23 Skills to Learn While Homesteading Right Where You Are

Whether you live in an apartment, suburb or acreage, you can homestead exactly where you’re at. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t do something just because you don’t have a million acres and you feel helpless.

I grew up in the suburbs, have lived in apartments in various cities across the US, even lived in a fairly large city in China for a while, moved back to the suburbs, lived out of an RV for a while on acreage in AZ and AK, now we’re back in the suburbs.

And even through all of that, I prepped!

But not just prepped, I considered many of the ‘prepper’ skills to be ‘homesteading’ skills.

To be honest, I think we all put too much emphasis on certain labels. You can practice plenty of the ‘homesteading’ skills exactly where you’re at. And more so, it’s a good thing to start now so you have a clearer vision of what you might want out of building a home on acreage.

Don’t give up on your dreams, but also, homestead exactly where you’re at until you reach those dreams.

I don’t think any of these skills are exclusively ‘just’ homesteading or ‘just’ prepping or ‘just’ survival. These skills are used in various circumstances for various reasons!

Here are 23 skills to build while homesteading exactly where you’re at:

Canning

You can water bath or pressure can in just about any setting. I did it in an apartment and an RV. Feel intimidated by canning? My best advice is to follow the directions of the recipe and the instructions of your canner exactly. That’s it. Follow directions! Here’s a good book to get started with.

Dehydrating

Dehydrating food is one of my all-time favorite ways to preserve food. It’s super easy and there are so many ways you can do it. Check out this blog post to learn more about dehydrating. Then check out this blog post about the different ways you can dehydrate.

Sewing

Sewing by hand and with a machine are invaluable skills. Learn how to mend clothing or gear and eventually make clothes. It’s really easy to learn a few stitches and follow a pattern, even my 5 year old can sew!

In addition, also learn how to knit and/or crochet, Super handy skill to have to make all kinds of things like hats, socks, scarves and more!

Cooking/Baking

Knowing how to cook and bake from scratch are not just a confidence booster, but it’ll help you save money, as well as get more creative in the kitchen to be able to use your stockpile of food more effectively and deliciously. My best advice to get better with cooking and baking? Get lots of cookbooks, follow the recipes and eventually learn what you can omit or what you can add. Eventually, you’ll start learning how to create recipes of your own.

In addition, knowing how to bake bread and other baked goods can be essential to saving money and generally eating healthier. Learn to make all kinds of bread, with or without yeast, tortillas and more!

Natural Health

I know you may be a skeptic when it comes to essential oils or herbs, but I have personally seen their power. Do you know how and when to use herbs for healing? Did you know that the foods you eat on a regular basis are healing? Garlic, oregano, mint, thyme, these are healing herbs. And there are hundreds more. Learn how to infuse, make tinctures, make your own salve, make delicious teas and so much more. Get a book, like this one, to start you on your herbal journey.

Gardening

Think you have a black thumb? I bet you just haven’t taken enough time to research how to plants grow. Know how I know that? Because I was the same way! I thought I could throw seeds into the ground and they’d just magically grow into what I want and I’d be a huge success! But there are a few things to contend with, such as weather, pests, soil, moisture, and disease.

But don’t let these things deter you! By learning how plants grow by doing your research, you’ll learn how to protect your plants from pests, weather and disease and help them thrive in the proper soil, moisture levels and warmth (or cool). There are a lot of good beginner books out there. I also recommend looking into a book for YOUR specific region. If you live in the north, get a book that will help you achieve success there. If you live in the desert, get a book that will help you succeed there.

Do your research on the area and the plants and you will have a much higher success rate than going at it blind. But remember, even the most skilled gardeners will have failure rate and sometimes for what seems like no reason at all. Expect failure, but don’t plan for it. Do everything you can to succeed, but understand that failure is apart of gardening and you’ll try, try again!

Fishing

I’ve always found fishing to be much more difficult than hunting, but some people simply excel at fishing. It’s a lot of work to understand your region and the right way to catch certain types of fish. It absolutely takes a lot of practice and education, like with most things. So if fishing is going to be part of your food supply, start learning and practicing now!

Hunting

Like fishing, if hunting is going to be part of your supply chain, then it’s a good idea to start learning how to hunt now. There are a variety of books and youtube videos and all kinds of information about the ‘best’ ways to hunt certain animals and in certain regions. Get as much advice as possible and be as prepared as possible.

And just like with fishing and gardening, though you will persist and persevere, sometimes you won’t always be successful. Keep trying! You’ll find your groove!

Alternative Energy

Now is a good time to start looking into some alternative energy needs. While homesteading does not equal off-grid, it just seems like a good idea to have some backup energy supplies. A solar generator or even a folding solar panel are great starts.

