Homestead Spring Cleaning

The days are getting longer, temperatures are rising, and life around the homestead is beginning to wake up. Spring brings new growth and energy that you can use as motivation to get moving and prepare for the upcoming productive season. From tidying up the house to replacing toxic cleaning supplies to clearing out the barn and repairing fences, homestead spring cleaning will improve the function of your household and farm during the busy months to come.

Here is a quick rundown of some homestead spring cleaning tasks that can get your home & farm cleaned, refreshed, and ready for a new season.

House Cleaning & Refreshing

While this post is about homestead spring cleaning, it is important to remember that *home* is a huge part of the homestead. Because of this, we start our spring cleaning inside the house. Having your home in order will give you mental and physical space to do more outdoors with less stress.

Declutter and Organize

It is a good idea to start your household spring cleaning by getting rid of some clutter. This will clear the way for items you use frequently. Go through each room and remove anything that isn’t serving your family anymore. This may take a few days, depending on how much unused stuff you have.

Once you remove these items, you can go back and organize each space with functionality in mind. Keeping spaces clear, simple, and functional will help you keep all your plates spinning and give some mental clarity as you go on your homesteading journey.

Swap to Non-Toxic Cleaners

Pull out all of your cleaning supplies and decide what products should be swapped for non-toxic and/or homemade cleaners instead.

non-toxic cleaning spray and a flour sack towels

Some ideas for replacement household cleaners include:

Deep Clean Each Room

Now you can go through each room and do a deep clean. Start from the top down. Wipe the moulding, walls, fans, windows, doors, clean baseboards, and then scrub & mop the floors. If you have cabinets or drawers in the room you are in, pull those out and give them a wipe down as well.

Clean Out & Organize the Pantry & Fridge

This can be a big job for anybody, but especially for people who preserve food for long-term storage. You may have more food to go through than the typical pantry, but a good clean out will help you to reduce waste and keep your kitchen functional & fresh.

Rotate older items to the front, toss anything unusable, donate usable items that your family won’t consume, then wipe down the shelves and walls.

Season Cast Iron

Spring is also a good time to reseason cast iron cookware. Look through your pieces to see if any need a good seasoning and get that done now.

Swap Out Seasonal Items

Now is the time of year to put away winter items and bring out all things warm-weather, assuming you live in a region with warm springs. Pack away the heavy blankets, coats, winter boots, insulated bibs, etc.

You can also take the time to go through your clothes here. Some people like to keep all-season clothing together in the closet, but if you are like me, you don’t have space for that. I like to keep a large storage bin with out-of-season clothes, decor, etc, so my closet only has clothes I can wear in the current weather.

Farm & Homestead Cleanup

Now that the house has been taken care of, you can get outside to start cleaning up the pastures, shelters, storage spaces, and garden.

Declutter and Organize

Start your homestead cleanup by decluttering. Go through the barn, shed, tack room, coop- any place you have items stored- and get rid of unused items. This clears space for the things you use frequently, and it can help make your homestead flow more smoothly.

Clean & Refresh the Chicken Coop

Spring is a great time to give the chicken coop a good refresh, especially if you utilized the deep litter method throughout the cold season.

wheel barrow in chicken coop | homestead spring cleaning

Remove all bedding from the coop and toss it into the compost pile. Scrape any stuck-on manure and sweep it all out. Spray the coop down with a water hose and then scrub the surfaces with white vinegar or this homemade coop cleaner to sanitize. Let the coop air dry and then add fresh bedding.

Check Fencing & Shelters

Do a walk-through of your fencing and livestock shelters to look for weak spots and damaged areas. Repair these spots as you go.

Clean Up the Garden

Go into the garden and clean out any dead plants and leaves. Do this carefully as many beneficial insects “sleep” in leaf litter throughout the winter and they may still be there. Gently move these plants and leaves to the compost pile.

Get the beds prepped the way you like. I use the Back to Eden method, so for me, this looks like placing a layer of cardboard or newspaper down as weed control and covering that with thick layers of compost and wood chips. If you plant directly into the soil, now is a good time to gather a soil test sample.

Inspect & Clean Beehives

If you have bees on your homestead, Spring is a great time to do a thorough hive inspection and cleanup. If Spring in your region is not above 50°F, then hold off a little while longer.

Here is a great set of checklists for seasonal hive inspections. If you are beekeeping naturally, disregard the sections that don’t apply to you.

Check Equipment

Go through your tools & equipment, check over the greenhouse, and look at your food & water containers. If anything is broken or in need of maintenance or cleaning, go ahead and take care of that now.

Restock Supplies

Take inventory of your supplies and other needed items like tools, feed, etc. Restock anything that is running low and consider creating an inventory sheet to help you keep track in the future.

Create a Homestead Plan

Use a homestead planner to get all of your goals and record-keeping in order for the rest of the year.

Homestead Spring Cleaning