When we sold our house and moved to the woods we knew that no ONE thing was going to make enough money to support the whole farm. What we did was sit down and plan what we could do to make money. Some of them worked and some of them didn't. Some made alot of money but most of them made a little money. Its not a problem making a little bit of money here and there because it all goes towards the same goal. It all adds up once all the little bits are combined. I thought I would share some of the ways we have managed to produce money for our own homestead. I'm sure there are many others. None of them will make you rich. Not all of them will be appropriate for everyone's area or resources. Whether you decide to go full time on your own homestead or you just want a few extra dollars for prepping hopefully you will find something that will help you in your prepping. I'm not going to tell you HOW to do these things but rather give an idea of what can be done.
If you raise chickens then you can of course sell extra eggs. DON'T sell them cheap. You're raising better eggs then those sold in the grocery store and your price should reflect that.
If you have rare, heritage or purebred chickens then you can sell hatching eggs. They are more expensive then eating eggs and while they are the same eggs they are sold to a different type of customer. Our hatching eggs are sold for no less then $12 per dozen and up to $36 per dozen.
If you hatch your own chicks then you can sell the extra baby chicks to people who want to raise their own. An incubator is an investment that can pay for itself with the very first hatch. Depending on what kinds of chickens you have you can make alot of money off of chicks. We have sold some chicks for $7 and up.
You can also raise some of the chicks and selI hens that are ready to lay to people who don't want the hassle of raising their own. Extra roosters can be sold live for meat birds or as part of a barnyard flock.
If you have enough room then you can also raise and sell turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, quail, peafowl or any other feathered farm birds. They can be sold like chickens from eggs to full grown.
Feathers can also be sold. Whether its goose down, peacock tail feathers or fly-tying feathers they all have a market.
You can raise rabbits for meat or fiber. Extra rabbits can be sold for breeding or meat. If you butcher your rabbits then the skins can be tanned and sold.
Other livestock which are raised for meat or fiber can be sold for breeding or eating. We often set people up with trios of animals from the farm so they can raise their own. Other people prefer that we raise them to butchering size so they can just fill their freezer with beef, pork or goat.
If you're raising animals of any kind then you will also have manure. You can sell buckets of manure to people who want it for their garden. Usually we have people bring us a bucket with a lid which we fill and return to them for a fee.
You can also turn that manure into compost and sell it by the bucket or bag. Be sure to have several compost piles so that you always have a new batch getting ready to sell.
While you are composting don't overlook the worms. Gather some old, dead, free freezers and refrigerators and make worm compost bins. Sell the worms for fishing or to people who want to add them to their own compost pile.
If you have a source of wood you can always sell firewood. I've found that you make more money selling it in smaller amounts rather then by the truckload. People who just light a fire for the novelty rather then for heat will easily spend $10-20 on a small stack of wood and you don't have to deliver and stack it. They pick it up themselves. Those bundles at the grocery store only have a few sticks of wood and sell for $5 a bundle. Tie up some split wood with old bailing twine and staple on a handle and sell them at the road too.
Then there is also fat lighter which can be sold in the same manner but in smaller bundles. Its free for the gathering if you just have some pine stumps.
Pine needles can be raked and sold by the bale if you have a stand of pine trees. Its easy to make a baling box out of scrap lumber to do one bale at a time.
Don't forget the garden. Seeds are cheap. You can start flats of vegetables or herbs and sell the extra plants. Be sure to have them ready early in the planting season.
You can root live plants like strawberries from your own garden and sell them in pots. If you don't grow your own then you can order bundles of plants like strawberries and pot them when you get them and sell the extra. Places like Gurneys usually sell them dirt cheap for 50-100 or more plants. Look for specials on those and other plants like them.
If you save seeds from your garden then you can sell packets of seeds. You can also sell extra herbs and vegetables from your garden. If you dry herbs you can sell them by the dried bundle. If you have nut trees or fruit trees you can sell the extra.
Feed corn is a very popular thing to grow and sell. You can dry and sell the corn on the cob by the bag. You can also bundle the corn stalks and sell them.
Popcorn that pops on the cob in the microwave is something unusual that we always sell alot of WHEN we grow it. Small brown bags are cheap and you can put two ears in a bag and sell them ready to pop.
In the fall pumpkins and colored corn as well as broomcorn is easy to sell for decorating. At Christmas fresh mistletoe, dried magnolia leaves and cones, fresh holly and cedar sprays and wreaths sell well and are easy to harvest. Be sure not to take all the mistletoe or harm the holly trees so that you have a source that will replenish itself. The only cost may be a plastic bag to keep it fresh and a red or gold ribbon.
Bayberry wax is the most expensive wax you can buy. Its a native tree in the states and the berries are easy to harvest. They grow wild but you can plant your own trees or find someone who will let you harvest theirs. It takes many, many berries to produce the wax but its virtually free and brings a pretty penny for the effort. You can easily make candles or just sell the wax.
There are any number of crafts you can make for sale as well if you have the skills. Homemade soap and candles, or soap molds, bird houses and feeders, garden stakes, trellises and row markers out of scrap wood, needlework of all kinds, iron work and welding. You could make and sell solar cookers. You can make shopping bags out of feed bags. Just use your imagination and talent.
If you have the skills you can teach prepping and homesteading skills like making bread, canning, cheese making, gardening, composting, drying herbs and vegetables, making tinctures, teas and salves, solar cooking. Just let your imagination guide you. Decide on a fee per person and set up classes for churches or other groups. There are people who want to learn but need someone to show them. If you want to (we don't) you could offer farm tours or hands on farm experiences.
I know there are many more things that I haven't even touched on (bees come to mind but I've never raised them). The point is that you can make money in all kinds of ways and while none will make you rich when you diversify, all of them together can help you survive and grow your homestead.
Southern Wood Elf