What Do You Need To Start a Homestead? | Essential Tools

hello everyone and welcome back to mossy bottom the cockles welcome you it's spring everyone's happy this is my homestead in county sligo in the west of ireland where i've lived now for six years can you believe it's been that long really doesn't feel like it this video is all about tools and equipment and six years ago i drove here with only what i could fit in my honda jazz the car i had at the time although fit is a very polite word cram is probably more accurate because it was completely overloaded including the roof rack but looking back i realized there are things which i really didn't need and equally things which i bought years later that i wish i'd had from the beginning so in this video i'm going to count down the tools and equipment which i think based on my six years here are the most essential for anyone starting out on a homestead like mine and of course this list is not exhaustive there are many additional items you'll need to live and countless other tools which are useful and uh depending on the job even vital which you will have to buy or borrow or rent as i have over the years to get things done i'll give you a good example of one such tool this uh for the first two years i didn't have one of these but i did have to erect hundreds of meters of fence and i used a stone to hammer the posts in this is of course a fence post hammer they're about 60 euros here and of course this has a very nice job but if you want to build fences on any kind of scale it makes that job much easier the stone method never again i had blisters for months i've tried to rank these tools in order of importance from least to most within three categories building growing and living so let's get started there are countless building projects here at mossy bottom every year from rabbit enclosures to chicken assault courses to my granary which i've now almost completed as you can see and it would be very hard to make anything with timber without one of these this is a set square or a rafter square or a carpenter's square as it's often called basically it's a perfect right angle used to quickly mark a 90 degree square angle in a piece of timber and to check that existing angles are square i have several of these now including an oversized wooden one which i made myself for constructing the cabin and checking that all those joints were perfectly at 90 degrees this is called an oscillating multi-tool but i just call it my nibbler i've only had it for about two years of the sixth that i've lived here but i now use it in pretty much every project that i work on because it's so incredibly versatile and honestly i wish i bought one sooner it's basically a mechanical chisel which very accurately and very efficiently cuts little pieces out of wood here's two examples i use it for in my granary cutting a wedge for the steps and trimming the shelf support so they actually fit in the hundred year old holes made when this building was constructed technically there's nothing this thing can do that a good quality sharp chisel can't it's just quicker easier and pretty much turns timber into play-doh next the spirit level which comes in varying lengths and sizes and much like the set square is vital for making sure that everything you build is square just place it on your surface and make sure that the bubble is in the middle in the granary i used it to make sure all of these joists were perfectly level despite the holes all being at different heights without my spirit level this floor wouldn't have been much fun to walk on that's for sure gloves are next and over the years i've used dozens of types of work gloves from really expensive ones to throw away cheap ones i've realized the expensive ones fail in the fingertips just as quickly as the cheap ones do i now keep only two types these which are insulated and waterproof and the only type which i found keep my hands warm and dry in the winter and these which i use for carpentry work in the summer they're light and ventilate well living on a homestead uh your hands will definitely take more damage than any other part of your body um and i haven't included them on this list but truthfully these are probably the most important tools that you will ever have apart from maybe this next duct tape or electrical tape which is the smaller version of it and you can buy this everywhere even in supermarkets but it is just so useful the number of times something splits like a host pipe or just needs holding together uh its application is certainly not limited to wires which i believe is what it was originally made for i'm sure many of you use this stuff every week in your homes and on a homestead it becomes even more valuable next ear and eye protectors it's amazing what you can create with basic tools and ingenuity but to do that you need every part of your body to be working in the second week i was here back in the summer of 2016 i got a splinter in my right eye which scratched the cornea and took two weeks to heal during which time i was trying to get everything um up and running here with one eye covered in a patch you can imagine how hard that was wasn't the most auspicious of starts to my life here at mossy bottom but it did make me invest in some of these pretty darn quickly this video is sponsored by the lovely team at skillshare which is an online community for learning or developing skills through educational and fun video classes they've become a long-term sponsor of my channel who i'm always very