Today, it’s all about the 101 homesteading skills we need to teach our kids, grandkids, and possibly our neighbors. We’ve heard a lot in the last few years about homesteading, vintage, and pioneer skills. I don’t know about you, but I can do all of these, and I bet you can, too. I wrote this post many years ago, but I believe we need this information more now than ever, so I’m updating the post as a refresher.
I have always pictured different farms growing vegetables and fruits and raising chickens, rabbits, goats, cows, etc. I remember visiting dairy farms. It seems now some people are calling themselves homesteading families if they’ve learned and are using these skills.
I remember growing up and hearing the word “homestead” occasionally. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a homestead is “the home and land acquired by a family” and “to acquire or settle on the public land.” I’m unsure how many people acquire public land these days, but many are trying to be more self-sufficient.
101 Homesteading Skills We Need To Teach
I think we really need to explain what a homemaker is and why those people have homesteading skills. They run a house, meaning “the home and land acquired by the family.” I have recently wondered why so many blogs have become homesteading blogs. These are homemaking skills. Maybe they are trying to bring back the skills most of us have used and put them front and center.
I remember churches teaching these skills, as well as schools. Somehow, the teaching of these critical skills needs to be rekindled. What do you think has happened? We can’t continue to eat processed food, eat at fast food places, and eat food at restaurants every day; it’s not healthy. Plus, it’s so expensive.
Whoever heads your home and keeps it running smoothly, I tip my hat to you. It’s hard to be a homemaker and a homesteading family. I decided to break down the different areas of life we all have to deal with each day, no matter where we live, and discuss them. I’m not talking about backyard chickens, ducks, goats, and rabbits, which a few families have chosen to prioritize. I’m talking about those everyday activities that tie up our time and energy to make the home safe, healthy, and comfortable.
I have a friend, blogger Janet Garman, who has a farm called Timber Creek Farm (.com). She is truly a role model to follow if you want a farm. She dyes yarn and knits the most beautiful hand warmers; I have two sets. I love them! Today, it’s all about the homestead, as in our home.
If you understand and use any of these skills, please teach them at your church, schools, and neighborhoods. Trust me, people need to know these skills. You don’t have to live off-grid to take advantage of this knowledge; you want to be enterprising, cost-conscious, and live a more simplistic life. Some would consider these survival skills, and when used properly, many would.
101 Homesteading Skills We Need To Teach
These are the things I learned growing up. How about you?
Baking
- I learned to make bread in a big old stainless steel bowl like this: Stainless Steel Bowl. We can survive if we learn to make bread in its many varieties, like sourdough bread. Beginners can check out my archive for a no-fail bread recipe with a few ingredients.
- Learn to grind wheat. I have two wheat grinders, an electrical one and a hand-powered one, in case my home’s power goes out.
- Learn to make whole-wheat bread. Whole-wheat bread is healthier and may tend to make you feel full.
- Learn to make bread with flour you can tolerate. Many families are dealing with gluten issues, but can still make bread.
- Learn to make natural yeast.
- Learn to make white bread that melts in your mouth.
- Learn to make dinner rolls to die for.
- I learned to make cinnamon rolls. I make a batch and share them with the neighbors; they love them!
- Learn to make biscuits—nothing like biscuits with some homemade gravy.
- Learn to make crackers. There is no reason to go to the store; create your own and eat them with fresh cheese.
- Learn to make crepes. Had some delicious crepes with fresh fruit for a Mother’s Day Lunch. What a hit!
- Learn to make tortillas. Who doesn’t like a Mexican meal at any time?
- Learn to make pancakes and waffles from scratch. We have a Mickey Mouse waffle maker that the grandkids use.
- Learn to make a cake without a cake mix. I genuinely love making things from scratch.
- We learned to make frosting without a container or a box. We also try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.
- Learn to make pies from scratch (thank you, Jeanne). Making your pie crusts is fun, and you know what’s in them, too!
- Learn to make homemade pasta, it tastes so yummy (thank you, Bebe). We enjoy various pasta recipes and don’t have to go to the store first.
Canning
- Take a Master Preserver Canning course to keep up with the newest safety measures required to preserve our food. Four Foods You Should Never Can by Linda. Learn to can by water bath and by using a pressure canner. They both come in handy for various food products you harvest. Pressure-canning meat at home has become more common to preserve food. We love to eat jams and jellies, and we’ve canned and canned veggies like green beans, corn, squash, and herbs.
