Generating an Income Living on a Smallholding or Homestead

hello everyone and welcome back to mossy bottom it's june once again my absolute favorite month of the year it's so beautiful here not only are all the trees and wildflowers in bloom but i get to spend the long days outside enjoying the warmth of early summer and of course tending to my many veggies some of which you can see behind me now and with half an acre of vegetables to grow every year that is a fair bit of work it has to be said but on days like this it really doesn't feel like it not to me but today's video isn't about growing vegetables at least not specifically it's about ways to generate a small income whilst living on a small holding or a homestead just like i do here in the west of ireland or north west of ireland as i keep getting told to say in the comments so you may remember back in january i published a video entitled the pursuit of a self-sufficient life which was all about how to make self-sufficiency work in modern livable terms and one of the things um which i really wanted to make clear in that video to emphasize um to anyone considering a similar move to the one which i made was that you do need some income to make this lifestyle sustainable you don't necessarily need as much money because the goal of a self-sufficient life at least for me and i think most people is to try and provide as much for yourself as you possibly can but you can't possibly provide everything there are things like vehicle costs and especially living in a rural location you really can't do without a car and then of course you've got insurance and tax fuel and then there's things like internet buying tools and equipment maintaining them health and vets bills looking after these guys however frugal and creative you are some costs are just unavoidable i once read an article um many years ago long before moving to mossy bottom entitled how to be gainfully unemployed now that title could be interpreted quite negatively just the word unemployed has a really negative stigma in most cultures which is wrong in my view i don't consider myself unemployed because i work very hard in fact i work harder than i've ever worked when earning a salary i'm employed in my life and i think that's all any of us should feel a responsibility to be but this article was really interesting it massively inspired me because it made me realize for the first time that you don't necessarily need a mainstream job to make enough money to live and to contribute to society in a meaningful way it's possible to survive and give back by doing lots of small things well really well which i suppose if you think about it is exactly how our ancestors would have lived for thousands of years they would have been jackson jills of all trades the goal for me at least is to find ways to provide just enough money to support the life that i want to live by doing the things which i love which i'm passionate about you'll probably never make it rich following any of the suggestions in this video but that's not the point it's not about that who needs riches when you get to do what you want to do every day and if you're really lucky even make that life pay for itself this video is sponsored once again by the lovely people at skillshare which as well as having creative and practical courses on just about every subject you can imagine is also a great place to learn about how to get paid doing the things you love how to turn a passion into an income and in doing so how to work remotely which is so relevant to everything i'm going to talk about today and here's a great example make a living as an artist strategies for crafting your creative business by brooke glazer and this is one of the most comprehensive and intelligently written courses i've seen it's not about being an artist but rather about turning a creative passion whatever that might be into a career which is exactly what she's done there are skillshare courses on starting a small business on marketing on finding motivation and even on thinking outside the box which is so important finally the first 1000 people to use the link in the description will get a free trial of skillshare premium membership and after that it's only around ten dollars a month okay so i have seven ideas to throw at you today and the first potential source of income on my list uh is something which i've been doing myself since my second season here at mossy bottom and that's selling produce particularly fruit and vegetables and i think growing organic food from the land is a huge motivation for most people who want to move out to the country and live on a homestead or a small holding so it's a pretty obvious thing to do now there are many different options uh in terms of making money from that produce you could have a little stall like i do selling food to passers-by at the end of your lane uh or you could venture into a vegetable box scheme a csa scheme uh which are definitely growing in popularity um as people at the moment at least are becoming more conscious of the need to buy locally sourced food it is of course a lot more work though that would be the major downside um and there's a real danger that a business like that could take over your life i've seen it happen to um people i know i think when setting up your own business people tend to invest even more time than they would if they went uh to a mainstream job working for someone else but that's a balance that you'd have to figure out yourself you could even have a pick your own field where people come and harvest your crop for you i remember pilfering strawberries from my local pick your own strawberry field when i was a young lad it was one of my favorite things to do in the summer they seem to be a less common sight these days don't they maybe it's time for a comeback i think