First off I do not mean to offend anyone calling homesteading a hobby but a hobby is a precursor before it becomes a lifestyle.

This is the boat I am in. Getting started.

Here is where I am as of right now

I live in a suburb inside city limits on a rental property. So based on these little parameters shows there's not a ton I can do but if I can start somewhere the better.

Within at most (I hope 2 years) my family and I will be living outside of city limits and just live for ourselves.

My question is where should I start in the lines of learning skills. What things should I focus now so it will be easier down the road.

Here's what I have done thus far:
Collecting firewood: While to most this is a very mundane task but for me it was a wake up call on the tools I already had were inadequate for this task
Growing plants from seed: Another mundane task to many But if I can grow a plant from a seed there is almost no point of homesteading later on.
basic car repair: perhaps not a true homesteader skill but I look at it in the self reliance category that homesteading is all about
Cooking more meals at home: which is probably the most difficult of them all due to the fact of my wife and I work every day (when she is off I'm working)

This is my start by no means what I only want to do. What other things should I try?

Any questions about what I can or cannot do on the property by all means ask

I think you could start canning in season fruits/veggies. That's a critical skill.

Sounds like you are just getting into it so I would try to get the best tools/equipment possible the first time. Do your research and hit garage sales, you'll be amazed what's out there once you know what to look for.

What are your goals for homesteading? Just an easier going life? Self sufficiency? Adventure? I'd reall recommend a book called "modern homesteading" by a YouTuber named Wranglerstar, it puts forward these questions and ideas much more eloquently than I could. His channel is also great.

Disclaimer, I'm not a "homesteader" either right now but am trying myself to build the skills and equipment I'll need. I'm about 8.5 years out from it

Ive been always trying to can but then something comes up lol

I need to buy jars and can some regular stuff at the grocery store just to get the skill down thanks on that

For myself I would say more self sufficiency if anything.

And thanks for the book recommendation

Tool wise in the lines of basic wrenches socket etc I did my share of spending HD during black Friday. But there is always something else

On the topic of cooking, you need a chest freezer.  Cook meals 3/4 the way done and freeze them.  Look at the frozen meals from the store and try to freeze them similar to those meals.  

We make 14 servings of chili at a time.    12 go into freezer bags and get frozen flat for east storage.

Interesting way to store chili....I may have to try that. I always can mine extra


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Buy the book Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.  

A big part of homesteading and being self sufficient is producing your own food.  A lot of cities will allow you to have chickens, but no roosters.  Getting some chickens is a great way to learn about feeding, housing and generally caring for animals.  

Another important thing to know is general home repair.  Repair people, professionals, will sometimes charge extra to drive out into the country.  You'll end up building your own animal pens, so a knowledge of construction helps.  

Another thing you'll need to know how to build is fencing. What material you fence with and how you build it are determined by what you're keeping in or out.

Take a look at the forums at www.tractorbynet.com Probably the best tractor/homesteading forum out there.

How big is your rental?

How on board is the wife/family?


Right now I'm writing a book of sorts, meant for future generations about starting into mini homesteading, sort of a memoirs, tips and tricks we have learned the hard way. I'll look for some useful exerpts for you when I am on my laptop tomorrow.

I'd suggest paying attention to gardening.  It's hard work, and discouraging sometimes, but it will help keep you focused on the big picture.  But if you scale up, you can raise other critters from your feed, and supplement that with some lettuce, tomatoes, peppers...  You're probably handy with a rifle, but buy or get real good with a little 22.  Think about a dog for protection, but it's another big cog in your machine that can wait if needed.

Keep checking landwatch.com or landsof (whatever state you wanna live in).com.  Those place will help keep you focused on your big prize.  Consider your relationship to a church.  Most rural folks are believers, and the church is still a huge safety net and social rallying point.

If you were snowed in on the East Coast, I'd suggest reading some books. You might be able to do stuff at this time of the year.

"Five Acres and Independence" by M. G. Kains was a good read and I think it's public domain now.

Like other said, food preservation such as canning or dehydrating and gardening would be great starts. I can't imagine a rental agreement that wouldn't allow a small garden.

