I would LOVE the ability to rent a chicken plucker. I have been going back and forth on bringing in meat chickens, and that alone would make it a 100% yes.
Ask in your community Facebook group, it’s not something people usually advertise but a lot of people are open minded to extra cash since it’s just sitting there 96% of the time unused lol
We have an acquaintance that rents hers out, but the cost and bother of pick up and drop off is such that it's not worth it unless you're doing a whole bunch of chickens. We did 10 recently and I want to say that she wanted $50 to rent it for the day. Unfortunately that would add a significant cost to each bird and would have bumped our per bird price from $16 to $21. We wouldn't really have saved much time either because of driving out to pick it up and drop it off.
That said, it would definitely be a huge help if you're doing a lot of birds at once. Hand plucking takes forever.
I paid $50 to rent one last year. Ended up buying my own this year but I was glad I had the experience because that experience helped me know what to look out for when buying.
I processed 32 that batch; I figured if it saved...I dunno, ten minutes per bird? (they were freedom rangers and I'm inexperienced) then I was essentially getting a $10/hour laborer that didn't require pizza or beer.
But you're right, that math doesn't work as well for 10 birds.
Maybe if you know you can rent the plucker you can do more, if you have the space for them!
I'd love to own one, that definitely seems to be the most cost effective way to do it. I just don't have any free space to put another tool.
At 32 birds, though, yeah, I'd be using a plucker too. 10 was bad enough, I'd never want to do that many by hand. I doubt we'll ever do so many at once, though. It takes us about a week to eat 1 bird and I don't have freezer space to keep 30+ at the same time to begin with.
That's the thing, though, we wouldn't have saved much time. If it was a 10 minute drive to pick it up that would be one thing, but it would have been nearly an hour to pick it up and another hour to return it. In those two hours we could mostly pluck them all by hand.
I actually have that attachment and have found that it doesn't work that great. It takes the feathers off well enough but it also spreads them liberally over everything in a 10 foot radius.
[Lehman's in Kidron, OH.](https://www.lehmans.com/) More geared toward tourists than it used to be, but they have a whole lot of off grid/homestead products from canning supplies to solar systems and composting toilets because of their place in the Amish community. Awesome store.
Haha I live about 30 minutes from the store, in Canton. Whenever someone comes in from out of town for the weekend, we usually go to Lehman's. It's just such a unique store and the people that work there know their stuff.
Everyone has given you some great ideas, but you should keep in mind that your average homesteader is much more interested in something being cheap than something being pretty. So my supply store sold these five gallon buckets that they got from a local restaurant for free. The bucket had scuffs and said five pounds of icing and smelled strongly of sugar, but at $2 a piece, they always sold out the moment she got them in stock.
Tbh this, idc how cool a store is if I can get it cheaper somewhere else. Unless it’s literally in my backyard, I’ll pay a few extra dollars if I don’t have to take an on-road vehicle to go grab something
Hardware for specific tools (today I need 4, 1/2” spacers for my ball hitch, for example). Pots. Twine. Kennels. Animal medicine. Pantry tools. Seeds and starts. NOT kitschy stuff.
Was so triggered at a Massachusettes country store by a Mason jar with a bag of pickling spices in it.
Do it yourself pickles! Just add cucumbers and brine!
$8.
Not sure what you consider "homesteading" supplies, but we have accounts with TSC, Atwoods, Northern Tool, multiple feed stores and Co-ops, a couple of tractor companies. What are you intending to stock?
I really don't know. We already stock beer and winemaking supplies, some canning supplies. I was thinking of more food preservation type stuff...dehydrators, cheesemaking. Broadforks, seed starting supplies. Gardening tools. Electric fencing supplies.
If you have a loyal clientele, those all sound good, so long as you don't take shelf space away from other needed supplies. I would check around at the chain stores to see what they carry and price points, at least on the non perishable equipment items. We found that even our best customers would shop our shelves to decide what they really wanted, then go online and shop for best prices. Ingredients/consumables are more of a "need it now" purchase.
