Here it is, a comprehensive list of homesteading skills to inspire both newbie homesteaders and masters of their craft improve and expand their knowledge.

No one person can master all of these skills. Homesteading isn’t about blazing a trail through the wilderness alone, it’s about being self-sufficient while still being part of a like-minded community. We can strive to live off the grid, but we still have an innate need to be connected with those around us.

Always take on learning new skills one at a time, it’s a process that takes years and even a lifetime of learning. An astute homesteader should acquire a library that covers as many of these topics as possible.

Gardening

• Growing your own food
• Saving vegetable seeds
• Starting seeds indoors
• Propagating plants
• Growing, pruning and grafting trees
• Building and managing a greenhouse
• Permaculture
• Composting
• Vermiculture
• Harvesting rainwater
• Seasonal and weather tracking
• Reading the land

Culinary Skills

• Canning and preserving
• Storing food in a root cellar
• Rendering lard or tallow
• Milling grains
• Baking
• Tapping trees for maple syrup
• Cheese/yogurt/butter making
• Smoking meat
• Drying herbs
• Cooking with and maintaining cast iron
• Cooking only from scratch
• Home brewing
• Distilling
• Stocking a pantry, keeping an inventory and meal planning

Raising Livestock

• Animal husbandry
• Horsemanship
• Pasture management
• Building enclosures and shelters
• Breeding and birthing livestock
• Growing your own animal feed
• Butchering livestock and cleaning fish
• Sheering sheep and processing wool
• Handling eggs
• Milking livestock
• Pasteurizing milk
• Beekeeping
• Cutting, baling and stacking hay
• Veterinary skills
• Record keeping

Handiness

• Auto maintenance and mechanic skills
• Construction and home repair skills
• Building a fence
• Carpentry
• Blacksmithing
• Metalworking and welding
• Cobbling
• Using tools and equipment for the farm and home
• Digging a well
• Skinning, tanning, and leather-working

Crafts

• Candle making
• Soap making
• Sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, weaving
• Basket making
• Pottery
• Broom making
• Making cleaning supplies
• Making beauty and skincare products

Survival Skills

• Foraging
• First aid and CPR
• Making medicinal herbal extracts, salves, infusions, poultices and tinctures
• Starting and extinguishing a fire
• Cooking, baking, washing clothes, etc. without power
• Purifying water
• Tying basic knots
• Rope and net making
• Reusing and repurposing everyday items
• Using alternative energy sources
• Harvesting firewood
• Firearm use, safety and storage
• Hunting wild game
• Tracking
• Fishing
• Making your own fishing equipment
• Making and setting traps

Social

• Leadership
• Bartering and trading
• Sustainable living
• Teaching
• Budgeting and money management
• Spirituality
• Organizational skills
• Networking and community involvement

More Ideas?

Which homesteading skills are important to you? Leave a comment below and share your ideas!