- I only use mason jars designed for canning. I like both Ball and Kerr products and prefer using wide-mouthed jars. The lids have been hard to come by the past few years, but seem to be more readily available now.
- Watch for chips or cracks and discard damaged jars. A quality seal will not be achieved with damaged jars.
- I never can eggs. The USU Extension Service class I took outlined various foods NOT to can. See numbers 5 – 7, too.
- Never can milk or cream
- Never can bacon
- Never can butter
- The new rule (USDA Canning 2025 Book) for canning tomatoes (they are less acidic now) is to add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid to quart-size jars. To compensate for the lower acid levels in today’s tomatoes, pint-size jars use one tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid.
- Always remove the rings after the jars are canned, cooled, and stored. This will ensure that if a lid pops up and becomes unsealed, it will not go back down because the ring was left on. You may never know if the seal popped up after storing it.
- When lifting your jars out of the hot water, never tip the jars; keep them upright. I have a nice jar lifter I use so I don’t get burned fingers!
- Pressure canners have weighted gauges, dial gauges, regulators, and rings. They should be checked yearly (replace as needed).
Cleaning Your Home
Make a schedule to keep on top of your cleaning. A clean home is a house of order, a house of peace and serenity. Don’t try to clean the whole house in one day; spread out the chores and do them right the first time.
Share the following cleaning projects:
- Bathrooms
- Kitchens
- Living Room
- Bedrooms
- Closets
- Cupboards
- Fans
- Dusting
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
Cleaning Your Garage
I love a clean garage:
- Blow the dust and debris outside and put them in a trash can.
- Keep the garage doors oiled and lubricated. Some lubricants, from time to time, are cheaper than replacing motors and springs.
- Vacuum the entrance rug between the garage and the house once a week.
Cleaning Your Yard
Trust me on this one, I love a clean street. Is this a homesteading skill? I don’t know but it’s important to me.
- Pick up blowing trash in your yard and adjoining neighbors’ yards. Help each other out.
- Pick up dog poop your neighbor’s dog has left, try not to be bitter because you always take a poop bag.
- If you have street gutters, clean them; they make all the difference in a clean, tidy neighborhood.
- Keep your bushes trimmed, particularly near the home. They can become a fire hazard and a place for intruders to hide.
- Keep your trees trimmed so people can walk safely on the sidewalk in front of your home.
- Consider using a pre-emergent spray so weeds don’t become a problem for you and the neighbors.
Cooking
The following “how-tos” are fun to learn and will make your food preparation skills so much stronger:
- How to make a roux
- How to make a white sauce
- How to cook from scratch
- How to make rice without a rice cooker
- How to make gravy from meat drippings
- How to make/cook beans from a bag
- Buy good pans the first time. I use this Farberware saucepan all the time. Having the right cookware can make a real difference!
- Learn to make soups, stews, chili, and anything that will fill the belly for less money and still be healthy.
- Exchange recipes with friends that make up meals that are frugal and healthy.
- Put together a pantry and food storage inventory list. Check it monthly to ensure you’ll always have what you need.
Dehydrating Food
- You can dehydrate food on window screens or netting. Using the sun’s rays can save equipment costs, but it takes patience and skill.
- I have had two dehydrators in my life; they run nonstop. The one I have now is similar to this one: Excalibur.
- Dehydrating your own food is for short-term storage only, a maximum of one year. We dehydrate both fruits and veggies. I use the veggies in my soups, stews, casseroles, and more, and I put the dried fruit in desserts.
- You can dehydrate frozen vegetables you find on sale without washing, slicing, or cutting them.
- When you combine homegrown garden products with canning and dehydrating the harvest, it is the best!
First Aid Skills and Supplies
Thanks to Daniel for these:
- Learn basic first-aid skills, including closing a wound with stitches and setting a broken bone.
- CPR class
I remember taking these classes at the YMCA long ago, but I am pretty sure your local fire station would be able to steer you in the right direction. First Aid Kit by Linda - Consider taking a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class. You and your neighbors learn skills that might save lives!
Gardening
- You can feed a family of 6-8 people with a garden. I know I have done it on a 1/4 acre. My family canned and preserved all the food for one year: no animal meat, just fruits and vegetables. We would enjoy the bounty we preserved and start again the following year. Gardens for Two by Linda and How to Grow A Garden by Linda
- Find the best area to plant a garden, and watch for sun and shade spots.
