A Homestead Checklist For Every Season

Last Updated on June 20, 2024 by Michelle

We all need some great to-do checklists for life, no? Today let’s dive into a to-do checklist of 54 things to do every year for your homestead. For every season.

For a downloadable, printable set of checklists (& useful homestead-related coupons & offers!) join my Subscriber Library. Or just keep scrolling for the complete lists.

It’s hard work, but it’s doable

I chose my brand name “SoulyRested” back when I was new to this homesteading “thing.”

Even then I realized there was nothing easy about trying to live life a little more simply.

I remember wondering if I would ever truly “rest” again… there’s just always so much to be doing around a small family farm. I knew I’d have to fight for rest in my SOUL, because I might not find time for a lot of physical rest.

In the end, this effort our family has made to live life a little simpler has been harder–and yet easier–than I thought it would be.

You just need a plan

But one thing that is imperative if you want to make a homestead run smoothly?

A plan.

A good plan.

A good plan for every season.

This book will help you make the best plan

My friend, Lisa Lombardo, has itemized exactly what I’m talking about in her brand-new book, The Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Homesteading, and I’m thrilled that she was happy to let me share her list here, with you guys.

Take a second to pre-order Lisa’s insightful, encouraging book here on Amazon or over on my favorite online bookshop, that gives back to your local bookstore with every order… while you’re there tell them I said “hi” and pick up a copy of my book too, if you haven’t already.

It turns out the pages of Lisa’s book are filled with all kinds of practical tips, charts, ideas, and encouragement for anyone who wants to use what they have–their own backyard–to start taking charge of their food supply and living life a little more simply.

But for today, I’m excited to share this helpful checklist with you.

A checklist for your homestead, for every season

As Lisa Lombardo points out in The Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Homesteading, every homestead will have different daily and seasonal chores.

So you’ll want to tailor this list for your own homestead, in fact I already did just that.

I added sugarmaking chores to Lisa’s lists.

The fact is, most folks just don’t know that they can make sugar from the sap of 31 different tappable trees, so many folks have what they need to be backyard sugarmakers, they just don’t know it.

Go here to peruse the list of 31 tappable trees–you might have a few yourself!

The Ultimate Homestead Checklist

This list is printed here with permission from Lisa Lombardo & Rockridge Press, the author and publisher of The Beginners’s Guide to Backyard Homesteading.

Spring Checklist

Start seedlings
Till the garden and grain fields
Transplant the seedlings
Grow cool-season crops in cold frames
Sow grains and vegetables
Order and care for chicks
Assist livestock births
Mild dairy animals
Make cheese and dairy products
Set up new beehives
Fertilize fruit and nut trees
Harvest early-season crops
Weed, mulch, compost, and amend soil
Spray fruit crops
Clean out root cellar
Clean up an store away sugaring equipment

Summer Checklist

Weed, mulch, and compost
Water the crops
Harvest the crops–dive into my free ecourses on
Prepare the beds for fall crops
Preserve fruits, vegetables, and herbs for winter
Butcher early meat harvest (chickens, rabbits)
Milk dairy animals
Make cheese and dairy products
Spray fruit crops
Remove excess fruit from trees
Harvest honey (here are some Great Resources for Beekeeping)
Check the hives and add supers as needed
Catch swarms when available
Check the hives for pests and disease
Repair or replace sugaring equipment, if needed

Fall Checklist

ID and mark your tappable trees. This article lists the 31 varieties of tappable trees.
Gather supplies to build a filter that will help you save money making maple syrup.
Harvest and preserve crops; store root crops
Butcher livestock
Store feed, hay, and bedding for winter
Breed some livestock for spring birthing
Take stock of harvests and plan for the coming year
Sell excess livestock
Clean chimney and put up firewood
Clean debris from gardens and orchards
Prepare your hives for winter (I wrote this article last fall that explains the process)

Winter Checklist

Care for livestock
Breed livestock
Butcher livestock
Check on the bees [on warmest days] and feed them when necessary
Plan the vegetable garden and grains
Purchase seeds and materials (this is my favorite source for seeds)
Prune fruit trees (late winter)
Apply dormant oil spray to fruit and nut trees (late winter)
Build beehives and supers
Repair fences as needed
Split firewood
Total expenses and plan next year’s budget
Tap trees for syrup. This article explains the ideal time to tap.

Download the Homestead Checklist For Every Season

If you’d like a printable ebook loaded with these seasonal checklists that you can download and print out every year, just hop over and join my Subscriber Library. (BONUS: the ebook is also loaded with special homestead-related coupons and offers on some of my favorite products. Seriously.)

You’ll have instant access to the printable lists, as well as 3 pages full of coupons perfect for homesteaders, on my favorite products I use every season here on our own homestead.

It’s not easy, but it’s worth it

Is this homesteading thing easy? Is living simply a simple thing to do?

Not on your life. But it’s worth it.

And if you’re armed with the right tools and checklists, you can definitely find a way to be souly rested, even in the midst of all the hard work.

Find out how ill prepared I was for this simple living and how if I can do this thing, anyone can, in my premiere podcast episode. And catch up on over 7 seasons of inspiration on the podcast right here.