Feeling the pull to homestead, but not in a position to live your homesteading dreams just now? I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I will say it again, homesteading is a lifestyle, not a location. Regardless of where you live, you can start building homestead skills now.
As with most anything, it takes time and practice to develop these skills. Trying to do or learn everything all at once can be overwhelming and frustrating. Gradually building your knowledge and abilities means that you’ll be able to take the time you need to get comfortable with each thing before you move on to something else.
I’ve made a list of what I consider to be key homesteading skills, and broken it down by month. One year of building, one year of growth. One year, month by month. 12 months of homesteading skills.
January: Make plans for the new year
January is, for most of us, a time for looking forward, for making plans, and for setting goals. I’m not one for resolutions, but I do believe in the power of goal setting. Giving some direction to our time and efforts is never going to be a bad thing. Taking some time to make plans for the homestead is an important step. January is the month for making plans, setting goals, and mapping out the year.
Think about what you ultimately want from your homestead, then break that down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Use this list as a roadmap for the next 12 months of your homesteading journey.
February: Bake your own bread
The new task on which to focus this month is baking your own bread. I am fully onboard the sourdough bandwagon, so I recommend starting there. I wouldn’t call it easy, but sourdough is incredibly forgiving and super versatile. You can create your own sourdough start or you could save yourself a little time and reach out to a friend who already has one and ask if they are willing to share. My guess is they will, most sourdough enthusiasts are all too willing to spread the obsession with anyone & everyone they can.
Once you have a healthy start, all you really need to do to maintain it is bake. As compared to storebought bread a homebaked loaf is healthier (no icky, unpronounceable ingredients), more delicious (because flavor takes precedence over shelf life), and prettier (which is not important, of course, but true nonetheless).
March: Grow a garden
In many places, March may seem too early for gardening, at least at the start of the month. In like a lion, out like a lamb, right? While it is possibly too early for much outdoors, if you wait until April or May when the weather has shifted and the soil has warmed, you will likely find that you have missed your window for starting seeds, many cooler weather plants will be past their growing season, and you may have even missed an entire harvest cycle! Start now to prepare for the most productive garden possible. Make a plan, get your seeds ready to go, and start some of those seedlings indoors so they are ready to transplant when warmer weather comes.
Once you have a healthy start, all you really need to do to maintain it is bake. As compared to storebought bread a homebaked loaf is healthier (no icky, unpronounceable ingredients), more delicious (because flavor takes precedence over shelf life), and prettier (which is not important, of course, but true nonetheless).
April: Cook from scratch
Now that you’ve begun to bake your own bread, it is time to really commit to cooking your meals from scratch too. Ideally, we’d all be eating only food which we have grown/raised (how’s that garden looking?), but we don’t live in an ideal world and in real life that just isn’t possible for everyone. So don’t panic if you aren’t able to cook/eat exclusively from the garden, just do the best you can with what you’ve got.
Cooking from scratch gives you a chance to cut out some of those so-called “convenience” foods filled with preservatives, artificial colors & flavors, questionable ingredients, and plastic packaging. As with baking your own bread, made-from-scratch food tastes better, is often healthier, and can save you money. I find cooking to be both relaxing and empowering, plus it’s a good creative endeavor.
If this is very new for you, start small and keep it simple. Take control of a few meals a week focusing on easy recipes to build your skills and confidence. One pot wonders, sheet pan suppers, and slow cooker/instant pot “dump” meals are a great place to start. Master a few of those and then branch out, building your repertoire as you go.
May: Reduce waste
With Earth Day at the end of April, May is the perfect time to refocus on reducing waste and living more sustainably. Having started baking bread, cooking meals, and growing a garden, you’ve already taken some concrete steps in the right direction. Have you noticed how much plastic we go through in a “typical” grocery trip? Produce bags, product packaging, shopping bags, even produce stickers. And that’s just the grocery store, what about everywhere else? So, you’ve made a start, now we take next steps.
What are those next steps? Good question! Some simple swaps like reusable shopping totes in place of plastic grocery bags, or mesh produce bags in place of those plastic ones at the store are fairly easy. You could start washing and reusing empty jars for dry storage or packaging leftovers, pack a lunch instead of eating out, create a meal plan and eat your leftovers to reduce food waste, go paperless with your bills, start a compost…There are so many possibilities. Start where you are to do what you can and see where it takes you.
June: Learn to mend and/or make your clothing
My mother taught me to sew when I was young. I am not, and probably never will be, quite as gifted a seamstress as she is—mostly because I have 27,000 other hobbies and don’t devote anywhere near enough time to this one—but I am ever grateful for the skills I have as they allow me to continue to get the most out of my clothing and household items. June is a good time to start that particular journey for yourself. As with the rest of the tasks on this list, start simple and build your skills as you can. Learn to replace a button, fix a dropped hem, repair a popped seam, etc. You don’t even need a sewing machine for that kind of thing. If you have some basic skills and access to a sewing machine you could begin to make some of your clothing rather than purchasing it.
