Preppers, Resources Around a Rural Farm
Kevin Felts 05.05.17
Preppers, let’s take a few minutes and talk about various resources that could be found around a rural farm.
For the sake of discussion, let’s say you bugged out to the wilderness, survived through the next plague, emerged alive, then what? Where would you start to look for resources? Would you even know what kind of resources to look for?
Chances are your bug out location is in a wilderness or rural area. Maybe it was near a river, national forest, or a cabin on a piece of land that belonged to a friend. Either way, you want to plant crops and have a steady food supply.
Seeds
One of the first places you may want to look is in the freezer. A lot of farmers, even backyard gardeners, keep a seed stockpile in the deep freezer. Unless the seeds are covered with mold, there is a chance some of them will be good.
Seeds in small packets, like the ones found in big box stores, may be labeled hybrid or heirloom. Hybrid seeds are fine to plant, but do not try to save the seeds from them.
Some types of plants will cross pollinate. Cross pollination means the seeds will produce a hybrid.
- Squash and zucchini will cross pollinate.
- Melons will cross pollinate.
- Beans and peas will cross pollinate.
Farm Equipment
Once you have the seeds, next comes the farm equipment. Why seeds before the equipment? Because seeds are portable.
Check around the rural farm for stuff like:
- Tractors
- Plows
- Hoes
- Rakes
A simple plow spear attached to something strong can be pulled behind a truck or car.
Check the barn for an anvil, hammers, iron stock and hand tools.
Fruit Trees
You have to find the fruit trees at just the right time to harvest the fruit. Just a few weeks before or after, and the fruit is either too ripe or rotting on the ground.
Personally, I would not count on fruit trees as a resource.
Livestock
If livestock are still alive, that would be great. However, chances are dogs and coyotes have already taken their toll. Livestock pens usually do not have an automatic renewable water source. Nor are the pens large enough for the animals to graze.
Without humans to feed them, dogs around rural farms will start killing easy prey, which usually means chickens, goats, and sheep.
If there is one farm animal that I think would have a chance to survive without people, it would have to be guineas. The guinea fowl have retained a lot of their natural instincts. They sit on eggs to hatch them out and are excellent foragers. Chickens on the other hand, they are dumb. The guinea is capable of short distance flight to escape predators.
Water
Chances are the rural farm will have a water well with a pump. Getting the water out of the well may be a problem. However, a lot of wells use air to force the water out of the well and into a holding tank. Figure out how to run the air compressor and you will have water in the holding tank. Then just lift the lid of the tank and scoop up the water.
If this is an old farm, there may be a hand dug well on the property.
Rural Farm Resources
With some seeds, a plow and a way to pull the plow, the foundation of society can be laid.
Not if, but when there is a collapse of society, reconstruction will start on the rural farm. It will be up to the survivors to gather the resources.