Gardening...you're in a rental so, pots, learn to grow..maintain viable crops, tomatoes, peppers, onions, a few corn, micro fruit and or nut trees that can be rolled indoors during inclement weather, mushrooms in closet, learn what different crop issues look like..HERBS,,,what they for both culinary and medical purpose..
get books..REAL BOOKS on survival issues, gardening, animal husbandry, learn carpentry, furniture building, cabinet making, brick/stone masonry. learn
to maintain and repair your car, quad, cycle etc As you're a suburbanite. Exercise, walk, run, jog, climb, jump rope, ride a bike,, lots of work in a subsistence/self reliant lifestyle and optimum health and prime physicality is a huge headstart and knowing you can jump on a 10 speed and go 20 mi with out thinking about it can
be a lifesaver and lastly find a partner who'll roll in the mud, break a nail and can struggle with getting the paint and cow shit out of her hair or you're in a losing relationship from the start..

I restarted homesteading as an old man with ill health and wish I had continued what I started 40 years ago on the physical stuff...but work, kids, wives got in the way..

Wow I didn't expect these many replies. I will read and reply accordingly

Chest freezer is on the plans, it a matter of setting up the space (need to work on my addition truck before that I have to clean the randomness of inside the garage but besides having a chest freezer we have an addition fridge in the garage. Fridge portion primarily additional drinks freezer section typically long term freezing.

Typically I usually only freeze soups (I'm the soup guy) that in turn that goes for lunches. there is limited space in the freezer now.

Thank you for the suggestions

Thanks for the book suggestion

The only thing I will have to look up is the "livestock" for my particular city. Last I heard that chickens were considered livestock. But I don't believe rabbits where.

In the lines of house repair, I could learn more. On a side note Ive had to repair my "fair share" on this property because the owner doesn't do anything

Fencing for sure is something I have to learn. Ive had to build a barricade (wont deem a fence) for my dogs. Even though I absolutely hate when they get out It teaches me what I have to different. (Friendly tip, if your dog(s) can get through anything can get through)

And great another forum lol

Thanks

Many cities have special rules for chickens outside of livestock. Worth checking out if your landlord is okay with it. Two or three hens and a rooster can provide a lot of education.

The whole property itself, not that big (by my standard but I use to live on 30 arces of land in WI) If you need exact measurements I can get them for you but its you typical single floor  house with a front and back yard. Doing  anything happens in the front yard because my dogs own the back and rather not destroyed.

My wife is fairly onboard. Ironically the 1st season of Doomsday preppers when it was new (yeah I know the show is a bit out there) she finally got out of the "city" living kind of deal (we use to eat out a lot and live in a much bigger city) But she understood why to keep something on hand. Now she is much more on board but her main concerns is the family income. She brings the bacon while I have "the fun". My two kids to be honest I'm unsure where they stand. Oldest is 8 youngest is 5. The oldest does like trying new things like paperbrick making (which I will have a review on this in the next few weeks on everything from materials process and temps) The 5 year old is who I'm most concerned about coming on board but hopefully the trip to WI and going in the woods and camping and letting him do stuff will get him on board.

All in all my family isn't against but do not have there heart in it but that could be based on me. I think I'm in the mentality if I wont teach it who will? So yes you can blame me for my family lack of progression at this moment in time

Started seeding my peppers (indoor jiffy green house) and will transplant (when ready) to my Xmas tree totes I will convert into my beds (a heck of a lot cheaper than going with a wood option.

I have debated on the .22 Rimfire. I'm considerable against still because I cant get ammo for it. Ive been looking for a small lightweight firearm. Been debating maybe on something like a .22 Hornet. Even though its not a high abundant round I am set up for reloding.

I have 4 dogs (which having 1 at all is un heard of on a rental property) they bark and go after just about anything.

Thanks for your suggestions

For sure it is very difficult. but since when my wife and I were married to now we started maybe 90% of eating out to about 45-50% eating out so we are getting there.

Being from the Midwest I will never be snowed in lol

We have dehydrated some random meat just unsure of extending the shelf life past a couple of weeks (found mold on my jerky) but ive played around with dehydrating not full into it yet (need a better dehydrator)

I mentioned in a few other posts but will reply in yours. I bought a couple of Xmas Tree totes. Fairly long and deep. My dad gave me the idea on this. about $25 a tote which is not bad consider the cost of some of the potted plants

I think the biggest suggestion I'm taking from you is exercise. I'm out of shape and it wont help not loosing weight now when I get my property (Ironically the property I'm looking at the gentleman just called to wonder if we were still interested in it)

Raising rabbits in the city is something that you can do.

ETA
I can't spell...

I've been looking at this for some great detail hopefully it's not against my rental agreement.

You phrased it a good way using the word hobby.  It is dang hard to really hop right into homesteading and have your land make your living.



You are basically going to pick and choose what is worth the effort and time to do, vs. what is worth paying for at the store or on the magical net that lets the pretty brown truck deliver your goods right to your door.