Look into other things like wind, passive and hydro. You may even want to consider alternative heat and cooling options for your region.

Wild Foraging

No matter where you live, I guarantee there are some wild edibles around. The best way to learn? Get a book for your specific area, head out and start identifying! Never consume anything you are not 100% certain of. Generic wild edible books for the whole of the US won’t do you much good for your specific area, so try to get as specific as possible, northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast, at the very least. Even better if you can find a wild edible guide for your specific state.

Oh, and make sure the guide has color pictures, very important for positive identification.

Fire Making

Knowing how to make a fire and keep it going seems super easy but it does take some practice and consistent practice at that. Making fire a variety of ways, like with natural tinder, your own fire starters, in the rain, in the snow, with a ferro rod, flint and steel, bow drill, one handed, etc., are all great techniques to practice over time to get better and better at making fire and building your skillset.

Using basic tools

Knowing how to use basic tools is a huge confidence booster. Know how to use a hammer? A saw? Screwdriver? These all seem extremely easy, and they are, but with practice you’ll become a pro and feel confident in using these tools on whatever project you’re working on. If my 5 year old can safely and effectively use a hammer, anyone can! :)

Building

Now that you know how to use basic tools, it’s time to understand how to build basic things. Like a fence, a small building or chicken coop, gardening beds, etc. Start small and simple and build up to more complicated ideas.

DIY Hygiene

Do you know how to make lotion bars? Soap? Toothpaste? Deodorant? Laundry detergent? I’m learning more and more about how easy it is to make these things. They all sound intimidating, but they are so easy and take few ingredients.

Make Butter

Making fresh butter at home is such an easy task! It sounds difficult, but I promise it’s super easy. This is a nice introduction to making other dairy products like sour cream, whipped cream, homemade creamer, cream cheese and cheese.

Here’s a video I did to learn how to make butter from powdered milk!

Knife Sharpening

A dull blade is not a happy blade. Do you know how to sharpen your blades in various ways? We have a Work Sharp (worth every penny), but if we didn’t have that, we have other options. In general, giving your knife a quick sharpening each time you use it will keep it honed and ready to go, instead of letting it go dull and spending a lot of time whipping it back into shape. Letting a knife dull is really not a good idea to begin with. Learn how to sharpen and keep your blades sharp!

Firearm Skills

I understand if you’re not comfortable around firearms, however, if you do have dreams of a homesteading life with livestock, you may need to defend that livestock from predators. We can be preventative, but sometimes that’s not enough. Knowing how to properly use a firearm and feeling confident in your abilities is certainly a skill to practice often.

First Aid and Prevention

Knowing how to take care of basic ailments is a huge advantage. In addition, knowing how to prevent accidents from happening in the first place is key. However, it’s important to know key first aid skills and advance your skills to trauma-related injuries and more.

Purifying Water

Knowing how to purify water is not just for the homestead, it’s for everyday life! What if your tap water was suddenly contaminated? This has happened more than once across the US and in many parts of the world, the water is simply unsafe to drink without first sanitizing it. Take a look at my post about water purification.

Learn How to Use Beeswax

Why beeswax? Well because bees are amazing and so is their wax. If you have any plans to be a beekeeper you may want to learn the amazing uses of beeswax now. Learn to make candles, make lotion bars, make chapstick and so, so much more. Beeswax is a truly remarkable product.

Learn how to live with less waste

Learn to compost your kitchen and yard scraps, learn to burn your trash (though I understand this isn’t possible in all places, but simply look up the process), learn about composting toilets, use more reusable items like reusable paper towels, Tupperware and so on. Look at a product and ask yourself, can I reuse this? Or is there a better, more sustainable way to use this?

I live off-grid, I don’t have trash service, and even if I did, I would still be looking for more ways to be reusable with less waste because dealing with garbage, in general, is quite a pain.

Composting

Composting is a great way to reduce waste, but I really wanted to make it its own category. Don’t have a lot of space? That’s fine! Use a trash can to start composting kitchen scraps and natural materials. Or use a 5-gallon bucket under your sink and dump it into a larger container outside. You don’t need fancy equipment to start composting, just get started!

Basic maintenance

Do you know how to work on an engine? How to change a lightbulb? Install a wall socket? Troubleshoot a problem with a hot water heater? These are all issues that can come up in everyday life and the quicker we learn how to solve these issues ourselves, not only will we save money, but we’ll be more versed in the overall ability to maintain and fix things ourselves. Watch YouTube videos, read books, ask friends, do whatever you need to do to learn. Start by changing a tire, build your confidence and go on to fix and maintain all the things!

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No matter where you’re at currently, you can not only learn these skills, but you can practice them regularly. Don’t just survive, THRIVE, by learning these skills today!