by Sarah Toney | Homesteading | 30 comments
Do you want to earn money from your homestead? Here are 32 ideas for how exactly you can earn money from home from your small farm to give you some ideas on how to make that happen.
Maybe you are a 1 income family and could use a little supplement to your income. Maybe you are looking to become more self-sufficient and create your own business and career and stop working for someone else.
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A homesteading lifestyle lends itself nicely to work-from-home opportunities. There are a number of ways to continue living and doing what you love and earn an money too.
Here are just some of the ways you can earn money from your homestead:
32 Ways to Earn Money from Your Homestead
When it comes to making money on your own from your homestead all it takes is a little creativity. There are numerous ways- from products to services-to create an extra income stream!
Is your dream to create a full time income from your homestead? My Homestead Goal Planner can help! It walks you through prioritizing your life and your homestead goals and keeps you on track with good planning practices. After all, goal with out a plan is just a dream!
Homestead Products to Market and Sell:
Sell your chickens’ farm fresh eggs. We get $3.50 a dozen here in WNC…you can charge more or less depending on your area.
If you have a rooster, why not sell a few fertilized eggs for hatching!
Got old chickens? Sell them as stewing hens!
Raise and sell broilers.
Raise chickens to laying age and sell them as layers.
Sell the babies! Kids, lambs, calves, chicks. Become a breeder of whatever animals you happen to raise!
Raise and sell meat animals– rabbit, goat, cow, pig. If you raise meat animals for your self, raise a few extra-some for your freezer and a couple to sell.
If you raise sheep, angora goats, alpaca, etc you can sell raw fiber after shearing.
Plant extra in your garden and sell fresh produce at the local market or direct from home. This is one of the easiest ways to make extra money from your farm or homestead.
Start extra seeds in the spring and sell garden transplants for those who don’t start their own.
Collect heirloom seeds at the end of the season, package them up, and sell.
Sell dried herbs for use in things such as teas or salves.
Beekeeping is a satisfying pastime and you can sell honey and other byproducts such as beeswax.
Grow mushroom logs and sell homegrown mushrooms. This can be a big business, especially if you can market your product to local restaurants.
Rent your space- if you have large acreage you can rent it out for pasture, hay, or planting
Raise worms to sell for composting or bait.
Raise fish, such as tilapia or catfish. You can do this in a large indoor tank or greenhouse or in a pond if you have one.
Services to Provide:
Start a CSA. Plant more in your garden and offer a few CSA shares to your community.
Begin a Farm School or offer how-to type classes. Chickens 101? Soap Making? Making Cheese? Whatever you are knowledgeable and passionate about!
Open up a u-pick farm– plant a field of pumpkins, strawberries or a large u-pick garden.
Open up a home-based bakery* and offer catering services for special occasions.
Offer up stud services. Many people who raise animals such as goats, don’t want to keep a buck on hand and are looking for a male to provide stud service.
If you have a large home or land consider opening up a Bed and Breakfast and give your guests the farm experience!
If you have the room, open up a corn maze in the fall. Agritourism is big business!
Learn more about the number one way we make money from our homestead!
Value-Added Products to Offer:
Make homemade soap. Goat’s milk soap is particularly popular.
Turn your herbs into herbal lotions, creams, or salves
Take your fiber to the next step by cleaning and carding and sell fiber bats
Spin yarn from your fiber animals- lots of people who knit or crochet don’t spin their own yarn. The further you process your product the more customers you can reach.
Knit, crochet or felt your fiber into finished products.
Lots of yard birds have beautiful feathers. If you have peafowl, guineas or even chickens try making feather jewelry or selling the feathers themselves.
Are you a baker? Make homemade cookies, cakes, and breads to sell at the local market*
If you love to preserve use your berry harvest to make homemade jams, jellies, and preserves*
Write about it! Start a blog or submit article to sites like HubPages. I currently earn a solid full time income here on The Free Range Life writing about homesteading! Check out A Modern Homestead’s How to Make Money Blogging at Any Level to learn how! It’s a great book that will teach you how to earn an income no matter what level of blogging you are at!
Want even more ideas? Check out over 100 Ways to Make Money Farming
* Check your local state/county laws concerning home-based bakeries before selling food items as well as check to see if you need any other applicable licenses or permits.
Christyon July 16, 2014 at 7:14 pm
I love the raising worms idea for the kids! I could see them doing that to earn some extra money!
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Katy Johnsonon January 14, 2019 at 1:15 am
What do you do once you raise worms? Where do you sell them? Who buys them?
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Rebecca | LettersFromSunnybrookon July 17, 2014 at 7:02 am
Lots of great ideas! With DIY becoming so popular, I’ll bet many people would be interested in taking local ‘Farm School” classes to make cheese, soap, and learn about gardening and animals. Pinning to my Homesteading Board. :)
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Krystyna @ Spring Mountain Livingon July 17, 2014 at 10:51 am
What a fab idea for a post! I have been itching for ideas to generate some extra income & I love that you includes ways kids can be involved!
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Dianaon July 17, 2014 at 10:27 pm
Great ideas! Running a bed and breakfast would be a lot of work, but could be so worth it.