proud to work with because frankly i've learned so much there myself over the years and i really believe in using video as an accessible medium through which to share knowledge which is exactly what they do really well behind me as well as a buzzing bee is a sewing machine a tool which you won't find on my list today but was used to make the very curtains in this cabin and here's a class on skillshare hand sewing basics make and mend your clothing by bernadette banner a dress historian which couldn't be more relatable i think to a self-sufficient life and if that wets your appetite then there are plenty more classes on skillshare on the subject of sewing including how to make your own clothing and how to upcycle a new garment if you plan on starting a homestead or just becoming more self-reliant then what a great skill to learn the best thing about skillshare is that the classes are all taught by industry professionals and unlike most youtube videos they're structured in a way that makes learning easy and fun finally the first 1 000 of my viewers to sign up using my code or the link down in the description we'll get a one month free trial of skillshare so you can start exploring your creativity today now there's a lot of hand tools that you really need and i'd recommend a small toolbox with the basics spanners screwdrivers wire cutters that sort of thing but these pliers i think are the most useful and versatile and even better the mole wrench which may have a different name in different parts of the world but that's what my dad always called it this is basically a pair of pliers which locks for added strength if you have rusted screws that you can't get out a knot that you need to remove or tighten but you don't have the right size spanner for or a piece of wire you need to twist or pull out these things will do the job kind of like a multi-tool i love my mole wrench because it's so versatile it can be used for so many different things next and the third most essential building tool on my list is the trusty tape measure if you can build something usable without one of these then you're a better carpenter than me that's for sure i also use a tape measure constantly uh when out gardening growing food for planting out for marking rows that kind of thing i have a much bigger 10 meter one which isn't affected by moisture taking the time to measure things saves so much more time later on the only problem with tape measures is like pencils they're forever sprouting legs and disappearing at number two on my countdown we have the mighty miter saw or if you're on a really tight budget the handsaw both these do the same thing but this does it an awful lot quicker and a lot more accurately what makes this by far the most essential mechanical saw when doing any kind of building work with timber is that it's designed to efficiently cut at a 90 degree angle over and over again perfectly you can also set it to cut miter joints at 45 degrees or any angle in between it's just the workhorse of any kind of building project and even this example the cheapest miter saw which money can buy has become essential in my life i'm not sure if that's tragic or something to be proud of i guess it says a lot about the way i live if you can only buy one mechanical saw make sure it's a miter saw you can live without a table saw i've never been able to afford one jigsaws and circular saws i do use occasionally but the miter saw or chop saw is a must have and so much more efficient than using one of these finally at number one on my list of essential building tools and i'm sure you all saw this coming it is of course you did the drill and i'm not a fan of nails they split timber they're almost impossible to remove if you make a mistake i much prefer to pilot hole and then screw things together it's stronger it can be undone and it's more accurate for that you need a drill down here i have what's called an sds drill which is good for chiseling masonry and this is a corded drill which is much more powerful but what you really need when starting cordless drills which have two gears they're very easy to control and uh very versatile in case you're wondering people often ask me no i don't own an impact driver i have used them extensively when i was out in canada but i found there's nothing that i can't screw with a good drill why does that sound so wrong next we have the most essential tools used for the cultivation of land for growing food basically and yes there are many more which you likely will need but these are the ones which get the most use and i wish i'd had from the very beginning first this thing the iron bar and this may surprise you it wasn't something that i arrived with i had to buy one locally in that first year but if like me you live somewhere with rocky soil that hasn't already been cultivated when i moved here this area had never been farmed or grown on this tool is the only way to get those rocks out short of hiring a digger of course never use a garden fork or a spade to do what an iron bar is designed for because if you do you'll be back down the garden center buying a new fork or spade and yes i learned that the hard way and i'm afraid i'm not going to demonstrate using one of these because the first rule of iron bars is never dig out rocks unless you absolutely have to it is back breaking work next the hoe and there are all sorts of different types of hoe all designed to help remove weeds and take your hard earned money of course but there's only one type of hoe i think that you