101 Homesteading Skills

[Adventure Wolf]

So I was researching Homesteading on the internet. I'm a hiker, fisherman, camper, and proficient hunter, but I know little about prepping or homesteading, so I thought I would at least learn the basics of homesteading. Interesting thought and philosophy. I found this list on this news article, and thought it would be a worthwhile share.

Source: http://www.granny-miller.com/101-basic-homesteading-skills/

For the record, I know 68 of 101 of these. Growing up on a working farm and working in construction taught me most of the live stock and tool use skills on here. Going through Hunter Safety Certification and gun training taught me some of the gun skills. Being a bachelor taught me how to do basic cooking.



101 Basic Homesteading Skills
1. Learn how to safely use a chainsaw
2. Learn how to grow a vegetable plant
3. Learn how to sharpen any edge tool – knife, axe, hoe, chisel etc.
4. Learn basic firearm safety and gun proof your children and grandchildren
5. Learn how to dub a chicken
6. Learn how to read the weather
7. Learn how to spin wool, cotton or flax into thread or yarn on a spinning wheel or with a drop spindle
8. Learn how to use a garden shovel, spade or hoe without hurting your back
9. Learn how to light a fire indoors or outdoors
10. Learn how to go to a country auction and not get skinned
11. Learn how to crochet
12. Learn how to butcher small livestock like rabbits or chickens
13. Learn how to hang clothes on a clothesline
14. Learn basic tractor maintenance
15. Learn the differences between trees and the unique properties of various types of wood
16. Learn how to cook 10 basic meals from scratch
17. Learn how to pasteurize milk
18. Learn how to witch for water with a forked branch or a bent metal hanger
19. Learn how distinguish healthy plants and animals from unhealthy plants or animals
20. Learn basic sewing skills
21. Learn how to set an ear tag or tattoo for animal identification
22. Learn how determine an animal’s age by its teeth
23. Learn how to cut and glaze glass
24. Learn how to drive a standard transmission vehicle
25. Learn how to thaw out frozen pipes without busting them
26. Learn how and when to use hybrid seeds
27. Learn how to hand thresh and winnow wheat or oats and other small grains
28. Learn how to train a working cattle or sheep dog
29. Learn how to read the moon and stars
30. Learn how to make soft or hard cheeses
31. Learn how to live within your financial means
32. Learn how to fillet and clean a fish
33. Learn how use a wash tub, hand-wringer and washboard
34. Learn how to make soap from wood ashes and animal fat
35. Learn how to lay basic brick or build a stone wall
36. Learn basic home canning and food preservation
37. Learn how to save open pollinated seeds
38. Learn how to de-horn livestock
39. Learn how to use an awl and basic leather repair
40. Learn how to make long-term plans for the future – plan an orchard or a livestock breeding program
41. Learn the mental skills necessary to jury rig anything with duct tape, baling twine and whatever is on hand
42. Learn how to read an almanac
43. Learn how to euthanize large livestock
44. Learn how to cook on a cook stove
45. Learn how entertain yourself and live without electronic media
46. Learn how to shear a sheep
47. Learn how to manage human urine and feces without plumbing
48. Learn how to swap, barter and network with like-minded people
49. Learn how to make a candle
50. Learn how to dig and properly use a shallow well
51. Learn how to refinish furniture
52. Learn how drive a draft animal
53. Learn the mental and spiritual skills to realistically deal with life, death and failure
54. Learn how to use non-electric lighting
55. Learn how to caponize a chicken
56. Learn how to restrain large livestock
57. Learn how to use a treadle sewing machine
58. Learn how to give an injection
59. Learn how to properly use a handsaw, hammer & nails, screw driver, wire cutters, and measuring tape
60. Learn how to recognize your own physical and mental skill limits
61. Learn how and when to prune grapes and fruit trees
62. Learn how to hatch out chicken, duck or other poultry eggs
63. Learn how to use a scythe
64. Learn how to skin a furbearer and stretch the skin
65. Learn how to tell the time of day by the sun
66. Learn how to milk a goat, sheep or cow
67. Learn how to stomach tube a newborn animal
68. Learn how to break ground and plow
69. Learn how to use a wood stove and how to bank a fire
70. Learn how to make butter
71. Learn how to knit
72. Learn how to make and use a hot bed or cold frame
73. Learn how to deliver a foal, calf, lamb or kid
74. Learn how to know when winter is over
75. Learn how to plant a tree
76. Learn how to brood day-old chicks
77. Learn how to dye yarn or cloth from plants
78. Learn how to haggle like a horse trader
79. Learn how to bake bread
80. Learn how to use a pressure tank garden sprayer
81. Learn how to halter break a horse or cow
82. Learn how to graft baby animals onto a foster-mother
83. Learn how to weave cloth
84. Learn how grow everyday kitchen herbs
85. Learn how to make sausage
86. Learn how to set and bait traps for unwanted vermin and predators
87. Learn how to grind wheat into flour
88. Learn how to make paper and ink
89. Learn when it is more economical to buy something ready-made or when to make it yourself
90. Learn how to castrate livestock
91. Learn how choose a location for a vegetable garden or orchard
92. Learn how to weave a basket
93. Learn how to use electric netting or fencing
94. Learn how to make fire starters from corn cobs or pinecones
95. Learn how to use a pressure cooker
96. Learn how to correctly attach 3 point hitch implements to a tractor
97. Learn how to trim the hooves of goats or sheep
98. Learn how to sew your own underwear
99. Learn how to make your own wine.
100.Learn basic plumbing and how to sweat copper pipes and joints
101.Learn how to reload ammunition

