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Essential Skills for Homesteading and Self-Reliant Living



Here is a short list of some of the essential skills you will need to learn and improve upon as a homesteader or someone living a self-reliant lifestyle, and a few examples for each.


1. Food Acquisition

-Gardening:

-Tree Planting

-Soil Science

-Water Management/Irrigation

-Pest Control

-Pruning

-Disease Control

-Planting times and zones

-Varieties by location/zone

-Composting

-Hunting/Animal Husbandry

-Knowledge of firearms/archery and how to use

-Know how to process hunted/raised meats

-Knowledge of hunting and trapping methods and strategies

-Knowledge of local game


-Gathering/Foraging

-Knowledge of local wild-edibles and herbs

-Know how to identify edible wild plants

-Know and be able to identify poisonous vegetation



2. Water Acquisition

-Know and Identify sources

-Rainwater Collection

-Creek/Spring

-Pond/Lake

-Well



3. Water Purification

-Know methods on how to filter and purify water from various sources

-Pumps and Filters

-Drip systems



4. Building a Fire - Cooking and Heating

-Wood acquisition and processing

-Knowledge of wood collection and processing equipment

-Primitive cooking knowledge

-Wood stoves and other heating/cooking methods



5. Knowledge of Tools

-Woodworking Tools

-Mechanical Tools

-Power Tools

-Gardening Tools

-Arborist Tools



6. Basic Construction

-Carpentry

-Roofing

-Fencing

-Plumbing

-Repair/General Maintenance



7. Basic Engine Mechanics

-Farm Equipment: Tractors/Excavators etc.

-Generators

-Vehicles

-Saws and other equipment



8. Personal First-Aid/ Basic First-Aid Skills

-Bandaging

-Disinfecting

-Splinting

-Burn Care

-Stitching



9. Healthy Eating and Natural Remedies

-Knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants

-Knowledge of dietary essentials



10. Knowledge of Knot-Tying

-Clove Hitch

-Bowline

-Reef Knot

-Sheet Bend


11. Knife skills and usage - #1 everyday tool

-Safety

-Carving

-Cutting

-Skinning


12. Animal Husbandry

-Mating

-Rearing

-Raising

-Medicine and Medical Care



13. Food Preservation

-Canning

-Freezing

-Curing

-Drying

-Dehydrating

-Smoking

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