Do you want to be able to monetize your urban homestead? I think most people would love to be able to make extra income or even a full income from the comfort of their own home.
Well, I shared previously on how you can make money from your homestead, but I know sometimes you can feel a little left out when you aren’t living the ‘traditional’ version of a homestead lifestyle.
For instance, urban homesteading is rather new in comparison to the ‘traditional’ homesteading life.
However, don’t think that you can’t still make your land work for you, though your homestead may be smaller and in or near a city. It can, and I’m going to share with you a few ideas on how to make money off of your urban homestead.
Making Money on Your Urban Homestead
Here are the ideas that came to mind:
1. Sell Your Gold
I don’t mean your oil and mineral rights here. I’m talking about honey. Even if you live in an urban area, you can still raise a couple of hives of bees.
Then when you pull honey 2 or 3 times a year, you can sell the excess honey that you don’t plan on using. In my area, we sell 1 pound of honey for around $8, and we are on the low end of things. Obviously, there is money to be made by selling honey.
2. Make a Profit from Someone Else’s Vegetable Garden
This is a great way to make money and how most produce stands in my area actually do make their living. They strike up a deal with a local farmer to buy bulk products at a discounted rate.
Then they bring the produce home and resell it at $2-$3 more per box. Just be sure to market properly so you’ll attract a crowd, and also be sure that you have a way to keep the produce cool so it won’t spoil before you can get it all sold.
3. Spin a Profit on Their Fruit Too
The same method that you used with locating vegetables, you can do the same thing with fruit. Find someone that grows a lot of fruit and agree to purchase it in bulk.
Then you can resell it for a little higher than you purchased it so you can get your initial investment back and also make a little money as well.
4. Fresh Eggs Can be a Money Maker
If you are allowed to raise hens on your urban homestead (check your local laws to be sure), then you should raise a few extra.
That way when they start laying, you’ll have a few extra eggs that you can sell. Considering I saw people paying almost $9 a dozen at a health food chain store the other day, health-conscious people in your area will most likely draw to freshly laid eggs at a lower price.
5. Make a Profit on Someone Else’s Eggs
If you scroll through local yard sale pages on social media, you’ll be surprised how many people sell and auction off fertile eggs. The idea is you buy the eggs from them, then incubate them.
Then when you hatch these eggs, you can sell day-old chicks. They usually go for around $2-$3 a piece in my area. However, considering all you have to do is incubate them, then sell, you are making a pretty good profit.
6. Meal Worms…Get Your Meal Worms
I’ve shared with you before on how to raise your own mealworms. Not only are they a great treat for your hens, but you can also make money off of them.
Again, you’ll just need to sell them as either bait, chicken treats, or even for other people to be able to start their own mealworm farm.
7. Sell Live Bait
This is another worm adventure. Raising worms doesn’t require a lot of space, but you would be surprised how many people are looking for worms.
So if you have people around you that would like worms for their compost or even as live bait, then you could have a viable market for selling worms from your urban homestead.
8. Setup a Plant Stand
If you didn’t know, starting your own seedlings doesn’t require a lot of space or a huge investment to get you going.
In fact, you could probably start seeds in a basement or spare bedroom. This is not only a great way to save money by planting your own garden, but you could sell the plants as well to make an income from your urban homestead.
9. Put Thumper Up for Sale
You can raise rabbits on an urban homestead rather easily. They don’t require a lot of room, and they make a great meat source.
A lot of people like rabbits for pets too. So though you live in a more urban area, you could still sell your rabbit’s babies as a pet. Just be sure that they go to a good home, and that you educate whoever is purchasing them.
10. Resell Seeds
I love this idea because you can often buy seeds at an extremely discounted price. We’ve also shared some ideas on how you can harvest seeds inexpensively.
If you are able to harvest enough seeds, or you find a great deal on seeds, then you can resell them and make a little profit from them.
11. Sell the Woods
If you have a truck, then you should be able to make some extra money using this. A lot of times you can find sawmills that produce their own mulch and firewood.
Well, they are usually pretty inexpensive to purchase these items in bulk. So you purchase the mulch or firewood, then resell it and charge a delivery fee. This is a great way to provide a service year round that could make some decent money for you as an urban homesteader.