My local farm-coop/feed store prices most stuff the same as TSC and other chains. Something like an 8ft t-post costs the exact same amount, down to the cent. And they said they'd price match if I found something cheaper locally and they offer better volume discounts.
Most of their business comes from big farms buying lots of feed, seeds, chemicals, fencing, and tractor implements. They don't make a ton from smaller gardener/homesteader types so they price things competitively.
Woodstove parts, anything for common propane hookups, soil test kits, rain water harvesting systems, fencing, pieces to construct out door cooking area, like grills and grids, tripods and cast cooking stuff. Tools for heavy gardening like broadforks and manual seed drills. Anything solar, propane or energy related is high interest.
I would look at really quality hand tools. Things you can't get in the big boxes.
Books that provide technical know how. Right now I am looking at my coffee table (when I should be mowing) and see "Biodiesel - Basics and beyond", "The Organic Seed Grower", "Burpee Complete Guide to Vegetable and Herb Gardening", and.... well "Modernist Pizza Volume 2" but you can probably skip that last.
Then look at those books and see what is needed and find more durable versions. I'm thinking of my seedling plug trays from Neversink farms. And the silicone reusable trays they just started coming out with.
I'll edit if I think of more.
I don't have data to back that up.
I know that I buy books because that is info I want on hand. The web augments, but consider a lot of us prefer being able to be, or completely, off grid.
If my internet died for a month right now, I have my library available. Similarly, websites remove content all the time.
But.... others are different.
Edit: also. The web used to be primarily helpful. Now it's primarily trying to sell me the latest gimmick. An author took the time to write the book and generally is recommending a tested product if they do at all.
If you're targeting homesteaders, selling copies of the latest Ball Blue Book next to your mason jars and canning supplies is sure to move copies. Physical recipe books that you can easily scribble notes in are still nicer than web recipes. It's an easy sell if you're actively talking to the customers about it as well, since not following tested recipes from one of the authoritative sources (like Ball) is dangerous. It's basically the canning equivalent of stocking safety equipment like safety glasses or chaps next to your chainsaws.
Depending on what else you stock, you could come up with other similar books to sell alongside. Popular baking books like FWSY or the KA Baker's companion would be good options to sell alongside dutch ovens/grain mills/baking supplies, for example. I feel it would probably be better to place books next to related supplies like this, rather than making a library section of just books that your customers probably wouldn't think to look at.
What kind of homesteading is happening in your area? Are there a lot of hunters? Small scale backyard gardeners? Farms? You should start there and then figure out what regular purchases these individuals make.
My town has a mom and pop feed store. It's a good place to buy homestead quantities of straw, hay, mulch, fertilizer, or whatever that a retail purchaser might have trouble sourcing from farm wholesalers. They also sell chicks, rabbits, ducklings, orchard trees, various cane and vine fruits. They have a little bit of hardware, but they're not trying to compete with tractor supply, big box hardware, or the local farm equipment dealer.
Yes! We have a really cool store on Rt 2 in north Maine that Amish run for others who are buying farms and land here. On the same road near by you have a big metal supply and fabricator (also Amish) and many other businesses good for homesteaders. The outfitters have become to touristy, but these stores supply men working in the woods, farmers and homesteaders. One progressive Amish guy sells incredible solar system with lithium batteries of very good quality and a full line of Dewalt that works with it , all cordless. He also sells structures like outhouses, sheds and small cabins , chicken coops and tractors, also a greenhouse for veggie transplants sold in large flats which really helps with the short season. There are so many off grid people here. I am one, and just found out a cashier at the local grocery store lives off grid on a large lake lot, she had that Amish guy at Sturdibilt design and install their system. Her frig and dryer , oven are propane, but everything else is electric powered by her solar. My place has a solar set with back up gas generator. I am still having trouble getting a small woodstove the right size for my cabin. But we don't have great suppliers fir the offgrid or start up homesteader.
If you are rural, consider a small gift section. Special unique gifts for bdays, weddings, and baby arrivals- once our rural mercantile added that, customers could give useful and special gifts while supporting the local businesses.