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Johannaon July 18, 2014 at 8:02 am
Can you give me more info about the fiber bats and fiber crcheting? I am intrigued and can find little via google. Thanks! :)
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Robert Martinon September 15, 2018 at 5:25 pm
Great Information! We have a fiber farm of cashgora goats, alpacas, llamas, jacob sheep and highland cows. We make and sell wool roving, bats, and rollogs for spinning and felting, we make yarns, felted items, My wife also knits. We do seminars also. If you are interested in learning about any of this please feel free to contact us.
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Sharonon May 30, 2019 at 9:40 am
I would love to learn to felt. I have no idea how to start to sell items..I have have always used my knitting and crocheting for charity work
Thankyou for your time
God Bless
Sharon
Tracy @ Our Simple Lifeon July 20, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Homesteading can be a job in itself so you might as well get paid for what you love doing!
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Julion August 11, 2014 at 9:27 pm
Most states require kitchen certification before you can sell at farmers markets. Be sure to check your state for codes. :)
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Jennifer Cameronon August 21, 2014 at 9:13 am
Another way is to set up an area to offer as a wedding venue.
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Jennifer Cameronon August 21, 2014 at 9:20 am
You could also rent out a portion of your property to be a solar farm or wind farm. Renting it would be easier, that way the repairs would not fall on your shoulders….
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Nancion November 6, 2018 at 1:16 am
How would we do it?
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Andrew J. Jacksonon August 24, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Capitalize on any road frontage you have by renting the space out or using it yourself for a farm stand, consignment used car/farm equipment lot, or mini-storage business.
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Mary R.on October 7, 2014 at 5:43 pm
Do you have any information on raising fish in a large indoor tank?
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LouAnn Smithon October 19, 2014 at 11:47 pm
I love these kinds of websites. I just wish we had some land so I could do some of these things. I’ll share the site, though, with my friends who do have land. This would be so worth the effort!!
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Chad Alan Fluegge Sron November 5, 2014 at 12:21 am
These are sound suggestions. As we work at building our homestead out here in the boonies, monetization is always there at the back of our minds. For living in the boonies, we actually live right on a major US highway. This means lots of traffic, which in turn means lots of potential consumers keen on buying home-made goods. Thanks for a rather comprehensive list!
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Janet Pesaturoon November 24, 2014 at 9:05 am
This is a great list, which I am pinning and sharing. I’m also happy to have found your blog. Your posts are excellent, and the blog itself is beautiful. Very inspiring!
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Ann Ceeon November 28, 2014 at 11:10 pm
This is a great list. We are looking into the CSA aspect for next year. I’ve thought about the wedding venue option, but I LOVE my privacy. It’s a good money-maker, though.
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Laurenon January 8, 2015 at 1:09 am
Great ideas! Just make sure you’re legal! Many of these require certification, Inspection, and for certain laws and regulations to be stricly followed! You don’t make money if you get fined!
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Sharion April 13, 2015 at 9:49 pm
That’s kind of what I was thinking. Here in AZ, you can’t do much legally without paying for the privilege of doing it through permits, etc.
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Tiffanyon June 7, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Other great ideas that we have done in our backyard is mushroms (cinnamon cap), garlic bulbs and harvest greens first for quick cash. Fresh herbs for pets (for chakra healing, energy work or just plain common supplements). Broom corn, cordage, etc. Lots of great ideas to make money in the off time from crops, animals, etc. Remember the restrictions in your area and national when raising and selling any animals, cheese, etc. Awesome post :)
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Jellojiggyon June 19, 2015 at 10:28 pm
Thank you for the info. I appreciate that you have gone beyond the obvious produce and hand adds and given some very unique ideas. Felting is something that I see coming up more and more and would like to learn more about. Thanks again!
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Kateon December 13, 2015 at 10:55 pm
I am in ground work of the plans to relocating to another state out West. Will be of all the assistance to beginning stages.
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Tripplanningmomon May 4, 2016 at 11:42 pm
Anyone thinking about making food, decorating cakes, etc. in a residential kitchen needs to check their state’s Cottage Food Laws because some states don’t allow that. If your state does not have Cottage Food Laws then it is illegal to sell food made in a residential kitchen except in certain cases. Also contact your city health department and/or extension office. They will both have some very helpful input on this subject.
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philemonon May 17, 2016 at 8:30 am
thank u for the information iam planning to start dairy farming in kenya
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Marie Aulabaughon August 17, 2017 at 4:46 pm
My son and have wanted to move to North Carolina. I love animals, crafts, baking and so much more. We really like the idea of homesteading but was not sure how to go about it. I live in California right now but am in a hurry to get into my own element. We want to live the way we want but need to make money. These ideas are very helpful. Thank You for the info. Can you tell me where in North Carolina would be best for homesteading. I don’t know North Carolina and need info. If you can e-mail me and give me ideas of what or where to buy it would be nice. I have no blog yet or anything. Kind of just starting out. Thank You
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Deb Cyron February 19, 2018 at 6:11 pm
What are fiber bats
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Sarah @ The Free Range Lifeon February 21, 2018 at 9:21 am
It is fiber (from goats, sheep, alpaca, etc) that have already been cleaned and combed.
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Scotton September 18, 2023 at 3:38 pm
I love this list and eggs have been a good source for us as it makes some extra spending money. We are debating whether or not to add rabbits as a source of income and wondered what you recommend to breed for income?
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