Essential Homesteading Supplies

Multipurpose. That’s the word we keep coming back to you when considering the best way to look at gathering supplies for your homestead. While every tool and item has an intended purpose, many of them pull double or even triple duty in how they can help you achieve your homesteading goals. You know that we like to keep things simple over here, and we even encourage folks to make sure they are truly using what they have before they make any new purchases. With that in mind, here are some supplies that require a single purchase for years and years of usefulness:

JARS

Has there ever been a more multipurpose item? You may be hard pressed to find one. Glass canning jars check off a seemingly endless amount of boxes. For one, they make incredible food storage. The second you need a refill, you only need to bring the jar itself to our bulk refillery; there’s no middle man plastic bag or cardboard container necessary. Of course they effortlessly fulfill their intended purpose of holding goods like preserved fruit, pickles, or kimchi, but with the various lid options out there they also make excellent drinkware, can sprout microgreens, hold cleaning solutions, and more. And let’s not forget: they will always be the perfect vessel for a bundle of wildflowers. 

STEEL SCISSORS 

When it comes to tools, there are a select few that we keep on hand always: a hammer, a screwdriver, a trowel, and versatile forged steel scissors. Although their intended purpose is for pruning plants (more specifically, bonsai trees), we also use them for snipping herbs in the garden and cutting loose threads while sewing. They effortlessly move from garden to studio to kitchen, and they pack easily if you’re heading out to forage. When it comes to tools, selecting items that are made of sturdy metal pays off; they will become a partner to your projects for years to come. 

HANGING RACK

One of our favorite things to find is an item that expands to be massively useful and then stows away easily to free-up space. The design of this hanging rack makes it an ideal laundry room companion, where it can dry small items like cotton facial rounds, socks, and undies, and then be stashed between laundry sessions. However, we also make use of it for drying herbs and flowers (that we snipped from the garden with our steel scissors, of course), which is wonderful when it comes to crafting our own herbal apothecary items. 

COTTON CLOTH

This pick is deceptively simple. Just a cloth? Make it a set and you have reusable paper towels, cloth napkins, kitchen towels, snack storage (wrap up a handful of dried fruit and nuts and secure with a rubber band or string), rags for cleaning, hankies for nose blowing, and more. A simple cotton cloth can make a real impact on the way you care for yourself, your home, and the environment. Isn’t that what homesteading is all about?

What other items would you add to this list? Have you been looking for something in particular to help your homesteading dreams come to fruition? Drop us a line and let us know how we can help.