really need and it's this the stirrup hoe also called i think a scuffle hoe it uproots weeds which you then leave to desiccate in the sun if you can get any and that's why i always try and ho when i know it'll be sunny for the next few days otherwise those weeds can re-root into damp ground the reason this is the only hoe you need is because it's quick and very efficient on large areas like the kind you're going to have if you're growing vegetables on a larger scale this i will demonstrate ah a bit of a sit down after all that hoeing next the humble watering can and yes i still use my trusty double watering can system here in the tunnel except now it's become a triple watering can system uh because every second day when i water everything in here it gives me time to observe and think carefully about what needs doing and i really enjoy that it's sort of like the gardening equivalent of going for a walk in the woods with moss and of course different crops need different amounts of water depending on their development over watering encourages molds and mildew and that's the last thing you want in the west of ireland so irrigation systems which automate that aren't necessarily a good thing unless of course you're growing on a huge scale in which case you have to have them but for me the humble watering can is sufficient and i love it modular trays these things are next and of course you also need compost and seeds to make these work but believe me starting seeds in modular trays and then potting on as i have done here see we've got some chives growing away um prior to planting outside or even into the tunnel certainly results in much bigger healthier crops it allows you to start earlier giving you a longer growing season in a controlled environment like a polytunnel or on a windowsill in your house without pests without frost in perfect soil conditions if you plant vegetable seeds directly into the soil you could well lose the entire crop to slugs or to birds in the first few days of germination the only things i don't use modular trays for this one is my absolute favorite are carrots which i broadcast so outside and then cover in a net i have to admit though i do have a bit of a love hate relationship with these things even though i think they're vital when growing seeds and the problem is people tend to push the bottoms up and deform them they only last maybe four or five years before i have to throw them out and that's something i absolutely hate doing next year i'm going to try and get some better made ones which may be a bit more expensive but last much longer and a more sustainable that's the main thing they are essential though i have to admit it yes next the spade and the great thing about a good strong spade is that it also doubles up as a shovel unlike a shovel which definitely does not double up as a spade try digging a hole with a shovel and you'll see exactly what i mean now there are all different types of spade it's pointed ones square ones round ones uh everyone has their own preference this is the type that i like best um yeah it's not the most useful uh of garden tools believe it or not on a homestead even though it's probably the most associated with gardening but you definitely need one next up we have the mighty brush cutter and this is how you weed on a small holding or homestead it's basically a giant strimmer and most of them are sold with a strimmer head in place of this with a nylon cable which is really only useful for cutting grass up against walls or fencing if you have to tackle two meter hogweed nettles bramble and other perennial weeds as i do every year then you need a metal attachment there are many out there i used to use these which are circular saw brush cutter attachments and they're very effective then i discovered this it's called a mulching blade and it's about a kilogram in weight and it's superb at controlling perennials remember if you cut them before they go to seed in june or july then you can add the organic matter directly to your compost turning those weeds into a resource on your small holding or you can feed them to the animals speaking of which [Music] okay the long handle trowel is next on my list and this is my tool of choice for hand weeding and for planting out the long handle means you have leverage it's just so much better than conventional small handle trowels it also doubles up as a tape measure for spacing seedlings when planting out because that is exactly 30 centimeters or one foot i got that tip from patrick whitefield may he rest in peace fantastic advocate of permaculture in temperate climates not doing quite well huh the third most essential tool on my list for growing is of course the wheelbarrow and instead of telling you what a wheelbarrow does which i suspect most of you already know i'm gonna compare the three which i now have and which i've acquired at different times over the last six years because not all wheelbarrows are made equal that's something that i've learned since moving here why do i have three well one might be full of potatoes while another has stones in it for building or clearing while another has weeds in it soil they're just constantly in use but of the three i have this is the only one which i would buy again it's lightweight it's easy to maneuver and because of this support bracket it's very very stable it's also about the same price as the other two like i said not all wheelbarrows are made equal it was the first one i got it's really easy to walk with because it's not too wide wide