there probably is an appetite for it strawberries are one of my absolute best sellers on my stall and i think that could be a particularly successful um idea in a touristy location perhaps on the edge of a town personally my goal is only ever to grow the things i want to grow and enjoy growing and that i can eat myself still no garlic folks there never will be and then to sell the excess which of course there always is through the summer although the animals do eat a lot of it i have to admit and that makes me a modest amount of money on my little stall without in any way compromising my lifestyle because for me that's what it's about next we have social media be it traditional blogging instagram facebook youtube like me or any of the other new social media outlets these days most of them have some way of monetizing your content once you reach a certain stage first of all though i have to say and you'll hear loads of other people saying this too because it's true it is a misconception that you can make loads of money through social media unless you happen to be one of the tiny minority you have millions of viewers or subscribers it's not something that scales well so you have this huge quantity of people in the middle that make very very little and a tiny minority at the top that make a huge amount especially when you take into account the amount that's taken in fees and in taxes and other costs and yes for anyone wondering every cent that i make through youtube is taxed but if you enjoy sharing your passions and your way of life with other people be it through words pictures videos or any other medium and are willing to do so with honesty and sincerity for the sheer pleasure of it then you might be surprised i certainly have been by how much people are willing to get on board and support you in doing that people are definitely attracted to alternative ways of life so if you're thinking about or perhaps already living an alternative life yourself and enjoy sharing that life with other people without having the intrusion of the people coming to your home then it's definitely a good option and in today's world of high-speed internet down every country lane it's also very doable even mossy bottom has recently been upgraded to 4g we're 1g behind the rest of the world but still i can finally upload videos without having to drive into town now that's progress one final point regarding social media i never went into it with the intention of making money from that very first video um it was all about trying to inspire and motivate others of course if something which you love doing becomes a way to support the lifestyle which makes you happy as it has done for me then you're one lucky bugger and i really feel that way myself and in that situation i think anyone would be mad not to grab hold of that as tightly as they can but even if you don't make any money you'll almost certainly make friends with shared values and i think that makes it worthwhile too just be yourself and tell your story okay so next on my list of ways to make an income on a small holding or homestead and a complete departure from social media is something that farmers have been doing for as long as farming has existed and that's breeding animals it's an area which is very relevant to self-sufficiency because animals can be a vital part of pursuing that kind of life they work towards the same goals that you have while simply going about their day-to-day lives and being happy pigs plow rabbits fertilize and mow chickens lay eggs ducks eat slugs and snails every animal has a use and of course the chances are if you're anything like me at least you'll have a deep love of animals and want to incorporate them into your life anyway just for the sheer pleasure of their company and watching their antics now livestock breeding is definitely not something to go into lightly it requires plenty of research and an investment in things like housing food and the right environment for your critters to thrive in it shouldn't be something you go into just to make money that's not the point rather something that you do for the love of it which can become self-supporting in terms of what to breed it really depends on how much land you have and of course where your interests lie i purchased my kuni kuni pigs which are right there thanks to me you might hear some oinking from a specialist breeder here in ireland who absolutely adored his animals and i personally sell chickens ducklings and young rabbits as pets which is about my limit on an acre of land but it does pay for their feed and their housing costs i even know believe it or not a local alpaca breeder it's amazing what you can find out here in the west of ireland the north west of ireland in the context of a small holding i definitely recommend choosing rare breeds which perhaps escape the attention of commercial farmers it's a great way to keep the breed alive and generally they're also worth more money and here's a great example right here uh these are called abacot ranger ducks which is a rare british breed that was rescued by the germans and i introduced them here last year and i'm trying for the first time this year to rear ducklings from them fingers crossed some of you i'm sure will be wondering what happened to my um indian runner ducks well they're still alive and well um but they're not here at mossy bottom anymore i got really unlucky they were all male so i couldn't breed young from them and also they were very destructive to the ground it's very soft ground here and they turned this area into a mud pit which the abacot rangers don't do they just have different habits um so i donated them to someone living nearby a friend of mine who just wanted to keep them as pets and not breed from them so they're still happy as far as i know but alas not here at mossy bottom