I would read on the net or buy some used books anytime you are looking at doing something.  There are some easy plans out there for making some shelves using 2x4s and plywood but some of the basic cabinetry books have stuff that might make you happier with the outcome.  I like to surf the net for ideas, lots of ease hopping around and searching ideas and what not.  But once I settle onto something I prefer an actual book in front of me, or at least a print out.  



There are a lot of free kindle books on stuff like gardening and herbs and what not, but you have to catch em when they are free.  Lots of sites track the books, you just need to find a site or three you check in on and get em while they are free.



And as with most stuff, there is an alternative if you don't own a kindle and don't want to own a kindle.  You can put the program on your computer and still read em.  And if you have pdf's that you want on the kindle, there are programs for that.



The reading section of this site has a nice big list of stuff.



I also recomend watching mother earth news, they will have a half price sale on their dvd/thumbdrive of all the old magazines and articles and I consider it well worth the cost.  Backwoods home magazine is another one to look at.

I kind of browsed through the thread and saw rabbits and chickens mentioned, but what I don't see mentioned is butchering. Butchering your own meat is an art, one that's not possessed by many people. More for the future when you're rural living, but its a needed skill for homesteading IMO. Glad I learned from my grandfather, and I'll pass it on to the next generation.

Be careful getting the kids, wife in on that yet. As recovering city folk, it will likely turn them off immediately.

 

But yes, you should connect with your food.

So OP, what are your goals with this exactly?

Are you looking to live off the land?


Make your living off the land? If so, what are your income expectations? You still need income, and more than you think even with this lifestyle. It rarely pays for itself and usually requires either cash crops/services or outside income.


Are you willing/ready to ditch electronics? You won't have time for video games or TV.


Are you and your family prepared to invest the TIME it takes to maintain everything, produce and preserve?


How much will your wife take part, since she is the one that currently brings in the household income?


As far as working on your car not a true homesteader thing, you are waaay off on that one. Repairing your own equipment is absolutely vital. You cannot afford to bring everything in every time anything breaks. If you cannot rebuild a Briggs 5hp, you need more practice. You will come to depend on a lot of equipment which will always need maintenance, repair, modification. On that note, learn metalworking. Minimum tools are a BFH, large slip joint pliers, torch (did you know you can use propane instead of acetylene?), welder (and associated supplies). You also need a drill, drill doctor (to sharpen drill bits), 4" angle grinder, saws-all just off the top of my head as to what you need to start.


A good book might be: Mini-Farming

Because we currently have about 5 acres, and we live on a hill so flat-ish garden space is limited, we have adopted SOME of these methods.


I (and probably most others that do this sort of thing) grew up on a farm. This is all second nature to me. I applaud you for giving it a try with no background. I will tell you that odds are against you. The vast majority cannot handle the work and dedication that this life brings. That said, I wouldn't have it any other way. If it were feasible, I would gladly give up my business and go full time farming if I could. The sad truth is it just isn't that simple anymore.

My goal is to be more self reliant. yes I know it is a very general term but will explain. I don't like the fact in essence todays society that everything can be bought as convenience but doing yourself is almost discourage (getting political but mainly by the left nowadays). I want to be able to still live without depending fully on 3rd party entities (not referring to government but from the simplest form Walmart etc)

Do I want to live off the land? I think I do, but what I do know (reference to first question) is to be more self reliant. Lets say 10% of my family comes from homesteading (food, income, crafting) I already know that I'm doing better than a majority of the population. Where as if something bad happens ie wife getting fired to the extreme SHTF we will be better off still.

As it comes for income from straight homesteading, I haven't thought of it to be truly honest. Would I want us to live on it sure but to be honest at this moment in time unrealistic. I know my wife likes to bake and do crafts and always wanted to try to make her goods for profit.

As for electronics I'm already good without them. Heck the biggest change that my family did (which my inlaws cannot believe we did this) was rid cable and only have hulu amazon and Netflix. We have saved a decent sum by doing this.

I'm not sure how much my wife will partake in this but I will put it this way, she is not against it at all. Mind you currently we will still do quite well if I'm not working (was a stay at home dad for awhile) If I stop working it will not hurt us at all. I'm only workings just to help pay off more bills off faster.

Ive been trying on whole chicken and deboning. I'm a butcher alright butchering that meat and leaving more on the bone. lol

Still trying to teach myself but might just have to go to a butcher

See above in red.

 

An excerpt from my "book". Keep in mind, still in first draft. Still just organizing ideas. This a direct cut/paste, formatting may not be quite right.