wheelbarrows tend to tip over to the side yeah aluminium wheelbarrows like this definitely the way to go if you come back in another six years i think i'll only have this type at number two we have the long handled fork which is so much better than this fork which is what i arrived with here at mossy bottom six years ago again it comes down to leverage uh this is also called a digging fork because that long handle makes it so much easier to dig with it can also double up as a hay fork which is very handy when you're moving compost or hay or straw around although nothing quite beats the real thing when it comes to that because this is much lighter what could possibly top that i hear you cry well something which gets more use than all of the above growing tools put together and that's because it's also vital for building and for living and that is the humble bucket whether you're collecting weeds mixing concrete hauling water gathering plant pots or even herding pigs you absolutely cannot function without buckets on a homestead i would recommend buying at least five maybe even 10 to begin with because they're not expensive and they do break but they will always have a use i could easily fill 20 buckets with random different things here at mossy bottom so yeah my number one growing tool pretty modest item but absolutely essential bucket finally let's tackle tools and equipment needed for living and again there are countless things which i'm not going to list here pots and pans forks knives plates towels blankets because you'd need those things wherever you live the question is what are the tools most essential on a homestead which you otherwise wouldn't need and this up here is the first item on my list and yes it is an internet router or router depending on where you live in the world i'm sure many of you are watching this video through one right now indirectly but what makes this router somewhat different is that instead of connecting to a copper phone line or a fiber optic line it uses a mobile phone sim card and in a country like ireland that means you can connect to the internet with access to at least 4g in 98 of the country or so they claim without needing any kind of physical connection to your property the signal where i live is particularly weak so i built a uni-directional aerial using scaffolding poles which makes the internet here as reliable and fast as any broadband connection i've ever had what more could i want next is this and this which is a 12 volt electric water pump this one is submersible used to move water from one location to another for the first year i was here i used nothing but buckets to move water around and although it kept me very fit much more fit than i am now it didn't leave me much time for making videos or anything else a submersible water pump like this is about 50 euros and it can be run off a battery or solar panels if you've got an acre or more of land then having pumps like this really is essential there are all sorts of applications whether you're filling duct ponds or ibc tanks or draining water from areas submersible pumps and water pumps in general especially 12 volt ones are really really useful and i couldn't recommend them enough this is of course a felling axe but i use it for splitting booked logs why don't you use a splitting axe i hear you ask well i do own a splitting axe and i've used dozens over the years but i find for very very dense often twisted hardwood uh like the hawthorne or elder i have a lot of here and that a felling axe like this just works better it's lighter it's more accurate and it penetrates into the wood deeper splitting axes are great for straight soft woods ash or sycamore something like that but the trees that grow in my hedgerows don't tend to be that compliant either way if you want firewood for your stove you will need some way to split those logs and axe is the tool you need [Applause] anyone with a caravan or motorhome will have seen one of these before in fact anyone that's ever owned a car will probably have seen one except this is a leisure battery 12 volt just like the one in your car but with much higher amp hours or stored power if you build a small solar rig like mine up near the caravan then this is where you will store that energy it will of course power a 12 volt electric system in a caravan and they'll also power an electric fence just like this one which i use to keep my pigs in and if you connect an inverter to it you can even run low wattage mains powered appliances off it like your laptop or internet router if you don't have an electric connection one of these is probably vital and if you do like me it's probably still vital on a homestead like this because it gives you power in remote locations next an item beloved of every survivalist paracord this stuff is impossibly strong especially when you think it's only three mil thick it can take many many times my weight and it has millions of uses on a homestead i use it constantly patching holes in chicken netting creating a rainwater collector and of course an improvised washing line this has been here about four years now and takes all my washing it's pretty darn strong or of course just tying things down like on my trailer you certainly will get a lot of use out of some paracord if you live on a homestead like me now for something which may seem unnecessary until that is you try to live without it like i did in that first year and that's big plastic storage boxes i have over 10 of these spread around and i use them for storing