How I Grocery Shop for the Year

Bui Williams
The Homestead Garden
Gardening for self sufficiency is an entirely different monster than your backyard salad
garden. There are a lot of factors to determine prior to even breaking ground. Most of us have
some sort of long term goal of being as self sufficient as possible. Breaking down the short term
goals is what tames that monster into something manageable. I started by making assessments of
our land, our wants vs. our needs, and our know-how.
Information is power. If someone told me thirty years ago as I globe trotted around the world
without a care that I would be on my hands and knees greedily pulling my years potato harvest,
I would have thought them crazy. I didnt grow up with a farming background, far from it, but I
knew how to read. I knew how to research. Weather you already have your land, or you have a
dream as to where the best place is for you and your family to realize your self sufficiency, dont
let where you are on your road towards independence alter your research.
This isnt a gardening tutorial. There are hundreds of books at your local library and vidoes
on YouTubeI suggest you to read and view as many as you can. One of the best sources on
growing conditions for your area is your county extension office. Im a firm believer in the
doers as opposed to the sayers. Look for market gardeners in your area, talk to them. Most of
us love to talk shop if weve got the time.
Once you have a general idea of what you are up against you need to make some decisions
based on those findings. Maybe you are like us and have only a ninety day growing season. You
can either decide on crops that will fit those parameters or do more research on season extenders,
i.e. greenhouses, hoop houses, and/or row covers. Perhaps you live in USDA zone 9 and realize
that your dream of having an apple orchard tanks because you dont have the required frost time
those trees need. Find out what fruit substitute will work. Basically, change your need or change
your environment to fit your goals. Obviously, some things are more realistic than others. If you
absolutely must have some apple trees in Florida then I suppose you could have a walk in freezer
to put them in for their winter dormancy. There is always a solution and not any one person is
going to have the right answer for you and your situation.
Dont you just hate it when you are told you cant do something? I was told there was no
way I could grow vine ripe tomatoes in the middle of a zone 4 mountain zone, with an average
190 inches of rain fall a year, and on a rocky ancient dry river bed. Well, phooey on them. I
built my own soil on top of that riverbed, I regulated the rain and weather and the first year I
harvested over fifty pounds of tomatoes. In two years time I canned fifty quarts of sauce, five
pounds of sun dried tomatoes and an oil crock of paste (Ill tell you about that later). Given that
it takes about five pounds of tomatoes per quart of sauce, Id say I was pretty darn successful
growing vine ripe tomatoes in the middle of the mountains.
I find most people these days have a diluted concept of needs versus wants. Because you are
even reading this, just having an interest, I figure you to be well ahead of the preparation game.
Sitting down with your family and discussing those wants, putting them on paper and making
goals gives you a clear cut start to your game plan.
Not everybody likes all vegetables. Believe it or not, I can grow tomatoes like there is no
tomorrow, but up until quite recently I hated raw tomatoes. Hmmm, maybe thats why I grow
them so well. I digress. As a family, however, we do eat a lot of tomato based meals.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 2

