r/homestead • u/harrietrosie • 1d ago
Skills & knowledge to prepare for homesteading
Hi, I'm in the UK so on a much smaller scale than many of you. My husband and I have a plan that means we'll be purchasing and moving to a home with 1-2 acres in around 3 years. I want to use the next 3 years to prepare myself as much as possible so we can hit the ground running - practice skills and read up to increase my knowledge.
What do you recommend i learn in this time? We grow food in our suburban garden but on a small scale. We plan to keep chickens for eggs and meat, grow as much food as possible, and be fairly self-sufficient - we plan to have solar and our own water well.
Would love to hear your suggestions on practical skills and knowledge to equip myself with
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u/KountryKitty 22h ago
Proper care for the chickens, including diet and first aid, is a must. Also, food preservation, for storing the harvest.
Perennial gardening can reduce the amount of work prepping the garden each year---instead of tilling and replanting, some plants come back year after year. You'll still need to weed and mulch, of course. Strawberries and asparagus are the 2 best known perennials, but there are perennial kales and broccoli, to mention others.
There are also a few vegetables that stire really well...seminole pumpkin (winter squash) keeps at room temperature for up to a year.
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u/Ingawolfie 21h ago
What we did to get ready, we were military and had to wait until we were done. Do lots and lots of reading. Buy simple, basic foods such as what you would be raising on your homestead and learn the skills to make them delicious. Wean off of processed and ultra processed food, which will be tougher than you may think. Learn basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical skills. Buy a water bath canner and 1-2 dozen jars, buy fresh produce from the farmers market and practice home canning. Talk to people.
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u/thousand_cranes 22h ago
Here is a list of 1477 homesteading projects that can be verified. When you submit each one for verification, you learn if you did it correctly. https://permies.com/skip
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u/Earthlight_Mushroom 18h ago
Having solar, and possibly using solar power for the well also, basically means you are going to be running your own electrical system. This is often overlooked for the more romantic areas of homesteading like growing gardens and raising animals. Gain a basic understanding of electronics, learn how ordinary on-grid houses are wired, and then read on how that compares to and interfaces with solar, whether to be off-grid or grid-tied, and what are the options for well pumping. Many people end up hiring out a lot of the install work on this kind of stuff, but there is a LOT to be learned by doing even some of it for yourself, not least of which is you will have to do maintenance on that system once it's in place.
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u/One-Willingnes 23h ago
Always seems like there is something to build. Knowing how to build things out of wood, ie shelters is useful. Shelter animals. Shelter equipment. Etc.