Income Ideas For Our Future Permaculture Homestead
Last spring @idyllwild and I had a brainstorming session for income producing ideas on our future homestead that we could see ourselves enjoying. We will pursue some of them but there's no way in heck we'd get around to all of them! And now I need to add steemit on here!
I wanted to share this list in case it helps inspire your own brainstorming for upcoming seasons. What kind of homestead business opportunities are you considering getting into?
- seed breeding
- cut flowers for local wedding
- retail wreaths
- plant starts / plant sales
- bareroot trees
- tinctures, salves, soaps, medicine
- mushrooms
- honey, wax
- value added: jams, pickles, sauces, dried fruits, dried nuts, dried berries, grains
- meat
- natural dyes
- natural fiber, weaving, basketry
- u-pick nuts, berries & fruit
- workshops
- dinners
- weddings
- airbnb
- permaculture consulting, installation and maintenance
- cider fruits
- cooperatives
- photographs for sale
- csa, membership models flowers medicines
- steady, high end clients - restaurants, boutiques
- agritourism
- farm stand
- nut and fruit flours
- produce and supply for herbalists
- holiday products (wreaths, dyed napkins)
- spices, sriracha
- sunflower seed oil
- leasing land
- tenant
- native, medicinal teas
- retreat
I don't know about you. Steemit still looks like the best opportunity!
Yeah it's a good one! Only problem with steemit is it calls me to the computer more often.
I hear you, my friend. I am still trying to juggle the balance. However, it sure is nice to be able to generate income inside the house when it's bittering cold outside.
Yes totally agreed!
Less strenuous for sure.
All of the above!!! We just need like 10 lifetimes? Maybe I'm biased...but an artist retreat is my ideal :) and all the flower stuff :) :).
When there's a will there's a way! We'll make it happen.
You nailed it! You covered a lot. Totally resonate with this. We're still figuring out which will be lucrative enough to dedicate a large chunk of time to. Not to mention the years to fruition.
So far steeming is working out well for us. And selling herbal tinctures of herbs we grew. Best of luck figuring it all out.
That's so exciting! I may have to pick your brain on the tinctures one day if end up starting a tincture business.
I recently left a job working for an herbal medicine company(not cannabis, which everyone now days thinks is the only "herbal medicine"). Finding connections with manufacturers of medicinal herbs in your community and becoming a source for them is a great gig. I don't recommend offering to dry your plants as many want(total pain in the ass), but you can find plenty that still want fresh. They can often tell you something that they have been having a hard time sourcing that you may be willing to contract with you for. Great side crop for cash flow if you have a bit of land. The other thing I've recently been interested in is bringing a lot culinary herbs that historically have been imported back to the states. I've been totally jazzed with what Vermont farmers have been doing with Saffron(crocus). If you ever get a chance to check it out it's supa' sweet. All the info is on the WWW
Its kinda like everything.....get the seed planted and be guided. But the possibilities are truly endless!
This is great @mle777! Nice going building a business and sticking to your gut about the product you want to sell. I wonder how did you find and approach the herbal medicine businesses?
I have another idea of growing weeds and selling them as medicine and food.
Well, there are a lot of "weeds" that are both food and medicine. I guess by categorizing something as a weed that would infer that it took little maintenance to grow, lol.
It was not my business that I was working for, I was just managing a section of the company. I could write a book on what I see wrong with herbal medicine being brought into mainstream commerce. As a more traditional herbalist it really does trouble me. I'm old school....I think one should have a connection and knowledge of the plant. One of the main reasons I left the company. But there are some pretty good gigs out there working with smaller companies that would want to source" weeds" or herbs from smaller farms.
This is quite a comprehensive list! I’m toying with the idea of creating herbal teas and healing products from our school bus homestead. But, writing and creating content is a nice side-gig as well. 😉
School bus homestead sounds amazing! I did wwoof on a farm that used a schoolbus as a kitchen. It was fun! I think herbal teas & healing products could be a good combo.. exciting!
Every ideas very useful @sagescrub.
:)
Nice list @sagescrub and @idyllwild!
But what about all the animal products?
Here is my quick brainstorm.
Animals certaily add a long list and I only took 1 minute before heading to the kitchen to mak quich dough! Yummy. Talk to you later.
Nice! Totally on the animal products. We are not sure we want to do the dairy, it's a big commitment but we sure do love having dairy in our kitchen. The only thing is I don't think I would want to sell manure when I could put it into the gardens and trees!
Haha. Of course you would stay with the manure, yet its an optional product. Would'nt one love to stay with all the stuff the combined lists hold?
A cow is a HUGH commitment, at least from my perspective, as we don't even have chickens yet...
Lo of ways to make some money there. Good luck.
Very nice list @sagescrub! We have been looking into similar things (though not so many) for our future!
Thanks for making me think harder about it and opening my eyes to new ways to produce income, such as Dinners and Pick-your-own Nuts and Berries.