animal feed human feed and anything which needs to be protected from rodents and from damp before i bought these mice would eat their way into anything i stored here and items like clothing and books which i didn't have enough space for in the caravan would go mouldy every winter plastic boxes with fully sealing lids like these have absolutely changed my life i even now use them to store my animal feed outside right next to the enclosure they're needed for come on moss my chainsaw is up next and i was lucky to be trained in how to use one safely long before i moved here so i was confident buying it but a chainsaw like this will allow you to coppice and manage hedgerows and forested areas for firewood i.e for heating without this you will spend 10 or 20 times as long cutting and bucking branches with a handsaw you'll have some mighty muscles at the end of it but very little time or energy to do anything else in the winter when it comes to chainsaws on a homestead buy small the smaller the lighter and easier to maneuver they're designed for this kind of work bigger is definitely not better i've heard electric chainsaws have come on a long way in the last few years but personally i would always stick to a petrol one especially a husqvarna because they are so reliable and fuel efficient i spend about 20 maybe 30 euros a year on petrol for this thing and it produces enough firewood to keep my little caravan warm right through the cold months at number three we have tarps tarpaulins and when i first moved here i wasn't aware of the underground spring so i was using tarps to gather rain water which i was then filtering and drinking i remember those days quite fondly and it worked perfectly unless of course it was windy in which case it blew off across my neighbor's fields tarps though are another one of those versatile items like buckets that you can just never have enough of whether you want to create a shelter suppress weeds they're great for that keep the rain off tools keep the moisture in mushroom logs or a million other things they're just so useful especially when you're starting out and haven't got things set up yet so at number two for living we have well is and yes i do admit if you're moving to somewhere with a drier climate than the west of ireland which let's face it it's everywhere then you probably don't need wellies as much as me but i can honestly say here i wear my lovely wellies or rubber boots every single day right through the summer and every other season and it amazes me when despite my advice volunteers turn up wearing brand new hiking boots which on day two are full of water and for the duration of their stay never dry out wellies keep your feet snug and dry like nothing else can you can stomp in streams or muddy puddles to your heart's content and even the pigs approve of them what a genius invention finally the number one most essential tool for living on a homestead is this guy and yes i know a dog isn't exactly a tool they are of course members of your family but they also perform a vital function in this context moss here protects every other animal on my homestead i haven't lost a single one and more crucially a dog is a companion who will always be by your side and especially at the beginning when things are really tough that's probably the thing you need most of all even in the middle of winter when it's pouring with rain and even windier than it is now i'm out fixing fences or feeding animals moss is right by my side resolute and reliable do you object to being called a tool moss no he's fine with it okay everyone that is just about it for this video i hope you've enjoyed it and anyone about to embark on their own homesteading adventure might even have taken something useful from it too thank you to everyone for continuing to watch the content which i create and support my channel and life here your contribution still to this day overwhelms me it really does i'm so grateful to be in the position that i'm in so again a huge thank you and stay tuned for many more videos this year i've got lots of good stuff coming and now though from me and my favorite tool here bye for now do [Music] oh i was born in a quaker town where folks were good and hard for the ones they loved and got above each day they punched their car and when evening came back home again they grasped while we say tis a hard old life but for kids and wife would work cause another day [Music] oh [Music] lost dog even if you intend to create a no-dig garden you will almost certainly still need to dig so at number two on my list of essential items for living have you put on weight moss i don't remember you looking this uh thick so at number two on my list of essential items for living we have oh god even in the middle of winter when it's pouring with rain and even windier than this and i'm out fixing fences or feeding animals he is right by my side resolute and reliable as these planes which never stop flying over me do they moss no they don't puss

Channel: Mossy Bottom

Views: 74,034

Keywords: moving to ireland, living a simpler life, simpler life, building the dream, living the dream, simpler life ireland, dream ireland, starting a new life, new life ireland, living a simpler life ireland, building the dream ireland, homesteading ireland, self-sufficiency ireland, selfsufficiency ireland, buying land ireland, buying property ireland, the good life, the good life ireland, tools homestead, homestead ireland

Id: gbNBFRMA60g

Length: 35min 9sec (2109 seconds)

Published: Wed May 18 2022