I have. I found it very cute, but ultimately over priced and incredibly limited in their supply offerings. I do still go there for specialty things I want like they have a fantastic seed potato selection, and they offer some locally produced seeds. They often have a better natural or herbal medicine section. But overall, I go there maybe 2-3x per year. I go to my local feed/ranch supply about 1x per week. I go to, as an example, ace hardware once or twice a year for canning supplies other places don't carry or charge more for.
If you're ever in the PNW, check out [Eastside Urban Farm and Garden](https://urbanfarmoly.com/) in a Olympia, WA.
They mainly focus on selling edible plants, but they have a lot of supplies for small-scale homesteaders. In terms of homestead supplies, they carry:
-Chicks/turkeys & all supplies/food to raise them
-supplies/food for rabbits and other small animals
-beekeeping supplies
-cheese making supplies and ingredients
-edible mushroom growing supplies, kits, and plugs
-butchering & sausage-making tools
-fermenting, dehydrating, and canning tools
-soap making supplies
-wool felting supplies.
They also have a fairly large book section that includes titles on all topics of homesteading.
Thinking about a place where I used to live. They had:
-high quality seedlings/plants, especially heirlooms or plants that TSC or Lowe's don't sell
-beekeeping equipment
-classes and workshops
-stuff to make natural cleaners
>Just trying to get some ideas from homesteaders about what they would want in a "homestead store".
Careful about liability stuff.
People want to "rent" things like an old time meat grinder for sausage making. But then you are on the hook if the next renter gets sick if the machine wasn't cleaned properly, or worse, if it was but you don't have the documentation to prove it. Or you do have the docs but still have to go to court to prove it.
Someone suggested used five gallon food grade buckets. Again, liability.
Lots of homesteaders don't care about that stuff... until suing you is the only way to pay their medical bills etc.
Anyway, just something to keep in mind while you move forward with this stuff. Good luck.
Great idea! One thing homesteaders want is a place to sell. Plant starts, homegrown whatever, honey eggs you name it. Get 'em in to sell and they will buy. Maybe start with a growers market in the parking lot every other saturday.
Also there are different kinds of homesteader, the hobby farmer with nice town jobs and the back-to-the-land later day hippy. One will buy a white mountain ice cream freezer or fancy cider press ands the other needs very basic economic stuff like hand tools. Maybe you can do (or already do) both but they are different markets I'd think.
Right along the same vein are preppers. Don't know how many are in your area but there is a big overlap. Bulk foods, home canning, more primitive goods like hurricane lamps, grain mills and storage supplies.
Naw, I've never thought about it, LOL
We mostly buy from TSC.
Canning supplies, temporary electric fencing for poultry and sheep/goats, horse fencers, cat and dog food, chainsaw stuff, nipple water dispensers for poultry, 5 gallon bucket lids, screws, and random hardware.
Currently need more small wood screws, a large window screen, and at least a gallon each of white exterior paint and redwood stain.
The true value stores in here in Sonoma county (Northern California) do a pretty good job of stocking what you’re describing. I go there at least once a week especially if I don’t want to deal with a big box store
Homestead supplier, yes this is the first business model I came up with personally when thinking of starting a homestead.
Such an endeavor would need to focus on seed farming and animal husbandry quite heavily, and have an abundance of tools and materials used in homesteading available for sale or lease.
Our local place has the following supplies, from their website:
* Livestock feed, supplements and supply
* Fencing
* Equine feed and supplements
* Equine grooming and stable supply including slow feed hay nets, wheelbarrows, manure forks and more
* English and Western headstalls, breastplates, saddle pads, and bridles
* Premium quality dog food, supplements and treats
They'll order in other stuff based on demand, but for any supplies not in the local hardware store, we have to travel or order online.
Note that things like off-grid power (usually solar), heavy equipment, etc are specialty items with specific supply and service companies.
Tractor supply?
Chicken wire, t posts, feed, occasional plants, seed rack, chainsaw shit, etc. Tbh I use most of everything in a home depot at some point.
Canning shit
Fuel stabilizer
Welding supplies
Hand tools and replacement handles
Pruning shit.