12. Don’t Waste Your Animal Waste
If you have chickens or rabbits, then you have a great byproduct that costs you nothing to get. Their waste is some of the best fertilizer.
You’ll find a way to bag it up and offer it as a natural fertilizer to the local gardeners in your area.
13. Decorate a Home
Are you gifted in woodworking? My grandfather sure was. He could make practically anything with his two hands and some wood.
Well, if you have this gift, then put your garage to use as a woodworking spot. Then you can craft beautiful, well-built furniture and cabinets.
14. Bring them in by the Nose
Are you a gifted baker? I can’t tell you how many of my friends have been able to make a decent income from home by selling their homemade baked goods.
So if you have this ability, then you should definitely consider checking in with your local lawmakers to find out what steps you need to take in order to sell your goods.
15. Visit the Farmer’s Market
It doesn’t matter what size homestead you live on, if you have a way of growing excess goods, then you should definitely take advantage of it. Check out our tips on growing a container garden. This might be a good way to produce more on your urban homestead.
Then you can set up shop at your local Farmer’s Market. The great thing is when you sell there, most people come ready to pay more for the product because they know that it is fresh and local.
16. Set-Up a Stand Yourself
Farmer’s Markets are only so many days a week. What if you want to sell on the ‘off’ days too? You can if your HOA is okay with you setting up a stand in your yard.
Then you can sell any excess produce to those that pass by. This would also be a great addition to a regular Saturday yard sale, too.
17. Make Homemade Products
There are many things you can make and sell that usually don’t have a lot of regulation on them. For instance, hand soaps, lotions, and beauty care products don’t usually require a lot of running around with lawmakers.
After you do your research on local laws, then try your hand at making these local products. Also, do some research on what the store-bought versions of these products are doing to your body. It should hopefully fire up a passion within you that will help you to sell your homemade products a little more effectively.
18. Homemade Flour
This method might require some inspections and certifications, depending on where you live, but if you can get your hands on locally grown wheat berries from a flour mill, then you could create your own product.
For instance, you can purchase a wheat grinder and then actually grind your own flour. You would be surprised at how much people love these products. Especially local bakers.
19. Microgreens
Microgreens are something you can sell living in an apartment. All you have to do is grow them, and then reach out to local restaurants.
Again, you’d be surprised how many local chefs look for these items. They love the fact that they can know who is producing them and that they are locally grown. Restaurants like to use them as part of their dishes and as garnishes.
Benefits of Being an Urban Farmer
A lot of people may feel like they are at a disadvantage being an urban farmer and having less land, but really there are many benefits to being an urban farmer.
Here are a few:
1. You Are Actually Near People
I’ve lived in the city and am currently living in a very rural location. The difference between the two is when you live in an urban area, you are actually near people.
For us, we have to reach out on social media to draw people to our location. Where if you live in an urban area, you can put out a few signs and people will actually see them in order to draw customers to your urban farm.
2. Fresh Products are a Rarity in Urban Areas
Living in an urban area, most people are not accustomed to seeing fresh food that is not located at a Farmer’s Market or a store.
If you are able to draw people to your urban homestead, they are likely to be fascinated by it. This sells the experience, which also makes people feel good that they are buying healthy products for themselves and their families.
In our case, it is actually difficult to compete with others on fresh eggs because a lot of people in our area have chickens. The same goes for gardens, orchards, and many animal types too. Be proud that you are doing something different in your area and use that to your advantage.
3. You Have an Edge on Most Stores
Again, you are growing something fresh. Most stores in urban areas don’t do that. Instead, they have items shipped in that they have very little idea about where they actually came from or what has happened to the food prior to it being on their shelf.
However, you know everything about your food. You know how it was grown, what went into it, what feed went to the animals that produced the byproduct, etc. Use that to draw people in. When you can inform people about what they are eating, most are very appreciative and willing to pay a little more for that information.
Well, you now have 19 ways to make money from your urban homestead and 3 advantages to the fact that you are an urban homesteader.
Hopefully, you will find something on this list that you can begin doing right away to boost your homestead income a little.
