43 Lucrative Side Hustles for Homesteaders

So, you’ve got your homestead up and running, your animals picked out, and your food plants planted. But what happens when you need some extra cash flow for your homestead, or you just want some extra cash flow to have a cushion?

That’s where having a side hustle in between all the chores can help bring in some extra cash on the homestead. Depending on your skills, free time, and where you are located, there are plenty of options to choose from to start your hustle.

43 Side Hustles for Homesteaders

1. Build things like chicken coops, hutches, bookcases, tables, and dog beds.
2. Upcycle old furniture with chalk paint
3. Re-purpose and recycle items other people might throw away
4. Make quilts
5. Sew clothes
6. Embroidery
7. Mending clothes
8. Knit scarves, hats, socks, and blankets
9. Leatherwork
10. Cricut. Make arts, crafts, decals, and more with a Cricut machine.
11. 3D printing. Print 3D items like toys.
12. Make jams, jellies, or preserves
13. Canned foods. If the area in which you live allows you to sell food from your kitchen, you can can foods such as meals or meats in Mason jars and then sell them.
14. Baked and cooked foods. Other foods you can sell under cottage laws are baked goods such as bread, sourdough products, or cooked goods such as tamales.
15. Make soaps and lotions from tallow or lard
16. Make tisanes, tinctures, balms, and salves from homegrown plants and herbs
17. Grow and sell firewood
18. Build garden items like birdhouses, benches, and garden beds
19. Welding. Weld items to sell or do welding jobs for other people
20. Carpentry. Build items or help others with their carpentry projects
21. Mow lawns
22. Chainsaw services. Chop firewood for people, prune trees, general chopping help.
23. Beekeeping. Sell your bees’ honey and beeswax
24. Rent out your bees to nearby farmers for pollination services
25. Sell milk from goats or cows
26. Rent out goats as lawn trimmers or weed removers
27. Breed animals and sell the offspring
28. Sell homegrown produce at a farmer’s market or roadside stand
29. Sell homegrown seeds or buy seeds in bulk and sell the excess
30. Propagate and grow starter plants
31. Grow microgreens to sell
32. Grow mushrooms to sell. Mushrooms are quite easy to grow and are very high value. Start with a mushroom kit to see how easy it is, then you can start growing in earnest!
33. Rent out a part of your property as a wedding venue or a backdrop for photographers. You can make it extra beautiful with gorgeous garden furniture, arches covered in flowering climbing plants, and maybe even a water feature!
34. Sign up for Airbnb or Hipcamp and rent out a room, camping spot, or your whole property
35. Start a YouTube channel showing people your homestead life
36. Start a blog, like this one 😀
37. Become an editor
38. Look into captioning
39. Start affiliate marketing
40. Buy a good smoker and sell jerky, ham, and other things
41. Become a freelance writer
42. Become a graphic designer
43. Become a permaculture designer and hire your services out

If you’re a crafty or artsy person, this talent will open a lot of doors to things you can do to bring in some extra cash for your homestead.

From building things to making crafts to refurbishing and upcycling items, there are many things that you can make to sell, either online or in-person at farmer’s markets, craft fairs, or a physical store.

Refurbish and Upcycle

If you’re crafty enough to want to work with things but don’t want to build them from scratch, then refurbishing items or upcycling them might be more of an interesting option for you.

One way to get items to refurbish is to cruise your area and see what people might put at the curb for trash or sell in estate sales. Another spot to look is online buy/sell/trade pages or eBay. If the item is cheap enough and doesn’t take too much to spruce up, then you might be able to make a good buck reselling on some of the same pages.

Arts and Crafts

If you’re good with a needle and thread or a sewing machine, then making quilts or clothes might be right up your alley. If you want to get extra fancy with your sewing, or you happen to have the machine for it, then embroidery can also be a good way to bring in some extra money for your homestead.

Mending clothes is also a good option for a homesteader with good sewing skills, and this skill can also come in handy with your own homestead.

If sewing isn’t your cup of tea, there are other crafty things you can make to bring some extra money into your homestead. If you enjoy knitting, then you can make such items as scarves, hats, socks, and blankets, among other warm items.

Leatherwork

Another crafty option to look at for people who aren’t into sewing or knitting is leatherwork. Working with leather takes some skill but can be learned fairly easily.

The only downside to doing leatherwork is that it requires some specialized tools that can’t necessarily be bought at a nearby store, as sewing or knitting supplies can.

Cricut and 3D Printing

If you aren’t a very crafty person with a needle and thread or a needle and yarn but still want to sell homemade items, there are other options out there that don’t require these skills.

If you want to make things and don’t mind investing in specialty machines, then you could always go the Cricut route or the 3-D printing route.

A Cricut machine is what you would use to make decals or paper products, and is a good option for those who love to draw and design, and wants to sell those designs without having to paint or draw.

A 3-D printer started out being used for different types of work, but can now be had for personal use.

It is like a regular printer, but instead of printing on paper, a 3-D printer “prints” out 3-dimensional objects such as toys, parts for existing items, or can even be used to make prosthetic parts for animals.

Made in the Kitchen

Having homemade items to sell doesn’t have to involve any specialty machines or a lot of knowledge. There are things you can make on your homestead that only require tools that most people already have in their house.

If you prefer to work in the kitchen to make things to sell, there are many options for things to make. If you have a good garden with lots of leftovers, then making jams, jellies, or preserves is a good place to start. Knowing how to preserve your extra produce on the homestead is always a good skill to learn and if you choose to sell the extras, then you’ll have an extra income stream as well.

Buy a decent smoker and sell jerky, smoked ham, and other products. Always check local laws before selling food stuffs.