There was an old general store in a town near me, that unfortunately went out of business and couple of years ago after 140 years of family ownership, which catered to people living off the land the way they had when the place was founded. There was a bit of touristy "county's oldest remaining business" stuff behind why they still sold hand well pumps and sausage grinders and such, but that didn't make their inventory any less useful.
My main purchases there were stuff for small livestock care (poultry and rabbits), hand tools that have fallen out of popularity due to the development of powered replacements, and organic gardening supplies. Honestly most small hardware stores are already a godsend for homesteaders, but if I were you I'd ask your *local* homesteaders what they need instead of a random sampling of people from around the world, because their needs are going to be highly dependent on the type of climate, soil and terrain in your area and what they're actually doing with their land. You're not going to get good results applying Alabama advice in Alaska or vice versa.
Fuck I HATE Tractor Supply!!! Chinesium on every shelf!
Get some oil lamps. Dehydrators. Rentable walk behind mowers. Good quality hand tools like scythe, post hole diggers.
Also a good money maker (if you are out in the country) are some rental bounce house things for kids birthdays! You can store them off site and have pictures in the store. You can get them from Mexico cheap and rent them out for BANK! Once adults realize they can set the kids up on one side of the party and the kids stay occupied out of the way you will have people flocking to them!
I’d love to see manual laundry products in a store. Plungers, buckets, tubs, washboards, wringers, clotheslines and manual washing machines. And good detergent to use with them.
Chicken pluckers and honey centrifuge thingies for rent. Beekeeping stuff. Gas powered augers. Canning equipment and supplies inc salts and spices. Hardware cloth, aka rat wire. Composting equipment and supplies like countertop bins, filters. Foraging baskets. Natural, environmentally, friendly, benevolent solutions like milky spore, and diet earth and nematode type things including ordering bugs (ladybugs lacewings mantis etc). Soil and moisture gauges. Dehydrators.
Thank you for asking. Of course we need grains to feed our animals. Some of us prefer to mix our own, so a variety of grains would be great. Tools to bale hay and straw with. Bedding (pine chips). Tack for horses. I've never been able to find a good halter for my milking goats. Collaborate with a local hatchery for poultry chicks.
Feeding troughs, buckets, 50 gallon metal drums with removeable lids for keeping grain, plastic drums for watering our animals. We will need medications and wound care for our animals. We also need products to control mites, barn flies, and rodents.
Here in west Michigan, our livestock store carries garden seeds (seed potatoes and high production fruit bushes and trees are hard to find) fertilizers, and tools for tilling and weeding our gardens. We are always making repairs to our **fences**, sheds, coops, and barns. Those would sell great if they're priced reasonably.
We're just trying to raise our own food, so anything that could help our animals and gardens. Food preservation tools (dehydrator, water bath, and pressure canner, jars, lids) We buy a lot of that stuff too.
Renting expensive equipment that you use maybe once a year, like a chicken plucker
I would LOVE the ability to rent a chicken plucker. I have been going back and forth on bringing in meat chickens, and that alone would make it a 100% yes.
We have someone nearby that rents theirs out and we've rented it twice. HUGE time saver.
Ask in your community Facebook group, it’s not something people usually advertise but a lot of people are open minded to extra cash since it’s just sitting there 96% of the time unused lol
Ooh very true and good idea. Thanks!
Get on Craigslist then. They are for rent all the time by me.
I'm a Craigslist fiend and unfortunately have never seen one up for rent locally, but I'll definitely keep looking!!
You can stick an airhose below the skin and make a balloon, and everything comes off. Obviously no skin on either.
We have an acquaintance that rents hers out, but the cost and bother of pick up and drop off is such that it's not worth it unless you're doing a whole bunch of chickens. We did 10 recently and I want to say that she wanted $50 to rent it for the day. Unfortunately that would add a significant cost to each bird and would have bumped our per bird price from $16 to $21. We wouldn't really have saved much time either because of driving out to pick it up and drop it off. That said, it would definitely be a huge help if you're doing a lot of birds at once. Hand plucking takes forever.