anymore here's another idea if you're a huge animal lover how about setting up boarding for dogs for cats horses alpacas you name it if you live near a town or a city and have money to invest in creating the facilities that you'll need then this could be a great option for you of course if you take on too many animals then a small business like that could potentially take over your life so i suppose just like with selling produce it's about finding the right balance to be happy whilst also paying the bills um an idea which i had a few years ago um was to create a kind of dog vacation where people uh people's dogs could stay with me and moss roaming about the land uh as we do um being taken on bike rides and treks through the forest which i think is a lot better than sitting in a kennel for two weeks while your owners enjoy cocktails on the beach um unless it never happened no inquiries please but i'm sure there are many people out there who would pay a premium uh for their dog to go on you know a vacation uh while they do so you know feel free to steal my idea so the next idea on my list is something which i have done myself in the past and that's online teaching with high-speed internet so abundant now in rural and wild areas many people living as i do choose to use the skills that they've already acquired in life through jobs and training and education to earn a supplementary income through the internet and the availability of high-speed internet in rural places is really quite a new thing i honestly don't feel like the the job market has quite caught up yet with the fact that people living out here as i do can now do things like video conference and the most obvious subject that one can teach is english and there's definitely a huge demand for native english speakers but wherever your expertise lies there's a pretty good chance i would say that some people out there are willing to pay for personal tuition especially in this well what will be a post covered age uh in which we're all so much more familiar with the likes of skype and zoom i predict online learning is going to be a burgeoning industry in the coming years i reckon this is the time to get into it if it's something that interests you and of course there are myriad other ways to use the internet to supplement your income many people these days can work entirely from home for me personally anytime sat in front of a computer is time i'd far rather be outside working with my hands and you can see how much of that i do even in the irish rain which we get plenty of so finding the right um you know the right balance between free time and money that you can potentially earn could be the challenge for anyone taking the work from home option okay on to the next potential income source and one thing that i've noticed through the volunteers who stay with me here at mossy bottom and also fellow small holders and homesteaders that i've got to know over the years is that many people who aspire or actually are already living this kind of life are really crafty and i don't mean that they're all um you know evil geniuses in the making more that they're really good with their hands and enjoy making things personally i'd say i'm pretty good at creating things out of wood be it cabins like the one behind me which i made for my volunteers or furniture or smaller things like jewelry boxes but i know people out there who are really good at sewing embroidery leather working book binding even making jewelry there are so many different options and crafts here's a few more obscure ones that i discovered when researching this video if i can remember them clock making stone carving even carving small things out of stone whittling and that's something that i did plenty of as a lad with sticks that i found usually to make spears and catapults and things like that um but if you get good at whittling you can whittle everything from portraits to flutes to statues of fairies you name it uh basket weaving or other types of weaving um how about this for a fun one puppet making that would incorporate lots of different skills wouldn't it and of course not forgetting the more mainstream crafts like photography and painting one thing's for sure living in nature surrounded by plants and animals if that's the lifestyle you create for yourself i think you'll never be short of inspiration or subject matter i think there's definitely a growing movement towards handmade artisanal items in reaction i suppose against all the mass-produced products that we're so used to if you look at a site like etsy where i sold the mossy bottom calendars last year its sales grow year on year and that's all from talented people sat at home practicing their particular crafts and creating an online website couldn't be easier too gone are the days where you need to learn to code uh spending hundreds of hours trying to learn how to make the website yourself or indeed hundreds or thousands uh paying someone else to do it for you so the key i believe to making your particular craft pay whatever that may be is getting really really good at it and having something unique that other people aren't doing so that what you're creating i suppose really stands out and for that to happen it's got to be something that you're absolutely passionate about and probably also have a natural aptitude for but that doesn't mean to say that you're instantly going to be that good it might be just a case of putting in the hours the learning the researching and the practicing to get good and as with all potential income sources selling handmade items isn't going to replace a full-time job um but it might just make you enough to make this kind of lifestyle work personally i have a bit of a ponchon for these guys can you see behind me so don't be surprised if you see a range of handmade mossy bottom