This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.

I spend a fair amount of time daydreaming about the homestead I’ll have one day. Thinking about all the things I’ll do, the skills I’ll have, foods I’ll eat — my homestead dream helps keep me going through the drudgery of ‘meetings that should’ve been emails.’

In my daydreams I magically know how to do all these things; in real life, of course, I need to actually learn them. 

It’s tricky trying to figure out how to get from here to there, but I’m working on it! Here’s my guide for building my ideal homestead — really, for building my ideal life.

Grab a mug of something hot, a notepad and a pen (or a computer), and get ready to reflect…

Step 1: Visualize Your Homestead Dream

Before you start working toward your homestead dream, you need to figure out what your dream is. Get specific! Frame it as if it’s already true — not “someday I will” but “I do!” 

A few examples from my dream homestead:

• When I have unexpected visitors, I’ve got something in the freezer I can pull out and bake fresh for them. I can offer a cup of tea or good coffee.
• If a guest is ever cold in my home, I can offer them a quilt I made to keep warm. 
• I have handmade presents stashed for baby showers, weddings, and other celebrations. 
• I eat seasonally and mindfully. Most of my food is locally sourced. 
• I have a pantry full of food I made and canned myself — jams, pickles, veggies, soups, and more.
• My home is filled with items that bring me joy, including furniture I built myself to fit my needs. 
• When I eat an animal, I use every part of it, including the bones, fat, and organs. 
• I bake fresh bread regularly; the baked goods I eat come primarily from my own kitchen.
• I have recipes suitable for many different dietary requirements that I can use for entertaining, housewarming, and so on. 
• Hosting is a regular part of my life. I even have a guest bed/room ready for overnight guests or guests who are over late enough that they’d like to stay.
• I have a food garden that is both beautiful and productive. It feeds my body and my soul and is designed in a way that makes it easy to use even when I’m not feeling well. 
• My food garden is supplemented by pollinator-friendly flowers and includes spaces for local animals to use.
• My home is tidy and easy to maintain; I’ve automated some tasks to make things easier. 

By thinking about what my homestead dream life looks like, I get some idea of what I already know how to do and what I need to learn/research/test. If I want a pantry full of foods I canned, I need to learn how to can; if I want to fill my house with beautiful quilts, I need to work on consistently sewing a straight line 😉 and so on.

Some things I already know how to do — I have a recipe for freezer scones that can be prepped, frozen, and put in the oven when needed, and I already know how to make soup, so I just need to learn to can it rather than figure out soup making from scratch first. 

The “do not do” list

Also helpful is to note what ISN’T part of your homestead dream.

For example, I don’t really care to learn soap making. I know a lot of people really like it, but it’s just not something that gets my heart jumping for joy when I think about it. Since I know this, I’ll leave soap making be and buy soap from other homesteaders instead.

I’m also not interested in raising large livestock — I’m not that big and I’d rather my animals not outweigh me! So instead, I’ll focus on smaller things like poultry and insects (vermiculture composting and raising mealworms for chickens to eat, for example). 

Step 2: Get Specific… Like, Really Specific

Now you have a better idea of what your homestead dream looks like. From here, you can now make a list of skills to learn, recipes to gather, and so on.

My personal list of skills is VERY long and specific, with some easy/right-now skills and some far-away skills. For instance, here are some examples:

• Learn to make yogurt
• Learn to sew a straight line 
• Start and maintain sourdough
• Learn to can — generally
• Learn to make pickles
• Figure out what to do with organ meats
• Learn to render fat (and what to do with it afterwards)
• Make up a few recipes for celebratory non-alcoholic drinks

For more ideas, check out this big list of homestead skills!

Step 3: Just Start!

Once you’ve got your list together, pick something and work at it! The only way to learn is to do.

Some things will naturally come before others (you need to learn to sew before you can sew quilts, obviously). Choose something you think is attainable for you right now and give it a shot.

You might want to set a goal of learning one skill every certain time period — each month, each season, or so on — so you keep on track. I prefer setting one particular goal for each season, with maybe some littler goals in between as I have time. (I’ll post about them at the start of each season so you all can see what I’m working on.)

Know that you’re probably going to be bad at it at first. That’s okay! It’s part of the learning process. Celebrate your failures — your wonky stitches, your burned rice, and your lopsided bookcase are all beautiful because they’re part of your journey, even if they don’t feel super beautiful in the moment.

Let me know what skills you’re working on in the comments! We can celebrate our successes and failures together.