July: Forage
Some folks prefer the term wildcrafting, but forage has never bothered me, so I’m going to use it. Foraging is a fantastic way to supplement your garden, but you need to know what you’re doing and be safe. So, spend some time learning to identify plants and forage in your area. You may be surprised by the bounty of edible and otherwise useful plants readily available, even in urban and suburban areas. I gather rosehips and willow along the river, plantain (the leafy green, not the banana-like fruit) and red clover in city parks, elderflower and elderberries alongside local hiking trails, yarrow and mullein in the foothills at the north end of town, and dandelion from my neighbors’ yards. If you live in an area with public lands, take advantage of the fact that you are, indeed, a member of the public and as such able to use those lands. Provided you are outside a National Park, you can make use of plant materials on public lands, so make use!
Once you can reliably identify plants which are safe for use, you can start gathering—responsibly. Read more about responsible foraging here.
August: Learn to preserve the food you’ve grown
If you have kept up with your garden, and I sincerely hope that you have, you are likely starting to reap the benefits of growing your own food. Eating fresh from the vine (or whatever form your plant buddies take) simply cannot be beat. You are probably also noticing that there is a great deal of the process that is out of your control, including the quantity of produce. You may find that you are unable to consume everything your garden produces while it is in its prime, but don’t want that bounty to go to waste, especially when you know that your garden will halt production in a short time and you will be without all of that freshness come winter. This is why we preserve.
Take some time this month to learn how to preserve your harvest for future use. Canning, dehydrating, and freezing are the most common, and probably most useful methods, although there may be others to consider depending on what you have grown. You will need to invest in some equipment and take time to master its use, but once you do you will be able to enjoy the bounty of your harvest for months to come.
September: Introduce some home herbalism basics
Chances are, you’ve got some kind of tried-and-true “home remedy” or other floating around your family history. Most of those remedies have their roots in a long, storied history of humans using plants as medicine. I’ve noticed a increased interest in herbalism recently, but don’t be fooled, this is not some silly trend or fad that you’d be better off ignoring. Plant medicine, or herbalism, predates western medicine by centuries. Autumn has arrived and that means the colder months are on their way. Like it or not, those colder months often bring weaker immune systems and an increase in illness, making September the perfect time to introduce some herbal support to your routine.
Take advantage of those back-to-school vibes that seem to descend this time of year and start studying some herbalism basics. I am not saying that you ought to go back to school or become an expert—though if that is something you are interested in you should do it—I’m merely advocating for the inclusion of some herbal practices in your life. Start with those home remedies—research the ingredients, find out why granny (or great-granny, or great-great-auntie Marilyn, or whoever) used this particular preparation, then research the ingredients. Begin incorporating more of those powerful plant allies in your life. You may be surprised to find just how easy it is to start.
October: Clean-up your cleaning routine
Okay, okay, I know there’s a whole thing about Spring Cleaning, but what about a Fall Refresh? It’s not like spring is the only time of year we clean things, right? Right? Yeah, I’m right. At any rate, things are slowing down on the homestead and this time of year brings all the preparations for winter. In my life those preparations include a good deep clean of the home before we hunker down and spend the bulk of our time indoors. By that reasoning, October is the perfect time to refresh not by cleaning, but by cleaning up the cleaning.
Have you ever looked at what is actually in your cleaning products? Most people haven’t. Even the so-called “eco-friendly” or “green” products aren’t really as clean as you might think. Greenwashing is real, y’all. I’m not here to drag any particular products or shame anyone who uses those products, we’re all just doing the best we can with what we have. It’s just that the companies which produce those products have a spent a literal fortune convincing you that they are better than the old ways, that your house isn’t really clean if you haven’t used one of these super-toxic products, and that simply isn’t true. In many cases, a simpler, DIY cleaning product is perfectly adequate. Plus, it can save you money, cut down on waste, and remove toxins from your home.
November: Learn to knit or crochet
Similar to learning how to sew, learning to knit and/or crochet will allow you to make and repair both clothing and household goods, especially as winter sets in. Hats, scarves, blankets, pillows, sweaters…all the cozy things. Contrary to popular belief knitting or crocheting are not actually the same thing. The only reason that matters is that they use different tools and then use them in slightly different ways. Anything you can make by knitting can also be made by crocheting, and vice versa, so choose one and go for it! I happen to think crocheting is slightly easier, at least in its most basic form, but you do what you like. Master the basic stitches, learn to read a pattern (fair warning: there is a LOT of shorthand and a bunch of abbreviations), and the sky’s the limit!
December: Give handmade gifts
Regardless of your religious tradition or beliefs (or lack thereof), December/winter brings traditions of gift-giving for a good majority of the world. It is easy to get overwhelmed in trying to find (read: buy) the perfect gift for everyone in your life, but what if we took a step back and chose, instead, to give something lovely, and beautiful, and deeply personal? What if, we stopped succumbing to the hyper-commercialized, heavily consumer-driven approach to gifting? What if we chose to gift something homemade instead? What if?
Use you’re the skills you have developed this year to gift something handmade and filled with love for whatever holiday you choose to celebrate this winter. Need ideas? Check out my Handmade Holiday Gift Guide here.