Everything from pasta marinara, our home canned V-8 juice, to soups and homemade pizzas. I
know that I need spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, dehydrated tomatoes, and tomato paste. I further
break that down by how much per meal. Say, for instance, that we like to have spaghetti once a
week, and for each batch I use one quart of sauce. Minus Thanksgiving and Christmas that
rounds out to fifty quarts of sauce a year. Then take into consideration that it takes around five
pounds of tomatoes to make one quart of sauce. Now, you are looking at a minimum of two
hundred and fifty pounds of tomatoes just for spaghetti. You can either decide thats not a
problem or you can adjust your wants. Do we really want spaghetti once a week, every week,
for a year? Okay, maybe only twice a month will better suit us. Thats only one hundred and
twenty five pounds of tomatoes for spaghetti, after adding what I would need for paste, juice and
dehydrated perhaps that would be more reasonable. What Im getting at is adjusting your wants
and needs according to time, space, and realism. That being said, I always plan fifty percent
more. You never know when you are going to be afflicted by things you have no control over. If
every year you put up fifty percent more than the years that you are faced with insect plagues or
volcano ash you have backup instead of going without, and really my family would really rather
not go without baked spaghetti.
Now you have your list of vegetables that everyone likes, that you use on a regular basis and
youve determined that you can grow in your area. Every year while we are surrounded by wood
heat and sipping hot chocolate, I attack the new garden seed catalogues like, I suppose, young
teen boys look forward to the swimsuit issue. While talking things over with the family about
last season, going over our harvest and storage reports we discuss what wed like different, or
more of, or less of, I create a table for next years garden. This year, while with good intention,
we dedicated half a bed to eggplant. Well, I should have known better and hind sight is twentytwenty. We, as a family, dont really like eggplant except for in roasted baba ganush which we
had twice last year. It would make more dollar, labor, space, and material sense to buy two
plants at the garden center and tuck them in with the peppers. Duh, my bad. With menus and
recipes in my head, seed catalogues and yield charts in my lap I compose a table listing the
vegetable, the variety, the source, our estimated wants, the estimated yields, the space needed and
any extra materials that that particular crop may need. I then take out the graph paper and last
seasons garden layout and draw a new one making sure to apply my rotation and any changes.
Before the snow has melted I have a clear cut plan as to what the garden will entail for the next
year. I think of it like a major shopping list. Only, Im shopping once a year for all our
vegetative needs.
There are other things to take into consideration, namely storage and preservation. Again
there are a number of books or even You-tube videos on the subject, see my website. There are
many levels of homesteading and I dont pretend to know all of the different philosophies out
there. We happen to live tied to the grid after having lived ten years off. In some ways its
easier, in others ways we hate the dependence and have a multitude of backup systems just in
case. But for reference I do include using an electric freezer as a viable option for preservation.
Of course there are propane freezers, they are high end and propane costs, like everything else,
has increased dramatically. I also use a rather nice electric dehydrator. I dehydrated by the
woodstove, using solar, and good old fashioned air for many years, but with the amount I put up
I do have to say I prefer the ease of time, the consistency, and the safety of knowing Ive reached
optimum moisture levels. Unfortunately, Ive lost a lot of food in the past to bad dehydration.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 3

Now there are better and safer commercial type dehydrators on the market that can ensure a
better final product.
Canning, to me, is probably the most important, most viable, longest shelf life, and more
versatile than most all other ways. Not only do you can fruit and vegetables via water bath or
pressure canning, but you can can premade recipes, juices, pickles and preserves. There are
some drawbacks. As with all things, there is an initial cost building up your jar supply and
purchasing your equipment. Things like spinach and peas taste much better frozen than canned.
You do lose some of the vitamins and minerals, but far less than commercially canned products
that use a multitude of preservatives. All in all the benefits out way the cons. If done right, it
can last up to five years. It doesnt matter if your power goes out or if insects and mice get into
your pantry. Canning is a staple skill on the homestead and I highly recommend it learned.
Dehydrating is my next most important. It is amazing what can be dehydrated. Besides most
fruit and vegetables there are all your herbs. Next time you are at the grocery store check how
much a one and half ounce bottle of spice runs, anywhere from seven to twelve dollars where I
live. Twenty dollars in herb seed will produce pounds of dried herb in one season. I can easily
use two ounces of oregano in batching up my year supply of marinara. Many of those herb
plants are perennial and will only continue to produce more and more over the years. I find with
cooking everything from scratch as well as I use more herbs. Sure, maybe there are two hundred
oregano seeds in a sampler packet for $1.99. Even if you get fifty percent germination and
decide to keep five plants, youd be surprised how quickly those ninety five herb seedlings sell at
a farmers market or even on Craigslist for $2.00 a piece. Do the math.
The last important step in dehydrating is how you store it. Conventional storage of dried
product in paper bags and then in airtight containers can last anywhere from six months to two
years. I swear by the vacuum sealer. Vacuum sealing with an air absorber then placing the
packets in a container, storing them in cool, dry and dark environment will last a decade or more
if done right.
Root cellaring is the easiest of the preservation methods, but with the most initial work in
creating the perfect cellar. There are many schools of thought on the perfect root cellar, but only
you can decide what is the most cost and labor efficient for you. Our thought process was in the
long term. We conceived that wed be doing it every year for life so we put forth the money and
effort into a more elaborate set-up. We use a combination of two basement rooms as well as a
few other places tucked here and there.
There are four basic conditions under which all storage fruit and vegetables fall under: cold
and humid (just above 32 degrees F), cool and humid, cold and dry, and warm and dry
Vegetables
that like cold and humid: Beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, etc. Potatoes prefer cool and
humid. Garlic and onions like cold and dry and Sweet Potatoes and winter squash like warm and
dry. Apples, Pears and especially Asian Pears are about the only long term fruit that can be root
cellared fresh. They should never be open in the same room with cabbage or potatoes. Cabbages
will cause an off flavor and the gasses released by the fruit will cause the potatoes to form eyes
sooner rather than later.
That all being said we only have a cold and humid room and a cool and humid room in our
basement. Garlic braids and onion bins are kept in the garage even though I can really control
the humidity out there it is less than the house or basement in our winters. Also since we only do

