One of the biggest reasons more preppers don’t transition to homesteading is that they don’t have a way to earn a living while being off-grid.
Homesteading usually means living in a rural area, which means many people can’t keep their normal jobs.
That’s why I wrote this blog post showing you 5 simple ways anyone can earn a living off-grid.
These 5 things won’t earn you a lot of money compared to your regular job, but if you’re living a true off-grid lifestyle, then you don’t need a lot of money to sustain yourself anyway.
All the suggestions in this blog post are related to gardening, which is something you’ll need to do as a homesteader regardless of whether you use it to earn a living or not.
Sell Extra Produce
This is the most obvious way to earn a living as a homesteader, but I’m listing it here anyway because it works.
People love things that are local, and this is especially true with food. They could get store-bought vegetables, but your organic produce is healthier, tastier, and gives them peace of mind that they know where the produce is coming from.
Don’t worry about competition. Even if you’re in a rural area, not as many people grow their own food as you might think. That’s because gardening takes work…and paying you for it is much easier.
The catch is that you have to be able to grow enough to feed your family and have extra to sell to other people. The time, trial and error you put into gardening will eventually pay off and yield an abundant crop.
Sell Local Seedlings
You don’t have to wait until harvest time to earn from your garden because the plants themselves are valuable.
Some people like growing plants but don’t want to go through the trouble of growing them from seeds.
Not all seeds survive, and buying seedlings guarantees they’ll grow good plants.
Seedlings are particularly valuable if they’re a local species rather than a non-native species that grows in a similar climate.
Sell Organic Compost
Growing plants requires nutrient-rich soil…unfortunately, nutrient-rich soil is becoming a scarce resource because of soil depletion caused by industrial farming techniques.
While soil depletion is bad for the environment, it gives you an opportunity to earn extra money as a homesteader.
People pay a lot of money for compost as a way to put nutrients back into their soil so they can grow plants.
As a homesteader, you’ll be creating compost naturally as you go about your daily life, and selling what you don’t need can give you a nice income boost.
Teach Other People How to Do Organic Gardening
Gardening is a skill that takes time and dedication to learn, and many people would like that process to be faster and easier.
People will pay for your knowledge in the hopes that learning from you will shorten their learning curve.
You could teach people what you know one-on-one in private lessons, or hold a group session for locals in your area.
Helping people in your community with this skill will improve their opinion of you and will secure your position as part of the community.
You’ll no longer be viewed as an outsider, but rather someone they respect and look to for advice.
Design and Plan Gardens for Other People
Some people don’t want to learn how to garden for themselves but would prefer if you did it for them.
If you’re creative or know how to create efficient, aesthetic garden designs, you can offer your designs as a service to other people who want a garden.
You could even offer to help them pick out which plants will grow best and maintain their garden throughout the growing season.
Do you know any other ways to earn a living through gardening? If so, share your ideas in the comments section to help other homesteaders.