Making Money on a Homestead | How a Hobby Farm Can Help Pay For Itself | Roots and Refuge Farm

Today I'm answering the burning question, how to you make extra money with your farm. While our farm is not our main source of income, we've had to get resourceful in order to be able to keep the farm running. Today I'm sharing my experiences on the best ways to allow your farming endeavor to pay for itself.

Our Music is by our friend Daniel Smith

Thank you so much for believing in us!

[jamesgabor]

This woman is a wealth of knowledge period ....

[michellepernula]

You're so informative. HGTV should grab you for a gardening/farm show. You're a wealth of knowledge and comfortable in front of the camera. I love watching you and seeing your farm animals and plants! You're name should be Mother Earth. Keep it up! Hey! @HGTV #HGTV I found a star!

[emilykimble]

I'm not even interested in becoming a home steader and yet I can't stop watching your videos! lol

[janetanderson]

Girl, for a young farmer, you are a fountain of information. You make it sound like homesteading is the way to live. I’m sure the work is hard and the hours are long, but with your positive attitude and tons of stored information, life would be enjoyable. Love your video!

[sarainsopo]

You are my absolute favorite YouTuber right now. My hubby even commented about how down to earth and natural you are at YouTubing. I’ve learned a lot from you. My farm is a step or two behind yours and I’m finding you to be my biggest small farm inspiration! Thanks and keep the videos coming!

[johnmartin]

That was one of the best overviews I think I've heard about a homestead. GREAT JOB!

[MissAdventures]

AMAZING information. I recommend one more way you can make money, put it in a book with pictures and graphs of notes you already have taken (and a transcript of this video) and go to Amazon and self publish. Maybe even add a couple of spreadsheets where you keep track and include them in the workbook you publish (there's 2 books, the actual book and workbook which is an annual purchase with calendar). It will generate more money than you get from Youtube. I'd buy it.

[juliesummerfield]

When we first bought our 5 acres 7 years ago we set out to cover the cost of our homeowner's insurance and taxes. We more than did that the 1st year and I felt amazing! We are on one income and I felt like I was contributing. Then, I wanted to see if I could have it pay for itself as far as mortgage payments plus the taxes/insurance. I spent so much time trying to make money that I felt so much pressure and stopped really ENJOYING our beautiful place, I got burned out pretty bad and exhausted. A few years I made the amount of annual mortgage payments and taxes & insurance and it was great, it really helped us in tighter times but the truth is it added a lot of extra stress on our finances to be buying tons of meat chicken feed and supplies to butcher 600 chickens a year etc. There was more stress overall so we weren't able to keep our spending as tight as we might have....so yes lots of $ came in but it TOOK a lot of money to make that money and our spending was more stress based and we had to go into a bit of debt until we got the chickens raised which was a bit risky if we'd have had a failure of batches. We finally learned how to set our deposits at the right amount so we didn't have to go into "debt" but then we were in debt to our customers in a way too. I learned a lot about myself, and we gained a ton of skills. Right now, we decided to take a step back from making money off the farm and we are focusing on reconnecting with the enjoyment of it just for us, for our consumption and to get back to why we wanted acreage in the first place...enjoy the space around us, awesome neighbors (sharing our bounty), and we are thankful for the money we still bring in but I am not putting pressure on myself to earn a certain threshold. I think you have great advice in this video, I wish I'd have listened to it years ago.

[dapooramericanhomesteadfar]

I see one of the biggest mistake in people starting a homestead is starting off with animals. I would start off a garden. Especially a small garden. It won't overwhelmed you. If your animals are sick or die. You would be over stress. If things go wrong. Your can reset faster, your loss would be less. It's really hard to find buyers in the USA. That's why I moved to Vietnam to homestead. People need to do research on buyers before getting into homestead because you will have expenses like anything else. A lot of people believe homestead is that people can live off the land. It's not completely true. If you can eat chicken all year round. You need money for feed, medicine, electricity, water, salt, sugar, taxes and ect. I would be realistic in getting into homestead. It's going to be more business. Good luck everyone. Have fun with it.

