Along with homesteading comes a lot of maintenance. It’s about preservation, gardening, growing, cooking, and protecting. If you want to know a few tips about being self-sufficient, keep reading. I would like to provide you with some key tips to be successful.

Tools: Tools are everything. They make self-sufficient living possible. You need them to sustain, build, grow, and garden. The smaller more basic tools are essential. I suggest buying a basic toolbox to organize the smaller tools such as screwdrivers, knives, wrenches, pliers, tape measures, hammers, etc. Some suggested bigger tools are a shovel, cross-cut saw, rake, hoe, mower, wheelbarrow, watering can, chainsaw, and maybe a few other power tools. You must start somewhere, and having good tools is the foundation to build storage, chicken coops, water and maintain your garden, grow, and expand.

Maintaining: One very imperative part of homesteading is maintaining your garden! Well, how do you do that? Always check the health of your plants. You want them to be pest-free and to prevent rotting. I suggest investing in pest control/rodent repellent. Make sure you are only watering as often as necessary. Overwatering can lead to fungi growth, leaf spots, and unhealthy plants. To have healthy plants, you need healthy soil, right? You will never regret buying quality soil, changing it when necessary, and fundamentally fertilizing it. Make sure you do your research so you can gauge how much fertilizer to use depending on the plant species you’re growing. You don’t want to overstress your plants. To prevent troublesome weeds, buying weed block is also an innovative idea. After a long, solid day of work, always clean your tools!

Preserving and growing: Preservation goes hand and hand with growing. Knowing what crops will be ready to harvest at what time of year is a good starting point. That way you can authentically provide enough storage. Mason jars are commonly used for the preservation of fruits, veggies, beans, etc. A root cellar is a very natural way of stably keeping your plants cool. A freezer is a particularly sound investment because freezing crops is one of the best ways to sustain preservation. Immersion in alcohol is also an effective way of preserving. Alcohol dehydrates food inhibiting microbe growth. So, essentially, mason jars come in handy.

Raising and taking care of your animals: Raising and taking care of your animals is key. If their health is not properly maintained and you don’t take care of them, your milk, eggs, meat, etc. will not be adequate. Try looking into products for animal health such as hooflex, probios, screw worm aerosol, or a pest control concentrate. Also, if you want fresh eggs, you must have healthy chickens. Make sure you have a well-kept chicken coop with the essentials. Maintaining the coop is crucial. Make sure you are buying quality feed for them as well.

This is not by any means everything you need to know about homesteading. There are some other investments you can make along the way. However, this is a good start and can get you moving in the right direction. Always remember the importance of maintaining.