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 4

a small crop of yams and only a hundred or so pounds of winter squash they hang out in the mud
room or Ive even shoved them under the bed in the guest room that was mostly closed off from
heat. We cellar a lot of a few things every year; five hundred pounds of carrots, three hundred
and fifty pounds of potatoes, at least three hundred bulbs apiece of garlic and onions, and over a
hundred head of cabbage. Thats just for human food. We also have a pit cellar for two tons of
mangle fodder for the livestock.
My last preservation method is freezing and it is rather new to me since we lived off grid for
so many years. Because of the volatility of the method I try not to put too much stake into it.
We prefer the taste of frozen corn and peas as opposed to canned. I do know that in a pinch I can
quickly can up the frozen stuff if necessary. Freezer life is shorter than canning, but vacuum
packaging has made it last longer than it has in the past. Quite frankly, there are some things that
just cant be canned like Brussels sprouts or some things that can only be canned in a pickled
state such as cabbage or cauliflower and broccoli. I never freeze an entire crop of anything.
Despite using all four methods of preservation I dont use one method for all of any one
crop. Too many eggs in one basket so to speak. Even something as easy as potatoes are store in
the root cellar I dehydrate slices for quick scalloped potatoes; I grate and freeze hash browns,
and even can some of the unique heirloom new potatoes.

On Homestead Livestock
Livestock on the homestead can be a blessing or an encumbrance, but no matter which, they
take time, money and resource. There are many opinions on what animals belong on a
sustainable homestead, how they are feed and raised, and even how they are processed. All
animals must be fed, whether you have the land and labor to grow the feed or you are buying
from a feed store. All animals require clean fresh water, even if their current pasture is a half
mile from your well. All require some shelter from the elements and predators, even minimally
fencing, all which costs money. All animals deserve basic medical attention, which does not
comply to USDA organic standards. Do you have any idea how much a vet charges for a
prolapsed cow uterus repair? These are only the basics of animal necessities and it is our
responsibility to these domestic animals in our care.
Breed choice is a large consideration for us when deciding on a particular animal. We are big
advocates of the American Breed Conservatory. Like the Industrial Revolution before it, the
Agricultural Revolution saw mass changes in how farming and ranching was done. Instinct was
bred out of animals in favor of animals that adapted well to close confinement and those with
higher feed conversion rates. Agribusiness itself is not only to blame. It is simple micro
economics; supply and demand. We, as a country, demanded plump, cheap, white skinned
chicken, in neat cellophane packaging, however many we wanted and when we wanted it. Thus,
the demand was met. With a few exceptions, we raise heritage older breeds that remember how
to forage, have stronger constitutions, and can successfully breed and raise their young on their
own.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 5

