb.
- pigs for meat – pigs are another great meat product that you can raise and sell.
- goats for milk – if you have goats you can sell goat milk just like you would with dairy milk.
- sheep for wool – along with selling pastured lamb you can also sell the wool.
- rabbit meat – rabbits are an amazing source of income if you don’t have a lot of land or space. Rabbits don’t need as much space as the larger homestead animals.
- beef cows for meat – grass fed beef is all the rage these days. Invest in a few beef cows and market them as grass-fed beef to locals in your area.
- turkey meat – Sell Thanksgiving turkeys! You can raise, butcher, package and sell turkey meat. We have a local hunt club that raises large meat turkeys, then lets local kids shoot their Thanksgiving turkey with a bow and arrow in the weeks before Turkey Day for a small fee.
- sell farmed fish – yes, you can raise fish! Think farm raised Tilapia! YUM.
- raise and sell worms – customers may be looking for worms for fishing and lures or for gardening purposes. Whatever the case you can easily raise and swell worms right on your homestead.
- stud services – Whether its a bull, a buck, or even a male dog, you can sell stud services to potential breeders. This is an incredibly easy way to make extra money!
- breed homestead dogs – do you have a cattle dog, a livestock guard dog, or even a family dog that you could potentially breed and sell the puppies. Puppies can sell for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a thousand dollars or more. Plus, they’re the cutest!
- rent out your equipment – if you run a well developed homestead you probably have a few pieces of equipment. You can rent out this equipment to locals. Just be cautious to only rent it out to people you trust, and not too often to where its damaging on your equipment.
- rent out your pasture or land – if you have extra pasture or land that you’re not always using for your homestead animals, you can rent it out! Some people don’t have any land but are wanting to raise a few animals.
- honey – if you have bees, sell your honey! Raw, local honey is a hot product and you can sell it at a great price. Stick a pretty label on it and take it to the local farmers market.
- beeswax – just like with your honey you can sell your extra beeswax. Be sure to let your customers know all of the awesome uses for beeswax.
- bees for raising – maybe you’d be more interested in raising bees to sell to other people wanting to get started with beekeeping.
- maple syrup – if you have maple trees that can be tapped for syrup, or any other kind of syrup or tree, you can sell any extra that you harvest.
- canned goods – with all of those extra fruits and vegetables you’re growing, you may be able to make and sell extra canned goods. Think jams and jellies, tomato sauces, pie fillings, etc.
- baked goods – do you love making from scratch and delicious baked goods? Baked goods are really easy to sell especially at farmer’s markets and events.
- homemade soap – make homemade bar soaps of all different kinds and sell them to whoever you can. If you have goats, goat’s milk soap is a hot commodity and would be something to consider.
- lotions – do you have experience with making your own body butters and lotions? If so, you can make extra’s to sell.
- bath salts – bath salts are another easy homestead product that you can sell and don’t cost much to make.
- sugar scrubs – we have a few different sugar scrub recipes on our site, check them out HERE. They are extremely easy and inexpensive to make, which is great for selling.
- candles – homemade beeswax candles or soy candles are awesome products to sell on your homestead.
- quilts – nothing says homestead and country living more than a handmade quilt. If you have the experience with quilting you can try turning your hobby into a business!
- crocheted goods – remember the crocheted hats and mittens you were going to sell in the winter time with homemade hot cocoa when customers come to buy a Christmas tree? Here they are! You can also make blankets, scarves, rags, etc.
- homemade aprons – a good, sturdy, beautiful apron is a homesteader must. Make one for yourself and a few extras to sell. Aprons are one of the easier things to sell if you’re a beginner sewer. HERE is a great tutorial and pattern for a simple, pretty apron.
- wood furniture or decor – if you or your spouse is handy with wood and you have some extra wood available to you you can try making handmade wood furniture and decor. Decorative wood signs are a really easy place to start. Get ideas from Etsy and Pinterest.
- homestead class – are there people in your area that would be interested in learning more about the homestead life? Teach a class! Sell tickets for a monthly homestead class and spread your knowledge. You can teach things like butchering techniques, from scratch cooking, quilting, gardening for beginners, etc.
- write a book – if you want to share what you know but you’re not comfortable talking in person to people, maybe you could write a book. A short ebook on something homesteading related would be easy to produce and sell.
- work for other homesteads/farmers – are there other homesteads or farms in your area that could use some extra manual labor? Put an ad on Craigslist or mention something on Facebook that you are able to do farm work on the side part time.
- start a bed and breakfast – if you have enough room in your home or maybe you have an extra cottage, you can consider starting a bed and breakfast where you host people out on your homestead.
- sell stock photography – get your camera and start practicing! There are plenty of tutorials and YouTube videos on photography for beginners; you can take photos around your homestead and sell it as stock photography.
- start a blog – start a homestead blog and make money through ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorship posts, and digital and physical products. Share all of your homesteading knowledge and tips with the world and get paid to do it!
Before you read this post you might have been stumped with what you can do to make extra money homesteading. Now maybe you’re overwhelmed with all of the things you CAN do! Don’t be overwhelmed. Start with one task you know you are capable of doing right now on your homestead to make extra money, then do it!
Once you’ve mastered that one and if you’d like to make a little more, move onto something else. Introduce your friends, family, and community members to the world of homesteading and what all you can offer them.
If you’re just starting out homesteading, check out some of our other homestead related posts below! We have everything you need to get started and create a successful, profitable, and self-sufficient lifestyle.
Other Homesteading Posts:
What is Homesteading and is it For You?
11 Feasible First Year Homesteading Goals
How to Start Homesteading When You’re Flat Broke
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