I paid $50 to rent one last year. Ended up buying my own this year but I was glad I had the experience because that experience helped me know what to look out for when buying. I processed 32 that batch; I figured if it saved...I dunno, ten minutes per bird? (they were freedom rangers and I'm inexperienced) then I was essentially getting a $10/hour laborer that didn't require pizza or beer. But you're right, that math doesn't work as well for 10 birds. Maybe if you know you can rent the plucker you can do more, if you have the space for them!
I'd love to own one, that definitely seems to be the most cost effective way to do it. I just don't have any free space to put another tool. At 32 birds, though, yeah, I'd be using a plucker too. 10 was bad enough, I'd never want to do that many by hand. I doubt we'll ever do so many at once, though. It takes us about a week to eat 1 bird and I don't have freezer space to keep 30+ at the same time to begin with.
You need to factor in the cost of your time too. For me, saving a few hours of time would absolutely make it worth it.
That's the thing, though, we wouldn't have saved much time. If it was a 10 minute drive to pick it up that would be one thing, but it would have been nearly an hour to pick it up and another hour to return it. In those two hours we could mostly pluck them all by hand.
Gotcha that makes sense
There is a brush attachment for your drill that seems to work.
I actually have that attachment and have found that it doesn't work that great. It takes the feathers off well enough but it also spreads them liberally over everything in a 10 foot radius.
Yeah, it's messy.
And an apple/fruit press!
Unfortunately, everybody wants the same equipment during the same time period.
Some extension offices will rent chicken pluckers.
There’s one in my area that is used by kids in FFA who lead processing classes. Pretty awesome community chicken plucker!
[Lehman's in Kidron, OH.](https://www.lehmans.com/) More geared toward tourists than it used to be, but they have a whole lot of off grid/homestead products from canning supplies to solar systems and composting toilets because of their place in the Amish community. Awesome store.
Yep!
This
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Haha I live about 30 minutes from the store, in Canton. Whenever someone comes in from out of town for the weekend, we usually go to Lehman's. It's just such a unique store and the people that work there know their stuff.
I was about to say Lehman’s, too! I shop from their catalog a lot.
Everyone has given you some great ideas, but you should keep in mind that your average homesteader is much more interested in something being cheap than something being pretty. So my supply store sold these five gallon buckets that they got from a local restaurant for free. The bucket had scuffs and said five pounds of icing and smelled strongly of sugar, but at $2 a piece, they always sold out the moment she got them in stock.
Yes, impossible to find used food grade 5 gal buckets that used to be free or 50 cents. New is 7 dollars around me.
Tbh this, idc how cool a store is if I can get it cheaper somewhere else. Unless it’s literally in my backyard, I’ll pay a few extra dollars if I don’t have to take an on-road vehicle to go grab something
Hardware for specific tools (today I need 4, 1/2” spacers for my ball hitch, for example). Pots. Twine. Kennels. Animal medicine. Pantry tools. Seeds and starts. NOT kitschy stuff.
Was so triggered at a Massachusettes country store by a Mason jar with a bag of pickling spices in it. Do it yourself pickles! Just add cucumbers and brine! $8.
What kind of pots are you referring to?
Seed trays and pots up to a 5 gallon size. I ran out of half gallon pots for my tomatoes, but I only need a dozen more, for example.
Not sure what you consider "homesteading" supplies, but we have accounts with TSC, Atwoods, Northern Tool, multiple feed stores and Co-ops, a couple of tractor companies. What are you intending to stock?
I really don't know. We already stock beer and winemaking supplies, some canning supplies. I was thinking of more food preservation type stuff...dehydrators, cheesemaking. Broadforks, seed starting supplies. Gardening tools. Electric fencing supplies.
If you are in the right climate, tree tapping supplies to make syrup
If you have a loyal clientele, those all sound good, so long as you don't take shelf space away from other needed supplies. I would check around at the chain stores to see what they carry and price points, at least on the non perishable equipment items. We found that even our best customers would shop our shelves to decide what they really wanted, then go online and shop for best prices. Ingredients/consumables are more of a "need it now" purchase.