Feed, for us, is another important aspect. In striving to be as self-sufficient as possible, we
choose animals in which we can produce at least 80% of their feed. The more we buy from
outside sources, the less control of the content and more reliant we are on outside factors. I can
admit that this school of thought is labor intensive, but the rewards, to us, far out way the
alternative. We sow, mow, thresh, grind, bale and store our own timothy, alfalfa, oats, wheat,
barley, and corn. We grow non-GMO heirloom seed (another big issue for us) that we save
from the previous season. Of course, there are tractor maintenance and gas costs, but again we
know exactly what our livestock eats, thus what we eat and we do so with little cash outlay.
The last factor of raising livestock on your self sufficient homestead is processing. By
processing, I mean the humane killing, skinning, plucking, butchering and processing of all the
meat and by-products of the livestock. This is one of those learned skills that will save you
thousands if you can get over your squeamish apprehensions. Im not saying its easy. Taking a
life is anything but. However, knowing you gave the best life possible to your critter, knowing
that your diligence and kindness will nourish your family, and trusting that anything you raised
with your own feed and killed humanely will be eons better than anything bought at the
supermarket, dosed with dye and wrapped with cellophane. Watch a You-tube video on
slaughter houses and meat packaging plants. I shouldnt have to say any more.
There are many opinions on what, how, and why. As with your vegetable garden make
educated choices, decide your wants and needs and compare the initial costs, the labor, your land
resource, and do the math. Even though we eat a lot of vegetables we also eat chicken, turkey,
duck, beef, pork, lamb and sometimes venison. If the things I mentioned above have no bearing
on your life choices, by all means buy Costco chicken in bulk. For most people, buying in bulk
is much more convenient and in most cases cheaper initially, than how we do it. Given all above
considerations, the following is how our philosophy with livestock has worked for us.
If you were to have only one homestead animal my vote would be for poultry. The chicken
was a main stay on the American homestead of yesteryear. We raise Black Australorps for egg
production. Despite its Australian roots, this heritage bird is, by my experience, one of the most
winter and health hardy of all the brown egg producers out there. I once had a hen, twenty years
ago; whose breast was sliced open by a bob-cat in the middle of the night. Thinking she was
lost, the next morning I went to clean the aftermath only to find her with a five inch long, one
inch deep gash on her breast. She had plucked away all the feathers and was sitting, happily
announcing the arrival of her morning egg. I cant say enough about these birds. We keep a
flock of hens ranging in size from eight to twelve and one rooster year round. They free range
except during the harshest times of winter. We grow our grain feed, with some alfalfa and
sprouted grain in the winter and supplement trace minerals and calcium. We keep their feed
between fourteen and sixteen percent protein too much puts on too much weight and hinders
their egg laying abilities. These girls are all color coded banded and our daughter keeps
meticulous records. She is also responsible for these ladies being the tamest of all our birds.
They come when called and even sit still for mite inspection. Well get a few naturally raised
clutches a year. Some years we will cull some of the older hens and keep the replacements and
the others are sold. Our daughter has had quite the laying hen entrepreneurial business since she
was ten years old. Her tamed pullets are in high demand.
We use this same method with a small flock of endangered Cayuga Ducks. Ducks do not lay
as well as chickens, but they produce large clutches of ducklings in sync with the seasons. We

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 6

do sell some of the ducklings, for a small profit, but we process a few for meat. Ducks grow
from hatchling to an eight to ten pound live weight bird in eight weeks while decimating your
tick and grass hopper population. There is also the by-product of down from the feathers.
Similar to ducks we have two hens and one tom turkey. Our turkeys are Narragansetts; they
are natural foragers, maters and mothers. During the summer month they forage up to fifty
percent of their feed in our pastures. Again, we keep our breeding stock year round. They raise
anywhere from ten to twenty young every spring. In the fall we sell or process up to four
hundred pounds of turkey meat.
Our meat chickens are handled a bit differently. I will confess that for several years it was
more convenient for me to order the commercial Cornish-Cross with their huge breasts and high
feed conversion rates. Wed do one hundred at a time and it was all said and done in eight
weeks. I changed my ways after dealing with high mortality rates, birds that would rather sit in
the sun and die than walk five feet to shade and water, and birds that grew so fast their legs were
deformed and couldnt walk at all. I started my own breeding program. I was greedy and
wanted the bigger birds in a shorter time, but with all the other natural instincts that my other
heritage birds had. To make a long story short it took several years, but I now have a select flock
of breeders mixed between Dark Cornishs, Buff Orphintons, Australorps, and Light Brahmas. I
hold over a dozen of my best hens and two roosters from the year before. We have a large scale
incubator. I collect up to one hundred fertilized eggs for two weeks at a time in the spring, raise
them in chicken tractors and process them in the fall. We usually do two batches of one hundred.
If the batches are exceptional I will hold most of the breeding stock over or if there is something
I want to improve on I might start with a fresh batch. Either way, we process around eight
hundred pounds of chicken each year. This may seem like an exuberant amount, but remember
were shopping for a year or more at a time. In a typical week I roast three whole chickens, one
for dinner, one for chicken sandwich meat, and one for meals calling for cooked chicken meat as
in salads. We could have another two different chicken dinners using breasts and thighs, another
chicken or two, easily two hundred chickens as year.
About poultry processing: Since we do large scale processing we are planning to invest
and/or built our own tub feather-plucker and scalder. For now, we rent. Most of our processing
is done in the fall when the weather cools. This elevates most insect pest, for those stubborn
ones we set up our outdoor processing room in a large netted tent. The cooler temperature also
helps keep the meat cool while eviscerating before they go on ice. Birds are put in killing cones
and their carotid artery is cut swiftly. Their wings are close to their body and do not flap and hurt
themselves at all. It is quick. They are then left to bleed out for a few minutes before being
dunked in the scalder. From the scalder they are sent to the tub plucker and are de-feathered in
less than two minutes. After plucking they placed on my stainless steel processing table where
the head and feet are taken off and put in separate buckets, the chicken is then eviscerated. The
heart, liver, and gizzards are set aside and the whole bird is put into a tub of ice water. Cooling
the bird quickly is extremely important for tender meat. Over half our birds are kept whole, the
others are pieced. Breasts, thighs, and drumsticks are packaged in bags eight. Wings I keep in
bags of twenty four. All birds, whole and pieced are then vacuum-sealed after cooling and then
frozen. Now, for the other stuff: Heads and feet are boiled in a large kettle I will also throw in
most of the offal from the evisceration. When cooled, the pigs will fight over this delicacy. I
will freeze buckets of this concoction to spread the feeding out. We also time chicken processing