[missusingle]

“Assess yourself as a consumer.” Good life advice.

[imacrapschick]

I sell worms and worm and chicken poop....I make good money selling to the local coop. I have a ton of chickens and I sell them as meat, too. People love fresh organically fed chicken.

[catherinegrace]

“Paid us in goats!” Hahaha that would be a dream come true. 🤣
Beautiful property Girl!

[donaldmiller]

I believe that there is another way to view a small farm. You see, the actual bottom line is, you have to have some place to live. I have a younger brother and he has chosen to live in a senior's apartment. His monthly costs are much more than mine. Of course he has no lawn to mow and things like that. He also has a designated parking space for his car. He tells me that he can be fined if his car is not within the required distance from each side of his parking space. In other words, he can not be too close to someone else's parking space. Me ? I won't put up with that kind of regimentation.!
That is what he has for his $1, 500.00 per month. And he is satisfied with it.
I on the other hand, live on a small 6.5 acre farm. At least I call it a farm. My basic living costs are about $700.00 a month, I can park anywhere I want to because there are no lines for me. Plus I have a three car garage and I can park anywhere within my garage. Oh, there is no roof over my brother's parking space.
The bottom line is, whether I make any income from my small farm or not, I still require a place to shelter my body and a place to lay my head at night . So, I think that it may as well be here on my small farm . Here, I then have the opportunity to provide myself with better food . Any income that I may make by selling my excess is a bonus.

[paulajones]

I've grown gourds and luffa to sell. Some gourds are simply dried, cleaned, and sold in their natural state. Others, I crafted with to sell. Luffa, which is a type of gourd, is dried and the outer skin removed before selling.
Another free resource is to use trimmings from your berry or grape vines. Form them into wreaths or weave into trivets or baskets to sell.
Lastly, a favorite thing I have sold is packaging surplus heirloom garden seeds that I won't need.

[juliamoriah]

Your genuine joy and beautiful heart give so much life. Thank you for spreading positivity and light, touching other lives that you don't even realize when you upload. Blessings to you and your family.

[KaribeCuebas]

OMG!! I don't know how anyone could give this video a thumbs down. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your videos and this one is EXCEPTIONAL! Thank you so much!

I am a disabled Veteran living in a one bedroom apartment. I decided this year (thanks to you) to begin a container garden in my pretty nice size patio. I plan grow at capacity for my consumption and sell excess veggies to supplement my dosability income. I started a worm farm also to create my own compost as I'd like to grow everything as organically/naturally as possible. Eventually, would love to have my own little homeastead. Anyway, you've inspired me to do all of this and it has been amazing for my mental health (PTSD and Bipolar Disorder) and motivational issues. Many blessings to you and your family!

[npecom]

I was going to leave a comment...but the goat ate my notes. Just "kidding", great job!

[bridgetstrong]

Wow, she blew my mind! She has tons and tons of information on the subject and her willingness to share it all is what blew my mind. Many blessings to her and her family. What a little angel she is😇

[dianehall]

I'm an original Mother Earther. In the 70's, we bartered a LOT! We also practiced co-op as neighbors.Anything that was costly, like honey, we bought together to keep the price down. A gallon glass jar holds 12 lbs. And to this day we are still buying in bulk and splitting the cost as much as possible. I will be raising Barred Rocks and hatching this one breed. Folks here tend to like this good,  old style laying hen. Yes duck eggs make for rich cakes! Wet hatching goslings should net you at least $7.00 apiece, day old and the eggs can be sold for art work projects. I used a Sears redwood 400 egg incubator. Great video and & helpful advice Jess!

[anthonymiller]

Hint: Raw eggs mixed with cooked white rice makes delicious golden fried rice! Add whatever extra ingredients you like.