[Rick]

Lists like these are largely subjective. For example, I doubt I'll ever be sewing my own underwear or weave cloth. If you are really interested in homesteading then pick up The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. You could spend a lifetime just learning what's in that book. Here is a link to her blog:

http://encyclopediacountryliving.blogspot.com/

[Adventure Wolf]

Lists like these are largely subjective. For example, I doubt I'll ever be sewing my own underwear or weave cloth. If you are really interested in homesteading then pick up The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery. You could spend a lifetime just learning what's in that book. Here is a link to her blog:

http://encyclopediacountryliving.blogspot.com/

Thanks! I'll take a look.

[hunter63]

.......99, 100, 101....OK what next.......?

Not much on stalking, hunting, long range shooting, wing shooting or even sighting in a weapon.........

[Wildthang]

5. Learn how to dub a chicken

Isn't that illegal:scared:

[Rick]

Hey, you gotta dub a good fighter...I mean...yeah, I think it is.

[Highhawk1948]

I must be on the way to homesteading then!!

[LowKey]

That's her publisher's "blog" Rick.
Carla Emery died in 2005.
Great book though. It sits on the sideboard in the kitchen. For recipes and just to read when things are cooking or while eating lunch in from the garden.
Her white bread recipe is the BEST.
I think there are only 7 or 8 things on that particular list I don't know how to do. Do I do them all often? Not so much. Dubbing a chicken is not necessary. Who cares what show breeders want. Beak trimming on the other hand was often needed with our layer hens and that is not listed.

The thing that always mystifies me is combustion engines though. For some reason I cannot wrap my head around fixing the things. I can care for them maintenance-wise, but doing a ring job on a generator? Nope.

[welderguy]

I must be on the way to homesteading then!!

You sew your own underwear don't ya ??:innocent:

[Rick]

You sew your own underwear don't ya ??

I tried that once and left a couple of straight pins in. Never again!

LowKey - That's Carla's web site. They have WiFi in Heaven. How do you think Steve Jobs.....wait a minute....maybe it ain't Heaven. I definitely gotta clean up my act.

[Sunset Sam]

Does freeze dubbing count? Only takes about 45 minutes. Of course, if you keep a lot of roosters (say for the feathers), the dubbed ones will get hen-pecked by the others - sometimes to death. Counter productive.

AW's list is about homesteading and not focused on survival skills, but the overlap is substantial when talking about long-term survival. WW and I think between the two of us we have most of this list. We are working on a couple more. We both like the Emery book; a gotta have for anyone who wants to improve self-sufficiency.

The underwear thing got me in trouble. I was chuckling about that one (Mistake no. 1) when WW informed me that she certainly did know how to make underwear. Then, to try to head off trouble, I pointed out (Mistake no. 2) that being born and raised in SoCal she could make herself underwear or a swim suit out of 4 silk scarves, but that underwear for guys required a little more engineering. Her response was terse. So (Mistake no. 3) (Dead Man Walking), I tried to smooth over things by saying that I was sure that when her sewing machine finally got back from the repair shop she would be able to sew up some underwear any time she wanted. Conversation over supper was polite. Since I know how to read the weather, I see that a storm may be coming.

[Rick]

Guys only need to know two very short sentences to have a happy marriage. 1. Yes, ma'am. 2. I'm sorry. Any conversation beyond that is sure to get you in trouble.

[hunter63]

Actually Rick I have found the 4 sentences serves well.

First thing in the morning....Say "I love you" and mean it.

Then..."I'm sorry"....you may not have done anything wrong...yet, but you are gonna...get out ahead of it.

Next comes , "Yes Dear, you are right and I am wrong".....Most disagreements are not worth missing lunch.

Lastly and most important is the non committal grunt...."Harrumph".....that is used in all other occasions.

That and flowers are all you need to know.

[Rick]

Oooh. I like the grunt. I can do that. Of course she'll probably just think I'm trying to fart, which the dog does regularly.