Homestead Must-Haves
Tops 10 Items You Should Invest in…
That WON’T break the bank!
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There are a TON of items I’d love to buy for our homestead. The pickle we’re in is that we don’t have buckets of extra cash lying around to buy an amazing stock trailer or to replace all fencing around our property.
Here’s the thing, you don’t actually need a $50,000 tractor to get stuff done. Sure, it may be easier in some cases, but with a few practical, and inexpensive tools and resources, you can get quite a bit accomplished. That’s the difference between the nice to haves and must-haves though. Yes, items like a shovel, regular tools, and some normal garden equipment are a must. What you’ll find here though are those other random item, the everyday person typically doesn’t have on hand.
These must-have items we use on a regular basis and keeping a good stock of each item on hand makes life so much easier when we’re trying to get projects done around the house and property.
1. Zip Ties! We use zip ties in the garden, for our fencing, for preserving our chicken bags after processing them. When we need to do a quick fence repair, we’re doing it with zip ties. I suggest getting the larger ones as they’re sturdier and you’ll be able to get them around thicker pieces of materials.
2. Chicken wire. If you have chickens, this is a no-brainer. If you don’t have them yet, still get chicken wire! I can’t tell you how many small holes in our fences that have been patched using this, and you guessed it…zip ties! I’ve also used chicken wire to make a quick compost bin with some leftover pallet wood.
3. T-posts and a post driver. Now I don’t recommend have massive numbers of t-posts on hand since that can add up and amount to waste, but having a few extra on the property will be super helpful. We’ve used them in the garden to brace our larger tomato plants, create temporary fencing (we attached deer fencing with zip ties for this), and for holding our solar powered electrical fencing chargers. While you can try and slam those posts into the ground, spare your hands and back – get the post driver!
4. Wheel barrow. While no explanation is needed, I’ll provide one anyways. We actually have never used this for our garden – you can, we haven’t yet. We haul hay, heavy bag feeds, and heavy tools when we’re walking around the property. We don’t have a Kubota or golf cart to get around (not that we have tons and tons of land, but this would certainly make some tasks easier and quicker), so we walk and haul our little wheel barrow around. We have this one and it’s been great and sturdy.
5. Electrical Fencing “Wire” AND a Solar Powered Charger. If you have larger livestock, this is great to invest in and make temporary and portable fencing areas. We use it around our chickens to keep our sheep and chickens separated and around our garden to keep any animals from burrowing in or getting too close.
6. Heavy duty trash cans! Protect your supplemental feed! We have a combination of metal and commercial grade plastic trash cans. We don’t want mice, voles, or our animals getting into the feed. This keeps it protected and from getting stale or moldy.
7. Mason Jars. Enough said. Preserve food, store seeds, use as drinking glasses, etc.
8. Extra hoses. We have water that runs through several areas of our property so for us, having extra hoses we can leave hung up in those spots is a must. Some hoses are hooked up for our garden, some for misters for our chickens (it’s hotter than hades this time of year), and some are just for making sure we can provide fresh water to our animals as we move them around the property.
9. Mole Repellent. Yes – this is an actual thing. Who knew? This is probably something that is a “nice to have”, however, it’s inexpensive enough that if you plan on having a large garden, I’d say get this before setting up shop! We set these up around our garden about 30 to 45 days prior to doing any planting (can’t remember time frame exactly). It emits a noise when anything gets near and scares that thing off. I can say I have never seen any evidence of moles or voles or any other rodent in or around my garden. We actually saw evidence that they started burrowing in other areas around the property. So, yes, in our experience, this worked like a charm!
10. Good Quality Gear. Make sure you have a great sun hat, sturdy pair of gloves, and a comfy pair of work boots. You are going to be working hard. Make sure you’re protecting your skin, hands, and feet.
We use all of the above items on a very regular and consistent basis. Take a little bit of time to assess your needs and your immediate goals of your property. Remember, you don’t have to break the bank to make an impact on your property. Happy homesteading!