- My favorite item you need to start your garden (I have to use these items because I have rock-hard clay soil): Miracle-Gro Soil, buy at your local hardware stores.
- Composting, I confess, this is the only one I haven’t done yet. I buy my organic compost materials.
- Learn to trim and prune your fruit trees correctly.
- Buy Non-GMO, non-hybrid seeds and plants. You can use the seed from the heirloom seeds for next year’s plants.
- Turn the soil several times and add the following amendments, if you need them (#8 – #11):
- Azomite Micronized Bag
- Worm Castings
- Coco/Coconut Fibre Pot Mix
- Organic Vermiculate
Heating Your Home
- Learn how to use a good chainsaw, we taught our girls to cut down trees, they cut and split the logs to heat our home together as a family. We used a wood-burning stove insert to heat our home for four full winters. This was a skill we all needed to learn. It’s hard work, but it totally teaches a family to work together as a team.
Home Maintenance
- Change your smoke alarm batteries at least once a year before they start to beep.
- Change your Carbon Monoxide detector batteries at least once a year: Carbon Monoxide Detector and Kidde Carbon Monoxide Detector, Propane, Natural, Methane, & Explosive Gas Alarm
- Change your furnace air filters often (thanks to Janet’s reminder). Remember, you may not need the HEPA filters in your home unless someone has severe allergies. An HVAC service tech told us to consider using the lower-cost filters. They catch the larger particles and let more air through, making them more fuel efficient.
Laundry
- Keep up with your laundry. Nothing is worse than a power outage when you need clean underwear, etc. If I hear a storm coming, I start the laundry immediately, just in case of a power outage.
- Consider learning how to starch and iron your dress shirts.
- Save money and make your laundry detergent and soap products: Laundry Detergent.
Money Management
Make a budget with your net income, write it down, then write your bills on the other side of the paper. Put some in your monthly savings, even if only $1.00. (Thanks to Debbie for reminding me about this topic)
Tina: I would add – Learn How to Write a Check and Balance a Checkbook. You would be surprised how many young folks coming out of high school have no clue how to handle a checking account.
Personal Hygiene & Health
This one is critical to our well-being and learning to stay healthy.
- Eat healthily, we are what we eat. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Clean remotes to all TVs, cell phones, etc.
- Clean light switches.
- Use the cleaning wipes at the grocery stores on those shopping carts.
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Stay home from work if you are sick, don’t spread those germs!
- Keep your child home from school if he or she will spread a virus or bacterial infection.
- Keep a jar of Vicks VapoRub on hand at all times (rub some on your feet and cover with socks- helps with a cough).
- Use essential oils to soothe a cold or influenza.
Sewing
Sewing seems to have become a lost art. These basic sewing skills may prove to be new skills for some, but they’re worth learning at any age:
- Learn how to thread a needle.
- Learn how to thread a sewing machine.
- Learn how to make a bobbin.
- Learn how to clean and oil your sewing machine.
- Learn how to sew a straight line on your machine.
- Buy a good sewing machine, not a cheap one, a good one, it doesn’t have to be expensive.
- Learn to use a fabric rotary cutter and board.
- Buy a good pair of fabric scissors.
- Buy a good seam ripper.
- Buy a good fabric tape measure.
- Buy safety pins.
- Buy good sewing machine needles.
- Buy good pinning pins.
- Get a pin cushion- they make magnetic ones, which are great.
- Learn to sew aprons, then kids’ clothes, and move on to more complex things.
- Learn how to sew on buttons.
- Mending can save lots of money.
- Recycling thrift clothes can be fun and save lots, too.
- Learn to make your starch and iron your clothes when appropriate.
Quilting
Quilts make fantastic gifts for kids and adults!
- Learn to tie a quilt with yarn knots and fluffy batting.
- Learn to piece a quilt with leftover fabrics.
- Learn to hand quilt a quilt.
- Learn to bind a quilt.
- Learn to use a fabric rotary cutter and board.
- Buy a good pair of fabric scissors.
Knitting and Crocheting
- Knitting and crocheting must be added, I’m so thankful Valerie reminded me about this incredible skill!
101 Homesteading Skills We Need To Teach
Final Word
Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected. Our kids and grandkids need these 101 homesteading skills and so much more. Let me know what skills you think should be added to my list so I can share your ideas with my readers. May God bless this world, Linda
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