Off to the Market

How to make money on a homestead is one of the most frequently asked questions around homesteading. It is usually the breaking point for most homesteads or the barrier that stops people from getting into homesteading.

For our family, it is a barrier that is preventing us from homesteading full time or at a larger scale. But there are ways around that barrier…

Our current solution to the money issue is that we are continuing in our jobs to cover the bills but we are trying to learn how to make enough money to have homesteading pay for itself.

Over the last few weeks, we have been doing two markets! The first market is our Thursday night market in our front yard. Each Thursday, we prepare our garden harvests to put at the end of our driveway. We have used this market as a way to give back to our community since so many people have helped us get this far. The market goods are sold by donation (a “give what you can, take what you need” model) and the profits will be donated to local food banks at the end of the season.

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Obviously, this model doesn’t help with covering the costs of homesteading but it is giving us more experience selling our goods.

A couple weeks ago we were invited to the Cole Harbour Heritage Farm farmer’s market. This market is now how we hope to make money to cover our homesteading. Each week we are taking a selection of garden harvests and crafts (such as our homemade soap, hand carved spoons, homemade soaps, etc.).

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Since we were married four years ago, the farmer’s market has been part of our weekly routine. The idea of lower impact, supporting local, and fresher food has been a key element of our lifestyle journey. So to be invited to join a market is a huge encouragement!

We love the atmosphere of markets and the possibility of building relationships with others who share our passion for fresh local food and crafts.

Our goal this year is to make enough money in our sales that, next year, we can cover the costs of our gardens (and garden expansions – stayed tuned for updates on that later).

We are learning that the key is creativity which means the routes to self-sufficiency on a homestead are endless. As we continue to explore homesteading, we would love to hear your ideas on how you cover the cost of homesteading.