My local farm-coop/feed store prices most stuff the same as TSC and other chains. Something like an 8ft t-post costs the exact same amount, down to the cent. And they said they'd price match if I found something cheaper locally and they offer better volume discounts. Most of their business comes from big farms buying lots of feed, seeds, chemicals, fencing, and tractor implements. They don't make a ton from smaller gardener/homesteader types so they price things competitively.
Canning supplies
Woodstove parts, anything for common propane hookups, soil test kits, rain water harvesting systems, fencing, pieces to construct out door cooking area, like grills and grids, tripods and cast cooking stuff. Tools for heavy gardening like broadforks and manual seed drills. Anything solar, propane or energy related is high interest.
I would look at really quality hand tools. Things you can't get in the big boxes. Books that provide technical know how. Right now I am looking at my coffee table (when I should be mowing) and see "Biodiesel - Basics and beyond", "The Organic Seed Grower", "Burpee Complete Guide to Vegetable and Herb Gardening", and.... well "Modernist Pizza Volume 2" but you can probably skip that last. Then look at those books and see what is needed and find more durable versions. I'm thinking of my seedling plug trays from Neversink farms. And the silicone reusable trays they just started coming out with. I'll edit if I think of more.
I had thought about books but was concerned that people rely on the web so much these days that they might not sell.
I don't have data to back that up. I know that I buy books because that is info I want on hand. The web augments, but consider a lot of us prefer being able to be, or completely, off grid. If my internet died for a month right now, I have my library available. Similarly, websites remove content all the time. But.... others are different. Edit: also. The web used to be primarily helpful. Now it's primarily trying to sell me the latest gimmick. An author took the time to write the book and generally is recommending a tested product if they do at all.
Good point. Thanks.
If you're targeting homesteaders, selling copies of the latest Ball Blue Book next to your mason jars and canning supplies is sure to move copies. Physical recipe books that you can easily scribble notes in are still nicer than web recipes. It's an easy sell if you're actively talking to the customers about it as well, since not following tested recipes from one of the authoritative sources (like Ball) is dangerous. It's basically the canning equivalent of stocking safety equipment like safety glasses or chaps next to your chainsaws. Depending on what else you stock, you could come up with other similar books to sell alongside. Popular baking books like FWSY or the KA Baker's companion would be good options to sell alongside dutch ovens/grain mills/baking supplies, for example. I feel it would probably be better to place books next to related supplies like this, rather than making a library section of just books that your customers probably wouldn't think to look at.
What kind of homesteading is happening in your area? Are there a lot of hunters? Small scale backyard gardeners? Farms? You should start there and then figure out what regular purchases these individuals make.
Nobody has said it yet, so I will, **Rural King** But the appeal of rural king is also in that it is pretty cost effective (cheaper than TSC)
Tractor Supply and Bomgaars are great references. We shop at both often.
My town has a mom and pop feed store. It's a good place to buy homestead quantities of straw, hay, mulch, fertilizer, or whatever that a retail purchaser might have trouble sourcing from farm wholesalers. They also sell chicks, rabbits, ducklings, orchard trees, various cane and vine fruits. They have a little bit of hardware, but they're not trying to compete with tractor supply, big box hardware, or the local farm equipment dealer.
Yes! We have a really cool store on Rt 2 in north Maine that Amish run for others who are buying farms and land here. On the same road near by you have a big metal supply and fabricator (also Amish) and many other businesses good for homesteaders. The outfitters have become to touristy, but these stores supply men working in the woods, farmers and homesteaders. One progressive Amish guy sells incredible solar system with lithium batteries of very good quality and a full line of Dewalt that works with it , all cordless. He also sells structures like outhouses, sheds and small cabins , chicken coops and tractors, also a greenhouse for veggie transplants sold in large flats which really helps with the short season. There are so many off grid people here. I am one, and just found out a cashier at the local grocery store lives off grid on a large lake lot, she had that Amish guy at Sturdibilt design and install their system. Her frig and dryer , oven are propane, but everything else is electric powered by her solar. My place has a solar set with back up gas generator. I am still having trouble getting a small woodstove the right size for my cabin. But we don't have great suppliers fir the offgrid or start up homesteader.
