From One Fed-Up Homesteader to Anyone Still Paying for Store-Bought Eggs
Let me tell you something straight: if you’re out here in Utah talking about homesteading and you can’t gut a chicken, start a fire without a lighter, or preserve your own damn food, then you’re not homesteading. You’re cosplaying. And I’ve had it up to my straw hat with city folks pretending this life is all sunsets and sourdough starters.
We didn’t move out here to play pretend. We moved to get away from fragile systems, failing food chains, and the ever-suffocating noise of “convenience.” If you want to live this life—not just like it on Instagram—then roll up your sleeves. This lifestyle is brutal, beautiful, and not for the weak-minded.
Let me break it down for you with 15 skills you better learn yesterday if you’re going to make it through a winter in the Beehive State without crying into your cracked corn.
15 Homesteading Skills You Need in Utah (or Get Out of the Way)
- Canning and Food Preservation
If you don’t know how to water bath or pressure can, you’re a liability. Period. Winters in Utah are unforgiving, and your garden’s not doing squat in January. - Animal Husbandry
Chickens, goats, pigs, rabbits—you need to know how to feed, breed, butcher, and heal them. If you flinch at blood, go back to Whole Foods. - Seed Saving
Buying new seeds every year? That’s not sustainable. Learn how to select, dry, and store seeds, or become dependent on the very system you claimed to reject. - Composting
You’re wasting gold if you’re tossing out scraps. Learn to compost properly and feed your soil, not the landfill. - Basic Carpentry
You’re not calling a contractor every time a coop door falls off. Learn to swing a hammer, measure twice, and build once. - Firewood Cutting and Stacking
If you heat with wood, you better start chopping in spring. You think you’re tough? Try splitting six cords by hand in July heat. - Soap Making
Your ancestors didn’t smell like lavender-vanilla nonsense. Learn to render fat, make lye, and keep your skin from falling off in the dry Utah air. - Beekeeping
If you’re not raising bees, you’re missing out on honey, wax, and crucial pollination. Plus, if you’re sweet, they’ll sting you—build character. - Dutch Oven Cooking
Campfire cooking isn’t just cute—it’s survival. If you can’t cook beans and cornbread in the wild, you’re dead weight. - Fermentation
Sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough—these aren’t hipster trends. They’re preservation techniques, gut-health gold, and power-packed flavor. - Off-Grid Power Knowledge
Solar, wind, battery banks—you don’t get a pass when the power grid quits. Know how to run lights, charge radios, and keep the freezer cold. - Irrigation and Water Management
Utah’s dry, buddy. You better know how to move water, catch rain, and keep your soil moist without wasting a drop. - Butchering and Meat Processing
Don’t raise animals if you can’t face the knife. It’s a sacred act. Learn it, respect it, and do it right. - Basic Veterinary Skills
You don’t get to run to the vet every time a goat limps. YouTube it, stitch it, splint it—your animals depend on you. - Root Cellaring
Old school and underrated. If your carrots rot before December, you did it wrong. Build it. Use it.
3 DIY Homestead Hacks That Actually Work
Because I know not everyone’s made of money, here are three homemade solutions that actually pull their weight.
1. The Pallet Palace Chicken Coop
Don’t spend $2,000 on some prefab piece of junk. Get yourself six free pallets, a drill, and some scrap tin roofing. Line it with straw, cut out a few egg doors, and boom—you’ve got a sturdy, weather-tight coop for near-zero dollars. Bonus: it’s ugly enough to keep HOA types far away.
2. Gutter-to-Barrel Rain Catch System
Utah’s water laws are strict, but rain catchment up to 2 barrels per property is legal. So do it! Run gutters from your shed or home into a food-grade 55-gallon drum. Add a screen to keep the bugs out and a spigot at the bottom. There’s your free irrigation water.
3. The Five-Gallon Bucket Milking Stool
One old bucket, a chunk of 2×10, and some screws. Boom—you’ve got a portable milking stool and storage bucket in one. Add a lid, and your goat milk stays clean while you work.
A Word About Utah Living
Utah’s no joke. Between the high elevation, dry climate, and unpredictable seasons, it’s not the place to dabble. You need grit. Snow can hit in October and the sun can cook your garden in June. You’ll be cursing the alkaline soil, battling gophers, and praying your tomato plants hold on through late frosts.
And don’t get me started on property taxes and zoning. You want to build a tiny house or live in an RV? Good luck. You’ll need to be part attorney, part rebel, and 100% unshakable to keep your homestead legal and functional.
My Final Rant (For Now)
I don’t care if you’ve got matching enamel cookware, cute aprons, or a sourdough starter named Martha. If you’re not working every single day to feed yourself, learn a new skill, or improve your land, then you’re just playing homestead theater.
The grid is fragile. The food system is bloated and broken. If you think the grocery store will always be stocked, I hope you like powdered eggs and stale crackers. The only real security you have is what you can grow, raise, build, or fix with your own two hands.
So no more excuses. No more aesthetic photoshoots in flannel while you let your tomatoes die in the sun. Get out there. Work harder than you ever thought possible. Sweat more. Bleed a little. And earn your place in the dirt.
Because this—this raw, dusty, beautiful, back-breaking life—is the only real freedom left.
TheDailyChristian 