The girls and I have been brainstorming about all the various ways that we could make a little extra income on our homestead… our hobby farm.

We want to be prepared for when we actually acquire our property… hopefully soon!

(We are EVER hopeful… things are moving in the right direction now, finally!)

And here is a partial list of our homestead income streams. (And not in an particular order or priority, just brainstorming!)

Christmas Trees
Maple Sugar Trees & Syrup
Herbs and Herb Products
Cut Flowers
Big Garden/Veggie Sales
Make Walking Sticks & Crooks
Pony & Kid Photos
Soap and Candles
Primative Wood Decor Items & Signs
Farm Photos – Stock/prints/books/notecards
Photography for locals/animal breeders/farmers
Graphics & Websites for locals
Teach Banjo
Teach Homesteading SKills to City Folk on the Farm
Rent the Farm for Family and Corporate Events
Write articles on small family homesteads
Write books on small family homesteads
Breed heritage livestock
Eggs and Chickens and Chicks
Pet Boarding
Bluegrass Jams
Bees n’ Honey
Greenhouse/winter gardening
Pick your own pumpkins or raspberries or such on a small scale
Farm Journals
Dog & Pet products (like homemade toys and treats)
Wool from heritage sheep
Farm Sitters… your place or ours
Produce local newspaper on local food & homesteading
Photo Studio for locals
Homeschool curriculum Exchange/resellers/consignment shop
Rock and Mineral shop
Rent out the Moby

Of course, we’d still be doing our own cottage industries, such as the rock kits and homeschooling products, we’d just do more!

As you can see, I think we have many great ideas in which to occupy our time and resources! And the best part is that we will become much more self sufficient ourselves and require less monthly income to live very comfortably. So, we will be able to pick and choose other income streams that we really enjoy to add to our “homestead kitty”.

Have we missed any really good ideas??? Any suggestions? We’re trying to stay away from really big operations or things that might require a lot of inspection/permits and higher investments. We’re only talking 3 acres here, so we’re not ready to get into like big production chicken raising or feeder calves and hogs. And it is just the three of us… so it has to be manageable, and enjoyable. Seasonal is fine too! Actually, I think being tied to just one thing all year long would be drudgery and boring after awhile. We love the idea of like doing crafts over the winter, raising fancy chicks in the spring, getting a booth at a farmers market in the summer, that sort of thing. Rather than just raising regular old livestock, we’d really like to get into some very specialized heritage and threatened breeds, concentrating on quality, rather than quantity. Just some thoughts! We’re so enjoying our plotting and planning!!!