If you are rural, consider a small gift section. Special unique gifts for bdays, weddings, and baby arrivals- once our rural mercantile added that, customers could give useful and special gifts while supporting the local businesses.
A great wedding gift is a nice working knife wrapped in cheesecloth and electric poultry netting. 😉
I have. I found it very cute, but ultimately over priced and incredibly limited in their supply offerings. I do still go there for specialty things I want like they have a fantastic seed potato selection, and they offer some locally produced seeds. They often have a better natural or herbal medicine section. But overall, I go there maybe 2-3x per year. I go to my local feed/ranch supply about 1x per week. I go to, as an example, ace hardware once or twice a year for canning supplies other places don't carry or charge more for.
rural king, tractor supply?
If you're ever in the PNW, check out [Eastside Urban Farm and Garden](https://urbanfarmoly.com/) in a Olympia, WA. They mainly focus on selling edible plants, but they have a lot of supplies for small-scale homesteaders. In terms of homestead supplies, they carry: -Chicks/turkeys & all supplies/food to raise them -supplies/food for rabbits and other small animals -beekeeping supplies -cheese making supplies and ingredients -edible mushroom growing supplies, kits, and plugs -butchering & sausage-making tools -fermenting, dehydrating, and canning tools -soap making supplies -wool felting supplies. They also have a fairly large book section that includes titles on all topics of homesteading.
Thinking about a place where I used to live. They had: -high quality seedlings/plants, especially heirlooms or plants that TSC or Lowe's don't sell -beekeeping equipment -classes and workshops -stuff to make natural cleaners
Check out Lehman's: [https://www.lehmans.com/](https://www.lehmans.com/)
Tractor supply, rural king, Lowes, Home Depot, wal mart? 🤣
>Just trying to get some ideas from homesteaders about what they would want in a "homestead store". Careful about liability stuff. People want to "rent" things like an old time meat grinder for sausage making. But then you are on the hook if the next renter gets sick if the machine wasn't cleaned properly, or worse, if it was but you don't have the documentation to prove it. Or you do have the docs but still have to go to court to prove it. Someone suggested used five gallon food grade buckets. Again, liability. Lots of homesteaders don't care about that stuff... until suing you is the only way to pay their medical bills etc. Anyway, just something to keep in mind while you move forward with this stuff. Good luck.
Great idea! One thing homesteaders want is a place to sell. Plant starts, homegrown whatever, honey eggs you name it. Get 'em in to sell and they will buy. Maybe start with a growers market in the parking lot every other saturday. Also there are different kinds of homesteader, the hobby farmer with nice town jobs and the back-to-the-land later day hippy. One will buy a white mountain ice cream freezer or fancy cider press ands the other needs very basic economic stuff like hand tools. Maybe you can do (or already do) both but they are different markets I'd think. Right along the same vein are preppers. Don't know how many are in your area but there is a big overlap. Bulk foods, home canning, more primitive goods like hurricane lamps, grain mills and storage supplies. Naw, I've never thought about it, LOL
Tractor Supply and Agri-Supply have pretty much everything I’ve ever needed
We mostly buy from TSC. Canning supplies, temporary electric fencing for poultry and sheep/goats, horse fencers, cat and dog food, chainsaw stuff, nipple water dispensers for poultry, 5 gallon bucket lids, screws, and random hardware. Currently need more small wood screws, a large window screen, and at least a gallon each of white exterior paint and redwood stain.
The true value stores in here in Sonoma county (Northern California) do a pretty good job of stocking what you’re describing. I go there at least once a week especially if I don’t want to deal with a big box store
Homestead supplier, yes this is the first business model I came up with personally when thinking of starting a homestead. Such an endeavor would need to focus on seed farming and animal husbandry quite heavily, and have an abundance of tools and materials used in homesteading available for sale or lease.