gnomes one day limited edition of course as someone who loves working with wood one of the things i've always wanted to do is create a tiny home and i know i know i've got loads of other things to do first i've got to finish the stone cottage restoration and all the outbuildings and that will of course be my home but one day when i've got the time i'm gonna take the chassis from this old caravan uh which is falling to bits it was 25 years old when i bought it several years ago uh but the chassis should remain in good condition and i'm gonna build a tiny wooden home on top of it with a kitchen a shower room and of course a bed up in the attic space in the rafters we're going to have exposed beams there'll be a wood-burning stove of course lots of rustic features and that's just the sort of thing that i can happily pour hundreds and hundreds of hours into making and what i might then do is park it somewhere beautiful on my little piece of land here in ireland and rent it out as a kind of guest house during the summer months so that people could come and stay with me for i don't know a week and get the full mossy bottom experience again i have to say it's a long way off but you know if you live or plan to live somewhere beautiful surrounded by nature or even just somewhere with animals and interesting things to see and do then you might be surprised by just how appealing that could be to paying visitors so that's the next idea as a potential income source for your small holding or homestead turning part of your land into accommodation and sites like airbnb have really taken off in recent years because people are increasingly looking for unique places to stay i think that's the key if you can create an experience rather than just provide a bed and basic facilities then it might just prove popular and if you're worried about loneliness as well moving to a more rural setting then it might be a great way to maintain social contact you could even take it a step further i guess um if you have a particular skill like we were talking about earlier and you could teach in-house courses to people that are staying in your own accommodation cooking with wild foods yoga animal husbandry permaculture that's something that i fancy myself um there are so many options for things you could teach you've just got to pursue what you're passionate about that's the key because if you do that it'll draw other people in so there's seven potential income sources when living on a small holding of course it's not an exhaustive list there are many more things that you could do and that's not even taking into consideration the potential to barter trading things you have in excess the things that you need there's definitely a community of people here in the west of ireland that do that which is great now you may well be thinking that's all well and good and it sounds like a lot of fun but compared to my mainstream job i just can't see your suggestions making much money and that's probably true but remember the aim isn't monetary wealth that's not why i'm here to make money it's quality of life it's getting to do the things every day that i want to do and having a way to support that financially rather than making money being the goal and making a move like this work will probably involve giving up a lot of things especially if you're not coming into it with that much money like me new cars holidays i haven't had one of those myself for over a decade um but then i don't crave holidays i want to be here all the time um gadgets meals out that kind of thing but it can be done um and you adapt you adapt to your situation so that you're not craving those things anymore you're craving time with your animals and the excitement of a new season growing new things tasting new foods it's really a question of wanting it badly enough to make the necessary compromises and some people will and some people won't you have to be creative you have to be determined uh you have to be good at what you do which takes commitment and research and patience and more than anything you have to be brave enough to take a chance it's sort of like that moment in indiana jones in the last crusade i apologize for the cheesy movie reference that anyone not from my generation won't get but there's a moment in which indy has to take that step onto the invisible path right at the end of the movie he can't see where his foot will land but to get to the other side he has to take a leap of faith i love that moment and he does because the payoff is worth it uh what a fantastic metaphor for for quitting your job and moving to a small holding in the wilds but the key point there is it has to be worth it okay folks enough of the cheesy metaphors good luck to each and every one of you whatever your personal path is of course it's going to be different for everyone maybe you're someone who's already living this type of life maybe you aspire to at some point in the future but you're not ready yet maybe you just like watching others live this life from a distance the future is yours to take so make it a good one thank you as always for your support be it through gofundme for the cottage restoration patreon or just by watching my videos for me it's definitely you guys that make this life possible from me and from moss bye for now good boy even on thinking outside the box which is so important

Channel: Mossy Bottom

Views: 131,703

Keywords: smallholding, homestead, off grid, making money smallholding, making money homestead, making money off grid, working off grid, working smallholding, work from home, work remotely, move to country, paying the bills smallholding, paying the bills homestead, homesteading finances, homesteading money, smallholding money

Id: cpxhw1CtNMA

Length: 26min 34sec (1594 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 15 2021