When you first think of homesteading, you might think of open rolling hills and lots of land. That’s what I used to think of. But let me tell you, it’s definitely possible to homestead in a small space! In fact, here are my absolute favorite was to homestead in the suburbs!
25 Ways to Homestead in the Suburbs:
- Learn to sew
- Pick up some basic cooking skills
- Make your own bread
- Learn to make butter
- Start a veggie garden
- Keep a budget
- Plant an herb garden
- Learn to propagate plants
- Get hens for eggs
- Make your own pasta
- Raise quail
- Collect rainwater
- Learn to preserve food
- Learn to barter
- Get into soap making
- Practice candle making
- Make homemade compost
- Keep bees
- Get into vermicomposting
- Plant a tree guild
- Make your own yogurt
- Learn to make cheese
- Repurpose & upcycle
- Fix it yourself
- Make your own cleaning sprays
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Creative Ways to Homestead in the Suburbs
Homesteading in the suburbs is a great way to stay close to the city, but still lead a homesteader’s lifestyle. And take it from someone who’s been doing it a while, it’s totally possible!
So start out small, have fun with it, and before you know it you’ll be calling yourself an urban homesteader!
1) LEARN TO SEW
Sewing is an important homesteading skill to have.
It let’s you fix clothes with small tears, or even make new things from scratch!
Now, you may not be interesting in learning to sew your own clothes (I’m certainly not!)
But having the ability to fix small tears and holes in clothing, pillows, or the like will save you tons of money and is super rewarding!
2) PICK UP SOME BASIC COOKING SKILLS
Cooking is probably the most essential homesteading skill you can learn.
Not only does it save you money since you’re not eating out every day, but it’s much healthier also!
And while I think I’m pretty good in the kitchen, I’m definitely no chef – which is fine because homesteading is more about getting.it.done than being perfect!
So learn to steam, sautee, boil, and bake – and keep a few basic recipes on hand that you can get good at making over time!
Your wallet (and your family) will thank you!
Check out the How to Cook Everything cookbook for basic skills and recipes!
3) MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD
I have to admit, I cheat on this one a little bit.
As much as I love cooking, I definitely do not feel the same way about baking.
Baking is a science, and some people love it – I do not share that passion.
However, freshly baked bread is one of the best smells in the world. And homemade bread is so much healthier for you than store bought!
So my best recommendation – get a bread machine!
You dump in all the ingredients, press one or two buttons, and voila!
Two hours later, freshly baked bread!
Plus, homemade bread is so much cheaper than “healthy” store bought bread – trust me, I did the math!
4) LEARN TO MAKE BUTTER
As a kid you probably learned to make butter as a science project and then never did it again – or at least that’s what happened to me!
But what goes better with that freshly baked bread than homemade butter?
Nothing!
Homemade butter is so easy to make, and takes less than 10 minutes. Plus you get buttermilk at the same time, which you can use in other homesteading recipes!
Bonus points if you keep your homemade butter in a super cute butter bell like this one!
5) Start a veggie garden
Nothing says homesteader like growing your own food!
So whether you choose to have a small veggie garden or dedicate tons of space to gardening, growing your own vegetables is essential to homesteading!
Plus, container gardening is definitely a thing if you don’t have a lot of space!
Check out these easy gardening goals to get you started!
6) Keep a Budget
Ah, budgets.
You either love them or you hate them!
I happen to love them so I keep records of all the home finances, homesteading projects, and even detailed vacation budgets!
Budgets help you to save money and become more self-sufficient, which is what homesteading’s all about!
And if you don’t like budgeting, that’s okay – but they’re still a great homesteading skill to have.
So grab a piece of paper – or a spreadsheet – and keep track of monthly expenses – you’ll be glad you did!
7) Plant an herb garden
Even if you don’t have space for a full vegetable garden, everyone has space for some herbs!
Herbs are great for cooking with and you can even make your own tea with them.
I grow rosemary, oregano, thyme, lemon thyme, scallions, basil, lemon basil, spearmint, and multiple types of parsley!
8) Learn to propagate plants
Propagating plants sounds much harder than it is!
And if you’re not familiar with what propagating means, basically you take cuttings from existing plants and let them grow new roots.
You can do this using rooting hormones, by planting them in seed starting soil, or even just by placing them in a glass of water!
And herbs are some of the easiest plants to propagate. I even made a whole video about how to propagate herbs!
9) Get hens for eggs
You may not think of chicken keeping when you think of urban homesteading, but I love having chickens, and I bet you would too!
Most people think you can’t have chickens in an urban or suburban setting, but that’s not always true! Some city guidelines only prevent you from having roosters – you know, because of the crowing.
But a lot of places will actually let you have a flock of hens!
And as long as you have hens, you’ll get eggs – no rooster necessary!
So check with your city, county, or community guidelines – you might be pleasantly surprised!
And when you have tons of extra eggs, here’s a bunch of awesome ways to use them!
10) Make your own pasta
Making your own pasta is so rewarding and actually costs very little!
All you need is some flour, water, and eggs (from all your new chickens!)
And pasta making can be done anywhere – even in apartments!