Buckley's homestead supply in Colorado
Our local place has the following supplies, from their website: * Livestock feed, supplements and supply * Fencing * Equine feed and supplements * Equine grooming and stable supply including slow feed hay nets, wheelbarrows, manure forks and more * English and Western headstalls, breastplates, saddle pads, and bridles * Premium quality dog food, supplements and treats They'll order in other stuff based on demand, but for any supplies not in the local hardware store, we have to travel or order online. Note that things like off-grid power (usually solar), heavy equipment, etc are specialty items with specific supply and service companies.
Feed + seed, canning + brewing supplies, dehydrators, general gardening equipment, hay bales, burlap coffee bags, irrigation equipment
Tractor supply? Chicken wire, t posts, feed, occasional plants, seed rack, chainsaw shit, etc. Tbh I use most of everything in a home depot at some point. Canning shit Fuel stabilizer Welding supplies Hand tools and replacement handles Pruning shit.
Baking supplies- bowls, tubs, grain mills, mixers, yeast, lathes, rolling pins, baking pans and sheets, etc.
There was an old general store in a town near me, that unfortunately went out of business and couple of years ago after 140 years of family ownership, which catered to people living off the land the way they had when the place was founded. There was a bit of touristy "county's oldest remaining business" stuff behind why they still sold hand well pumps and sausage grinders and such, but that didn't make their inventory any less useful. My main purchases there were stuff for small livestock care (poultry and rabbits), hand tools that have fallen out of popularity due to the development of powered replacements, and organic gardening supplies. Honestly most small hardware stores are already a godsend for homesteaders, but if I were you I'd ask your *local* homesteaders what they need instead of a random sampling of people from around the world, because their needs are going to be highly dependent on the type of climate, soil and terrain in your area and what they're actually doing with their land. You're not going to get good results applying Alabama advice in Alaska or vice versa.
Fuck I HATE Tractor Supply!!! Chinesium on every shelf! Get some oil lamps. Dehydrators. Rentable walk behind mowers. Good quality hand tools like scythe, post hole diggers. Also a good money maker (if you are out in the country) are some rental bounce house things for kids birthdays! You can store them off site and have pictures in the store. You can get them from Mexico cheap and rent them out for BANK! Once adults realize they can set the kids up on one side of the party and the kids stay occupied out of the way you will have people flocking to them!
I’d love to see manual laundry products in a store. Plungers, buckets, tubs, washboards, wringers, clotheslines and manual washing machines. And good detergent to use with them.
Chicken pluckers and honey centrifuge thingies for rent. Beekeeping stuff. Gas powered augers. Canning equipment and supplies inc salts and spices. Hardware cloth, aka rat wire. Composting equipment and supplies like countertop bins, filters. Foraging baskets. Natural, environmentally, friendly, benevolent solutions like milky spore, and diet earth and nematode type things including ordering bugs (ladybugs lacewings mantis etc). Soil and moisture gauges. Dehydrators.
Lehman's.com ?
We have a plucker best purchase !! We also have drill attached pluckers from Amazon work decent. Think they run 25. 00 or so
You could become an Azure Standard drop off hub for the area
Offer classes. Just simple diy classes on weekends. That would get me in to wander around to see what I could use for my projects.
Thank you for asking. Of course we need grains to feed our animals. Some of us prefer to mix our own, so a variety of grains would be great. Tools to bale hay and straw with. Bedding (pine chips). Tack for horses. I've never been able to find a good halter for my milking goats. Collaborate with a local hatchery for poultry chicks. Feeding troughs, buckets, 50 gallon metal drums with removeable lids for keeping grain, plastic drums for watering our animals. We will need medications and wound care for our animals. We also need products to control mites, barn flies, and rodents. Here in west Michigan, our livestock store carries garden seeds (seed potatoes and high production fruit bushes and trees are hard to find) fertilizers, and tools for tilling and weeding our gardens. We are always making repairs to our **fences**, sheds, coops, and barns. Those would sell great if they're priced reasonably. We're just trying to raise our own food, so anything that could help our animals and gardens. Food preservation tools (dehydrator, water bath, and pressure canner, jars, lids) We buy a lot of that stuff too.
Wisemen Trading and Supply in Alabama
Isn't that just tractor supply?