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 7

well before pig processing and during their fattening up period. I like gizzards, so I carefully
remove the gall bladder, peel, and save these. My daughter and I also like pt and use duck and
chicken livers for this. The hearts are usually frozen and then put into the homemade canned dog
and cat food (more on that latter). The backs from the chickens that were pieced are cooked in
industrial sized soup pots over propane burners. I add onions, carrots, celery and some spices.
From one hundred backs, doing fifty at a time, I pressure can around 40 gallons of strong,
excellent chicken broth. The only thing that isnt eaten is the feathers and those go into a special
compost pile which will eventually nourish the soil and start the cycle over.
Onto other animals: we have a dairy cow. Her name is Snookie; yes, she is a purebred
Jersey with a large udder. Jerseys are not a heritage breed only because they are not endangered,
but they do still posses the same traits that made them ideal homestead cows hundreds of years
ago. Snookie is not your average commercial dairy cow either. She is smaller in stature and her
breed produces more milk and butterfat per pound of live weight than any other cow. She lives a
good, good life. She eats our homegrown hay, grain, and mangles. She receives scratches,
brushings, and love, and for all of our efforts she gives us even more in return. She gives us an
average of four gallons of milk a day, even while nursing the calf she provides every year. That
twenty or so gallons a week supply us with three gallons of heavy cream. The heavy cream if
not used fresh is churned into butter. A gallon of heavy cream makes three pounds of butter.
Butter in the store in our area is around $4.00 a lb. One gallon of milk makes around one pound
of cheese. I make five to ten pounds of cheese in the peak season every week. The remainder of
the milk goes for fresh drinking (around two gallons a week) and also to pigs and chickens, who
also get the butter milk and whey from butter and cheese making. Not only to they love it, but it
provides extra protein, vitamins, and calcium. There is nothing better than milk fed pork chops.
Aside from her dairy gifts, Snookie gives us a calf every year. Surprisingly, I found that a lot
of people didnt realize that a cow needed to be bred and have a baby in order to produce milk.
Then again a lot of folks think you must have a rooster in order to have eggs. Anyhow, yes, she
must be bred. It doesnt have to be done every year. Some only do it every other year and push
the lactation. We keep her in milk for ten months, dry her up two months before her next calf is
born and then continue the cycle. Dairy cows are not known for being very meaty. In fact they
put everything they have into lactation. Even the most well fed dairy cow looks hallow with
protruding hips, but they are cows and therefore beef. The commercial market doesnt like dairy
breeds for meat because their fat tends to look yellowish, and we cant have that in our neat
looking packages in the supermarket. We artificially inseminate Snookie with semen from a
smaller Black Angus Bull. The calf shares the milk for four months until the summer pastures
are in high yield (free feed) then it is grass hay fed through the winter. At any one time there is
either a young calf and the yearling or the yearling and Snookie is pregnant. The following fall
when the calf is eighteen months old it is butchered. If we are keeping all the meat or selling to
family, we will butcher at home. Butchering a cow at home is a long, hard, tiresome process. In
the end you have all your by-products, including dog food and cow hide, and all the cuts how
you want and cook them. If you know how to butcher a deer than you can butcher a cow, it is
very similar, only bigger. In some years we will sell a side. In those instances we will take the
animal to a local, licensed butcher. Our customer will pay us for the meat and then pay the
processing fees to the butcher to have the meat cut to his/her discretion. We make money, dont
have excess meat, and our cost for the butcher is more than covered. There are also times we

