Essential Skills for New Homesteaders: What We’re Learning Before Our Move

Starting a homestead is an exciting journey, but it also requires learning a whole new set of skills to ensure success. While Julien already has solid experience in gardening and landscaping, he’s eager to develop new skills in areas like potager gardening, energy management, and more hands-on DIY projects.

In this article, we’ll share some of the essential skills we’re honing before we make the big move from Singapore to France, where we’ll put everything into practice.

Gardening Skills: Expanding from Landscaping to Potager

While Julien is well-versed in gardening and landscaping, managing a vegetable garden, or potager, is a whole different ballgame. Growing food for self-sufficiency requires more in-depth knowledge about plant care, soil health, crop rotation, and maximising yields over seasons.

Understanding Soil Health and Composition

One of the first areas we’ve been focusing on is soil health. Julien’s landscaping experience has already given him a solid understanding of plant nutrition, but growing a successful potager requires deeper knowledge of soil composition and fertility.

We’ve been learning about:

• Soil Testing: How to test the soil for pH levels and nutrients to determine what amendments might be needed.
• Composting: While we’ve already begun practicing composting in Singapore, we’re eager to scale up and create a steady supply of nutrient-rich compost to improve our soil. Adding organic matter is essential to creating the healthy soil structure needed for growing vegetables.
• Mulching: In landscaping, mulch is often used for aesthetic purposes, but in the potager, it serves the dual purpose of moisture retention and weed control. Learning the types of mulch best suited for vegetable beds is helping us refine our gardening approach.

Julien’s background in ornamental gardening is helping to create visually appealing garden designs, but now we’re combining that with the practical needs of growing food.

Learning Crop Rotation and Companion Planting

Unlike ornamental gardening, growing vegetables requires thoughtful planning of how different crops interact with the soil and with each other. We’ve been researching crop rotation—the practice of planting different crops in different areas of the garden each year to avoid soil depletion and pest build-up.

Additionally, companion planting is a key skill we’re working on. Certain plants, when grown together, can benefit each other by repelling pests, attracting beneficial insects, or improving nutrient uptake. For example:

• Tomatoes and Basil: Basil helps repel pests that commonly attack tomatoes.
• Carrots and Onions: Onions can deter carrot flies.

This combination of Julien’s landscaping knowledge and new skills in crop management is helping us plan a potager that is both efficient and beautiful.

Basic Carpentry: Building Essential Structures

On a homestead, being able to build and repair structures yourself is a vital skill. While we’re not master carpenters, we’ve been practicing the basics to ensure we can create the necessary infrastructure for our homestead.

Building Raised Garden Beds

One of the first DIY projects we’re focusing on is building raised garden beds. Raised beds offer a number of advantages, including better drainage, easier soil management, and protection from pests. Julien’s experience with landscaping has already made him comfortable working with outdoor spaces, but building functional raised beds requires carpentry skills we’ve been developing.

We’ve learned about:

• Choosing the Right Materials: We’re experimenting with different materials like untreated wood, bricks, and corrugated metal to find what works best in terms of durability and aesthetics.
• Basic Joinery Techniques: Understanding how to make strong joints to ensure that the beds are sturdy enough to last through different seasons.
• Measuring and Cutting: While these might seem like simple tasks, precision is key when building any structure, and getting comfortable with tools like saws and drills is essential.

Creating DIY Shelving and Storage Solutions

In preparation for the move, we’ve been practicing building simple shelving units and storage solutions. These are skills that will translate directly to building more complex projects on the homestead, like chicken coops, garden sheds, and even greenhouse frames.

Being comfortable with power tools, measuring materials accurately, and ensuring that structures are stable will make it easier for us to tackle the numerous DIY projects that will come with managing a homestead.

Energy and Water Management Skills

One of the major goals for our homestead is to become as self-sufficient as possible, and this means learning how to manage energy and water resources wisely. We’ve been educating ourselves on two key areas: solar energy and rainwater harvesting.

Harnessing Solar Energy

We’re excited about incorporating solar panels into our homestead. While Julien’s experience in landscaping has taught him how to design outdoor spaces with environmental factors in mind, managing solar energy adds a new layer of technical knowledge.

Here’s what we’ve been learning:

• Understanding Solar Panel Systems: From how solar panels work to how they store energy in batteries for use on cloudy days.
• Positioning Panels: Optimising the angle and placement of panels to capture the most sunlight throughout the year.
• Energy Storage: Knowing how much battery capacity we’ll need to store excess energy generated during sunny days so we can use it at night or during overcast periods.

Solar energy will allow us to reduce our reliance on external power sources and make our homestead more resilient.

Water Conservation and Rainwater Harvesting

Water is an incredibly important resource on a homestead, and we’re already preparing for efficient water management. Rainwater harvesting is a simple yet effective method of collecting water for irrigation, livestock, and even household use.

We’ve been researching:

• Gutter Systems and Collection Barrels: How to install efficient systems to collect rainwater from roofs and store it in large barrels or tanks.
• Water Filtration: Techniques for filtering collected rainwater to make it safe for non-potable household use, like washing clothes or cleaning.
• Irrigation Techniques: Learning about drip irrigation systems to ensure that the water we collect is used efficiently, delivering moisture directly to plant roots without wasting it.

Water conservation skills are crucial for homesteaders, especially in regions where water availability fluctuates.

Preserving and Storing Food: Extending the Harvest

Learning how to grow food is one thing, but preserving it for the off-season is equally important. We’ve been experimenting with different methods of food preservation to make sure we’re not wasting any of our harvest and have food stores for the winter.

Canning and Fermenting

We’re focusing on two main preservation methods: canning and fermenting.

• Canning: Learning how to safely can vegetables, fruits, and even homemade sauces has been a game-changer for us. Canning preserves food for months, sometimes even years, which will be crucial during the winter months when fresh produce is scarce.
• Fermenting: We’ve also started experimenting with fermenting vegetables. Not only does this process preserve food, but it also adds health benefits like probiotics, which support gut health.

These preservation techniques will help us extend our harvest and make the most of the food we grow.

Conclusion: Preparing for Life on the Homestead

The essential skills we’re developing now will help us build a self-sustaining homestead in France. While Julien’s gardening and landscaping experience gives us a great foundation, expanding into areas like vegetable gardening, carpentry, and energy management is crucial to our success.

As we continue to practice these skills in Singapore, we’re excited about the challenge of applying them in France, where we’ll finally be able to live out our homesteading dreams. If you’re thinking about starting your own homestead, we recommend building these skills early on so you can feel confident and capable when the time comes.