One of the quiet joys of homesteading is realizing how often you don’t need to run to the grocery store. While we’re far from 100% self-sufficient, there are a handful of staples that we no longer buy because we produce them right here on our homestead. Each season, that list grows—and with it, our confidence, skills, and connection to our food.

Here are five grocery store items we no longer buy, thanks to our homesteading journey.

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1. Eggs

Eggs were one of the first steps toward self-sufficiency for us, and they continue to be a cornerstone of our homestead. With a healthy flock of laying hens, we enjoy fresh eggs daily, even through much of the winter.

Store-bought eggs simply don’t compare to the flavor, color, and nutrition of eggs laid just steps from the back door. Knowing exactly how our chickens are cared for—and what they eat—makes every omelet that much better.

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2. Chicken

Raising our own meat chickens has been one of the most empowering parts of homesteading. While it requires planning, responsibility, and respect for the process, it has allowed us to step away from buying grocery store chicken entirely.

Producing our own chicken means:

• Knowing how the birds were raised
• Avoiding unnecessary additives
• Honoring the full cycle of food production

It’s not the easiest part of homesteading, but it’s one of the most meaningful.

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3. Honey

With our honey bees working hard throughout the spring and summer, we haven’t purchased honey from the store in years. Our raw, local honey comes straight from our hives and reflects the unique floral sources of our area.

Beyond sweetness, honey plays a role in our kitchen, our home remedies, and even seasonal wellness. It’s a small luxury that reminds us how interconnected gardening, beekeeping, and sustainability truly are.

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4. Tomatoes and Peppers

Once summer arrives, the grocery store produce aisle becomes almost irrelevant. Our garden produces tomatoes and peppers in abundance, giving us fresh ingredients for salads, sauces, salsas, and preservation projects.

We grow varieties chosen for:

• Flavor, not shelf life
• Preservation and fresh eating
• Seasonal abundance

There’s nothing quite like stepping outside to harvest dinner.

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5. Potatoes

Potatoes are a quiet hero of self-sufficiency. They store well, produce reliably, and are incredibly versatile in the kitchen. By growing our own potatoes, we’ve eliminated another staple grocery item and added resilience to our food system.

Homegrown potatoes also reconnect us to the seasons—planting in spring, harvesting later, and enjoying them long after the garden beds are tucked in for winter.

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Looking Ahead: Growing Our Self-Sufficiency

As our homesteading journey continues, we hope to add more items to this list. Every year brings new skills, new challenges, and new opportunities to grow, preserve, and provide more of what we need right at home.

Self-sufficiency doesn’t happen overnight. It’s built one season, one success, and sometimes one failure at a time. But each grocery item we don’t buy is a reminder of why we started this journey in the first place—to live more intentionally, sustainably, and connected to our food.

And this is just the beginning.