Since I started making my own pasta, we actually don’t buy store bought pasta anymore.
About once per month I’ll spend a few hours to batch make fresh pasta dough, and then roll it out as needed.
I will say that it’s much easier to make pasta if you have a pasta machine – I have this one and I love it – but it’s totally possible without one. It just takes a lot more work!
11) Raise quail
If your city, county, or HOA rules prevent you from having chickens, there’s a good chance they don’t say anything about quail!
In fact, when I asked my city ordinance office about keeping quail, they had no idea what I was talking about – so I quickly hung up the phone! 😂
Quail are much smaller than chickens. They also eat less, reproduce quickly, and lay about an egg a day!
Plus, quail eggs are very nutritious and it’s much cheaper to raise your own!
Check out my YouTube playlist on raising quail!
12) Collect rainwater
You can collect rainwater basically anywhere!
On the side of your house, ina small backyard, or even on an apartment balcony!
Plus, collecting rainwater is great for watering your vegetable or herb garden, giving to your chickens or quail, and even cooking with – just be sure to boil it first for cooking!
13) Learn to preserve food
Once you start a garden, you’re going to want to learn how to preserve all that food. Especially if you have a large harvest!
There are many ways to preserve food – you can learn to can, use a dehydrator, or simply freeze your veggies.
Usually I just freeze my vegetables, but one day I’ll learn to can food! Because if the power ever goes out for a long time, the freezer will be out of commission!
14) Learn to barter
Bartering is a great way to save money on the homestead and it’s super practical too!
If you have extra of something, it’s a great idea to trade for something else that you don’t have!
In this post about gardening on a budget, I talked about how bartering helps to keep gardening costs down. But it’s a great homesteading skill to have in general!
15) Get into soap making
Soap making is a great way to reduce homesteading expenses and you can do it anywhere!
Plus, selling homemade soap can be pretty lucrative and you can even incorporate some herbs from your herb garden!
This is one thing that’s on my homesteading goals list, and hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to try it soon!
16) Practice candle making
I love making my own candles – especially when people come over and say how nice the candle smells!
I love being able to say that I made it!
And it’s actually pretty simple to get started, especially if you order a candle making kit like I did!
I added in peppermint and eucalyptus oils which made the whole house smell great.
And in case the power goes out, you will always have extra candles on hand!
17) Make homemade compost
I’ve been making homemade compost for the past several years, and it really helps to cut down on gardening expenses!
Plus it’s super easy once you have a composting bin!
I basically just keep my kitchen scraps, dryer lint, and any other materials that can be composted – and then add them to my composting bin once my little under-the-sink bucket gets full!
A few months later I have homemade compost that I use to fertilize my plants!
19) Get into vermicomposting
And once you’ve been composting for a while, the next level up is vermicomposting – or using worms to accelerate the composting process!
Worms can eat through kitchen scraps and produce fertilizer for your garden way faster than compost would break down on its own.
You do have to have a vermicomposting set up though, which is easy to DIY out of some totes! Or you can buy a premade vermicomposting bin for cheap!
20) Plant a tree guild
If you have a bit of extra space, planting a food forest – or even just a few tree guilds is a great way to grow even more food with very little maintenence!
Unlike a garden, which requires a lot of effort to keep it alive and producing, a permaculture food forest or tree guild requires very little effort once established.
Basically a tree guild is a set of plants – trees, shrubs, vines, root crops, etc – that all work together to form a mini ecosystem which is self-sustaining.
This is a great way to homestead in the suburbs and bring nature to you!
21) Make your own yogurt
Homemade yogurt tastes so much better than store-bought yogurt, and it’s cheaper too!
You can make it to your taste, whether you like a heavier, thicker yogurt, or if you like a lighter texture.
And you can add in fresh ingridients, which always adds a nice touch!
22) Learn to make cheese
Cheese making might be on the more complicated side of homesteading, but it’s definitely worth it!
There’s nothing like fresh cheese – my favorite is goat cheese – and it’s a great way to use extra milk!
Plus, fresh cheese can definitely bring in some extra money to supplement the homestead!
23) Repurpose & upcycle
Upcycling is a great way to homestead in the suburbs since anyone can do it, no matter how much space you have!
In the past year, I’ve repurposed scrap wood that would have otherwise been thrown out, made a wheelbarrow into a garden planter, and used old clothing items to make new pillows!
You just have to get creative and see the potential!
24) Fix it yourself
One thing most homesteaders are good at is fixing things themselves!
Whether it’s a leaky faucet or a broken fence picket, having the skills to fix things yourself will save you a lot of money in the long run!
So get yourself some basic tools and the next time something breaks, try to repair it before calling the handyman!
25) Make your own cleaning sprays
Another creative way to homestead in the suburbs is to make your own cleaning spray!
You’d be amazed at how well a simple solution of white vinegar, lemon, and some herbs can clean!
Plus, it’s much cheaper than the store-bought version and has way fewer chemicals!
Hopefully these creative ways to homestead in the suburbs will give you some great ideas to incorporate into your own urban homestead! So start off small and upscale your homesteading skills as you go!
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