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 8

have sold the whole cow, especially when weve had a particularly good elk and deer season
and/or have substantial excess from the prior year. Again, vacuum sealing extends the freezer
time on meats.
On hog heaven: My future plans for hogs differ greatly than what we practice today. I wish
to keep a rare heritage sow and breed her. That particular breed has three litters of up to fifteen
piglets per litter. My plans are on standby until a boar of that breed moves into our area. I have
no wish to keep and feed my own boar. At this time AI on pigs has around a low success rate.
Thats not good when semen sticks are running around $50.00 a pop. For now we trade turkeys
and a small amount of hay to a nearby farmer that raises another heritage breed for two piglets
every year. We raise our pigs on pasture. In fact if we need a particular area cleared of bramble,
roots and weeds, we will fence them in there for the season. They are fed grains, scraps and milk
and have free range in a large pasture. They have a nice home, a constant supply of fresh water,
a wallowing hole for those hot days and plenty of things to root. Our pigs never want. The pigs
are usually the last in the year to be butchered. We take advantage of our orchard falls and they
are fattened on free choice fruit. If we sell one of the hogs we send it to the butchers like the
cow. We process our own and we use most everything. We scrape rather than skin so we get
great cracklings when we process our lard. We cure and smoke our own bacon, ham, and hard
salamis. I grind, season and stuff our own sausage. From the head, and bones I make pork broth
and scrapple for the dogs. The scrupulously cleaned intestines are used for sausage casings.
Even the feet are pickled. Some of our family members love this delicacy.
I keep a small herd of Shetland Sheep. They are one of the oldest breeds of sheep in
existence. They are smaller in stature and derive most of their feed from the steep hill side
pastures that they are kept on. They are fed hay throughout the winter and I do grain the
pregnant ewes. They have naturally short tails so docking for bot fly infestations is not a
problem. We will cull and process year old castrated males and they market is quite good for the
registered ewes. Lamb is not our mainstay meat; however I do make quite a few Mediterranean
dishes that we thoroughly enjoy. My largest interest in my sheep is for their extremely luxurious
wool. I felt, spin, weave and knit clothing and outer ware for my family. I also have a small
cottage business on the side. Ill get into that a bit later.
Because we have Snookie as our main dairy supply it isnt entirely necessary to have goats,
but like the sheep, they are an indulged extra. We keep two does and two weathers. Our does
get bred off site and kid yearly. We milk them solely for the making of goat cheese, which we
love. The weathers are our brush eaters and we mostly keep them around for entertainment
value.
To be honest a horse has little or no use on a homestead unless you manage cattle or they are
trained and work in harness. But, I love horses, and was raised with them, and so is my daughter.
We do train and rescue on the side as a business. Sometimes well have up to five, including our
two personal horses. To be fair, they sometimes help move animals from pasture to pasture. But
for the most part the saying is true, horses are hay burners. If you dont grow your own hay and
have high quality pasture during the growing seasons then you are looking at a minimum of six
tons of hay a year (or 8 if you have a really, really, big one like I do :/) Currently, over in Western
Washington hay is selling locally for $250.00 a ton.
I guess I should make mention of the other animals that we have and have had on our
homestead. I do keep angora rabbits, again, for my fiber hobby. We have raised rabbits for meat