If the area in which you live allows you to sell food from your kitchen, then you can also can foods such as meals or meats in Mason jars and then sell them to customers. Other foods you can also sell under cottage laws are baked goods such as breads, sourdough products, or cooked goods such as tamales.

Read more: Pit Barrel Cooker vs Oklahoma Joe

Soaps, Lotions, and Health

If you want to use your kitchen to produce money but prefer not to do much cooking, then there are other products you might be able to make using what is available.

If you have an excess of tallow or lard, then you can convert that into soaps or lotions for selling to the public. These can either be plain or scented with plants that you grow on your homestead, such as lavender or mint.

If you don’t want to make soaps but still want to use the fruits of your homestead, then making items such as tisanes, tinctures, balms, and salves might be more up your alley.

Tisanes are like teas, but instead of being made with the tea leaf, they are made with leaves of other plants such as chamomile or mint, and can be a very popular choice of drink. Tinctures, balms, and salves are items that can come in handy as an addition to a good first aid kit on a homestead, or even in a suburban or urban house.

Wood Items

Maybe working in the kitchen or with a sewing machine or knitting isn’t your cup of tea. If that’s the case and you still want to work with your hands, there are other options that can also come in handy on your own homestead.

If you have a lot of trees on your property, or grow trees that have to be pruned occasionally, then selling firewood is a great way to make money and get rid of excess wood on your property.

Many urban and suburban gardeners also love to buy handcrafted objects from small businesses, and such objects can fetch a decent price for the amount of time put into them. If you’re a good woodworker, building items like birdhouses, benches, and garden beds can be a great way to bring some extra money in.

If you want to work with other homesteaders or hobby gardeners, then building chicken coops or beehives might be more up your alley. Woodworking and carpentry are also handy skills to have around the homestead as well.

Welding

Welding is another skill that can come in handy, both on the homestead and off. Welding is a specialized skill that pays well, and you will oftentimes get requests to help other homesteaders with projects, as well as do projects for people who may own a business with special needs, or just someone who wants a piece done here and there.

All you need to get started is a welder, and it doesn’t have to be a super fancy one either. Lincoln is one of the best welder brands out there.

Lawn and Garden Care

If you already have the equipment available, mowing lawns or fields is also another option to look at if you’re not a welder or woodworker. You can avail yourself and your chainsaw to chop up firewood for people, prune trees, or offer general chopping help. 

Read more: Best self-propelled lawnmowers under $350

Do a permaculture design course and become a permaculture designer. It’s a way of living with nature, not working against it. You can then hire out your services as designer for farmers and other homesteaders.

Read more: Essential Skills for Homesteaders

Animals

Maybe being crafty or working with your hands isn’t what you’re good at, but you don’t want to leave your homestead to find a way to bring in some extra cash flow. If you live on a homestead, chances are you’ve got animals, a garden, or both on your property, so let’s start by looking at what you can do with animals on your homestead to bring in some extra money.

If you are into bees, then you can sell the honey they make or even rent them out to pollinate farmers’ fields, if that is an option where you live. See also: Become a backyard beekeeper and best books for beekeepers.  

If you have dairy animals such as goats or cows then you can sell the milk they produce, but be sure to check the laws in your locality first.

For those with goats, a popular option in some grassy areas that are trying to be greener is to rent out the goats as lawn trimming services or for weed control.

Another way to utilize the animals on your homestead is to breed animals such as rabbits, chickens, or pigs in order to sell the baby animals for people who want pets or a hobby.

Read more: Chickens vs Ducks, Raising Chickens 101, Slow Feeders for Horses – yay or neigh?

Sell Plants & Produce

If you don’t want to deal with selling animals or their products for extra cash, then there is always the option to sell plants and their bounty for some extra cash. Depending on how much land you have and what you’re already doing with it, there are several options.

If you already have a garden and have some extra produce that your family won’t use up, then a good option to start off would be by selling it at a farmer’s market nearby or setting up a roadside produce stand, if there is a busy enough road nearby.

Read more: Best vegetables to grow in a survival garden, things you need to know before starting a garden

If you already collect and prepare seeds yourself, then you can sell any extra seeds, sell starter plants, or propagate some of your existing plants in some of the same places. If there is some specialty food that is in high demand in your area, such as mushrooms or microgreens, then setting up an area to grow these foods can be lucrative.

Rent Out Your Property

If you don’t mind having people come to your property, then there are several options to bring in some extra money.

If you have a beautiful piece of property, then there is always the option to rent out some of your land as a backdrop for photographers to use for pictures or as a wedding venue. You can rent out a room or part of your land through sites like AirBnB or HipCamp.

Online Side Hustles

If you are an introvert and don’t want too many people on your homestead but have decent enough internet service, there are things you can do to show off your homestead life without having to invite people over personally.

If you want people to experience the homestead life with you, then starting a YouTube channel might be right up your alley. Start a podcast or a blog. These things will all take time to get off the ground.

If you’re good with grammar, consider becoming an editor. Most editing jobs are based from home and you can do as much or as little as you want. The same applies to captioning, there is great demand for captioners from companies such as Rev.

Become an affiliate marketer. Affiliate marketing is a great way to make extra cash. You promote products to your audience on your blog or social media, and when someone buys a product, you receive a commission. Sign up as affiliate with Amazon or check out Share a Sale, a great platform with 100s of great companies to promote.

In the same spirit, offer your freelance services as a writer. There’s a great demand for skilled writers on sites like Upwork and you can work your way up to make some decent money. Graphic design is another, if you have a flair for that.

If you need to bring some extra cash flow to your homestead, there are many options to choose from that would fit your needs and personality that have been listed here.

There are also other ways to have extra money coming into your homestead that may not have been covered here, but the options are about as extensive as there are different niches and preferences.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to find something or a combination of things that works for you and your homestead! Let us know what your side hustle is, or whether you’re looking for one!

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