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 9

and will be reincorporating back into our food system, soon. We have an adopted wild burro that
protects my sheep with such vigilance that it is sometimes hard to get near them. We have had a
small pond stocked with trout. And last but not least we have our pets. We have two outdoor
cats that are worth their weight in gold. The best mouse traps ever. We also have two dogs that
protect our family and homestead. We love all our animals and we strive to make sure that they
live the most healthy and happy life possible.
In short, tt may seem that we process a lot of meat. The majority of the meat our family eats
comes from poultry. Even though we process a cow every year we dont eat that much red meat,
surprisingly, maybe once a week. We do entertain quite a bit. We have big family gatherings,
host neighborhood harvest feasts, and have cook outs with our homesteading school students.
Youd be surprised how many hamburgers a crowd of fifty can eat. In addition we make all our
own pet food for two large working dogs and two semi retired cats. If it seems like a lot of work,
it is; hard, honest work. Instead of working in an office all day, run to the grocery store and run
home to feed my family processed, genetically modified food. I tend to my fields and garden,
feed and water our livestock, and process them in one fell swoop. I pay for my healthfully raised
food with my own labor and make extra income on the side without wasting commuter gas or
having a clothing budget. This is how I grocery shop for a year.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 10

Income on the Homestead
Im not disillusioned enough to state that you can homestead with no money. Thats near
impossible even with the most perfect conditions. Most of us have mortgages, taxes, and
insurance, energy and material expenses to pay. However, applying the need versus want tactic
youd be surprised how low your expenses can get and how well your homestead income can
work for you.
More than likely one of the adults will have an outside source of income, but that doesnt
necessarily mean that you have to leave home to do that. For a time, I made pretty good money
doing online tech support on my home computer for a national telecommunications company.
We even had medical insurance through them. We are fortunate that my husbands job is his
own making. He is a log home handcrafter and his log yard and construction site is on our
homestead. He is five minutes away if I have a loose cow emergency. Despite what it is that
you do now for income, there are many, many ways to supplement or even replace that right off
of your own homestead.
Before I get into homestead income opportunities I need to address mindset. Im trying not
to push my philosophies, but I firmly believe that one must acknowledge the excess of
materialism in todays American society. Peer pressure doesnt stop after high school, it gets
worse. Somehow weve twisted needs with wants and the dont haves are now looked upon as
being somewhat deprived. Our daughter was raised not wearing ANYTHING or wanting
anything designer. Granted, we homeschool and she doesnt have that constant peer pressure,
but we also taught her the value of a dollar. She would rather save her money for new bridle or
saddle than in clothes that will only be in fashion for six months. It is a mind set. I was raised
living, traveling, and shopping all over the world. I was never without anything material that I
could conceive. It was an extravagant and privileged childhood. My childhood allowed me to
experience a lot more than what I could attain by witnessing the withouts the majority of the
world endured.
Most of us have seen or have been affected by the last several years of economic down turn.
Perhaps this was a major push for some of you toward having a homestead. Regardless, frugality
is a learned behavior. Being frugal is not only easier on our personal pocket book, but makes our
stamp in life easier on our morals, our community, and our earth.
Off the soapbox and onto money: The simplest, less costly and most convenient way of
making money is doing what you are already doing. If youve decided to grow most if not all
your vegetative needs, you are well on your way. When I buy or save seeds I have way more
than I can ever use in one season. Vegetable and herb starts are an easy money maker. You dont
even have to outlay the cost of little pots. You can make your own out of recycled newspaper or
even buy a newspaper pot molding contraption for cheap. It doesnt take that much time to care
for the extra seedlings, you are already doing it. No potting soil needs to be bought because you
have readily available compost, right? If you dont want to rent a table at your local farmers
market ask a small shop owner to set up a table outside their business, it can only benefit them by
drawing in more people. Or if you dont even want to deal with retail, sell it in bulk to a school
or club that can use it for fund raising. You wont get as much, but you have nothing else to do.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 11

Better yet advertise on Craigslist and have people come to you. Same goes for extra produce at
harvest time. Sell, sell, sell.
Apply all of that to your livestock. In the spring I undoubtedly have extra chicks, ducklings
and baby turkeys. Poultry are easy to sell on Craigslist. If you raise pigs, three litters a year can
make you a lot of money and keep your sow in slop. If you dont want to deal with your dairy
calf cross it can still fetch a few hundred dollars once its weaned, and you never had to feed it.
Offer a discount to 4-H kids.
Livestock products can be a little trickier. In our state there are regulations that allow you to
sell processed chickens if your numbers are kept under a few thousand. Chickens are advertised
as pasture raised, organically fed, heritage chickens and I only do it when I am going to process
for myself. Because we have limited grain I only sell a few of these, yet they are in high
demand. A six pound dressed roaster chicken sells for around $15.00 and I have people fighting
over my extras. Eggs are easy to sell, but you cannot sell milk, cheese or anything you have
processed without a commercial or cottage industry license from the health department, with the
exception of chickens. As much as I hate to agree, I do. Bad things can happen without some
regulations. You can, however, advertise and sell raw cows milk for replacer feed. I have my
suspicions that quite a few raw milk advocates buy their milk under this auspice and its perfectly
legal. Its their choice, perhaps its the new dont ask, dont tell.
We grow and put up a lot more hay than we use a year. We sell the excess, for quite a profit,
I might add. Because of the economic farming hardships in Asia, hay is at a premium. Our
neighbor loads semis straight off the baler, drives it across the state and off loads on the docks in
Seattle. Last year (2012) Japan paid him $900 a ton for alfalfa. Crazy. Even if you are not
certified organic (which has totally gotten political at this point) advertise that you use no
chemicals and only organic fertilizers with minimum impact on the land, if in fact you do, of
course.
Pasture leasing and/or caretaking can take next to nothing out of your time since you are
providing the same care as you would to your own animals. If you have extra pasture space,
lease it. We have boarded several horses over time. In the spring and summer when horses are
out on pasture and getting minimal hay we charge $150 a month. Of course that includes pasture
rotation, fresh water, and inspection. In the winter months, we provide full feed and stabling we
get as much as $400 a month, depending on the needs of the horse. We have raised pigs for the
neighbor. They buy the pig; pay $50 a month for our feed and our service of feeding them, and
in the end they have a marketable pig to sell or for their home use. Personally I would never use
this service myself, because it doesnt make fiscal sense. But some people dont want to deal
with housing, feeding, and fencing for an animal, and dont mind the extra cost to get organically
grown pork.
We easily make several thousand if not close to ten thousand a year selling extra things that
we already grew or raised. That alone covers our mortgage, tractor expenses, and electric bill for
the year, but it doesnt cover all our costs.
Secondary livestock non edible products are another source for money. I raise Shetland
sheep; I spin, felt, weave and knit as a personal hobby. Crafts and clothing sold from my hobby
is just money in my pocket. Of course I am careful to balance it out and never let my personal
outlet get pushed aside for a cash crop. I do have my limits.

Authors Last Name / 1-2 Words from Title / 12

Our daughter grows gourds. She dries, carves, and decorates birdhouses, containers, and
soup ladles. We live within five miles of four lakes. She bought her initial worm stock, built her
own large bin, feeds them table scraps and sells worms all summer. Plus, I get the casings for
our garden. Sometimes her piggy bank is heavier than mine, but she has the responsibility and
privilege of owning her own horse. She buys her own tack, pays for hoof trimming and shoes,
medications, and has a savings for unexpected vet bills.
We live on a rather secluded country road that gets little traffic, but the next intersecting road
gets summer traffic to the lakes. We negotiated a deal with our neighbor of erecting an attractive
rustic honor stand on their property that fronts the road. There is risk involved with an honor
stand, and weve had some takers that didnt pay, but all in all we have sold bumper crops of
vegetables, cups of chilled worms, eggs and number of smaller crafts. Just be diligent, have a
good lock box, and be prepared to cut a loss. In other words, dont make it tempting by putting
out a handmade sheepskin coat. Thats not the place for higher end sales.
There are other things you may not already do, but could. If you are computer savvy, take
advantage of it. Design websites; have your own and sell advertising. There are a lot of books
out there on how to do this. Is there a unique skill you have? Offer a class. If you have a
sizeable forest, sell firewood. Just be sure not to cut yourself short or over utilize your woodlot
without replanting.
Trade skills for things you need. Not by choice, but my husband makes a couple hundred
extra dollars every winter plowing driveways, and our driveways out here are long. Ours is
almost a mile. I say not by choice because hed be more than happy to help a neighbor, but they
insist since he does it without being asked.