Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

The Case Against Corn for a SHTF Survival Food Crop

Random Ramblings
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Using a tiller to work manure into a garden

Regardless to popular belief, corn is not a good crop for surviving a SHTF Doomsday event.

When the topic of food crops for SHTF comes up in the forum, there is one that is talked about more than others, and that is corn. There is a common misconception that all someone needs to do to grow corn is to plant the three sisters – beans, squash and corn.

In theory, the beans are supposed to supply the corn with much needed nitrogen. While beans and peas produce their own nitrogen, it is not in a form that can be easily used by other crops. In other words, there is more to growing corn than just planting beans with it.

Then there are the various types of corn. Corn seed we get from the local farm supply store is a far cry from native corn grown by indigenous Native American tribes.

Corn After SHTF

Dumping Trash at a Rural Bug Out Location

Random Ramblings
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Trash dumped in a rural area

One of the issues with having a remote bug out location, such as a cabin, is people dumping trash. Typically the trash is dumped on the side of the road so county clean up crews will pick up the trash. However, rarely will someone dump trash on someones property. This is especially true if someone has a bug out location on a remote rural road.

When people dump trash on the dirt roads near the farm, I dig through the trash and look for anything with a name or address. If there is a name, or some kind of identifying information, then the sheriff can be called. I have called the sheriff several times on people who dumped trash near the bug out location.

Typically, a sheriff deputy will drive out, I will give him (or her) something with a name or address, then the deputy will go to their home, and tell them to clean the trash up. People can be stupid. They dump trash on the side of the road, and they leave a bill, or pill bottle in with the trash.

Having an envelope with their name and address on it makes calling the sheriff much easier. The deputy drives up, hand them the envelope, and the deputy takes care of it from there.

Using a Vehicle to Solar Dehydrate Peppers and Tomatoes

Homesteading, Videos
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Solar Dehydrating Peppers and Tomatoes

Can a vehicle be used to solar dehydrate peppers and tomatoes?

Saw this on an episode of Doomsday preppers, or something like that, so I decided to give it a try. A tray off of an electric dehydrator was used to hold the food, and a meat thermometer was used to measure the air temperature. Two of the windows of the SUV were cracked around 1/8 – 3/16 inch.

The goal is to capture the greenhouse effect of the summer sun on the vehicle. Then use the collected heat from the greenhouse effect to dehydrate peppers and tomatoes.

Types of peppers in this experiment:

  • Tabasco Peppers
  • Jalapeno Peppers
  • Bell Peppers

Preparing the Peppers

Essential Bug Out Location Supplies For Surviving SHTF

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear
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Bug Out Location For SHTF

Stockpiling supplies at the bug out location? Let’s take a few minutes and talk about what are some essential supplies to have at the bug out location.

The goal of stockpiling essential supplies at the bug out location is to help the family after a SHTF/ Doomsday event. We want to make the family members feel safe, secure, and have the bug out location feel like a home away from home.

One way to achieve the “home away from home” feeling is by making trial runs to the bug out location. For example, use holidays and long weekends at a remote cabin or hunting camp to practice bugging out. Once at the bug out location, observe what items will the family use most. Take books for example, what types of books will various family members read?

At the hunting camp my family uses, we have a wide assortment of hunting and fishing magazines. Those types of books are mostly read by the guys. While on the other hand my daughter likes puzzle books, such as crossword puzzles.

Bug Out Location Supplies

Stockpiling Seeds For a Doomsday / SHTF Event

Homesteading, Preparedness Articles
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Doomsday Survivalist Seed Stockpile

Interested in stockpiling survivalist seeds for a doomsday / SHTF event? Then you have arrived at the right place. This article will cover various aspects of stockpiling survivalist seeds for doomsday.

The purpose of this article about stockpiling survivalist seeds is to help the first time seed buyer. If someone has never bought their first seed, this article is to help that person make an informed decision.

Heirloom / open pollinated – Bear true to form. Meaning, if the seeds are saved and planted, the resulting plant will be just like the parent.

Hybrid Seeds – Cross pollinated between two related plants. The seeds can be saved from the cross pollinated plant, but the child may or may not be like the parents. Saved seeds from hybrids may or may not be like the parents, may be sterile… chances are will not bear true to form.

There is a misconception that stockpiling hybrid seeds are bad. Hybrids can sometimes be more drought, pest and disease resistant than their parents. It is perfectly fine to stockpile hybrid seeds, just realize saving the seeds is a gamble.

GMO Seeds – Modified on the genetic level. For example, some scientist may take a gene from a puffer fish and splice it into a corn seed. The corn plant would then produce a toxin which would kill bugs.

Stockpiling Seeds For Doomsday / SHTF – YouTube

Growing Period

Canning Home Grown Jalapeno Peppers

Homesteading
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Canning home grown jalapeno peppers

This article about canning home grown jalapeno peppers has been two months in the making. We started in May of 2018 with planting the peppers, taking care of the jalapeno pepper plants in the backyard garden, then finally harvesting, and now canning.

  • Plant peppers after the last chance of frost has passed.
  • Visit a local farm supply store and pick out the types of peppers you want to can.
  • Work the ground and break up and clumps of soil
  • Use a balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13
  • Consider mixing manure into the soil production through the summer months
  • Plant peppers where they get plenty of sunlight
  • Keep pepper plants watered

Cinder Block Grill At a Remote Cabin

Hiking and Camping, Preparedness Articles
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Cinder block grill

Looking for a quick, easy and low cost grill for a remote cabin (bug out location)? Look no further than a cinder block grill.

After looking through various pictures and videos about cinder block grills, I decided to build one here at the farm. Long story short, am very happy with how well the grill worked and how easy it was to build.

Over the years a number of cinder blocks built up around the farm. Some were in the chicken yard with traps connected to them for opossums and raccoons. Other blocks were here and there spread across multiple projects. A wheelbarrow was used to round up six blocks where they were brought to a spot under a nice pine and oak tree. The blocks were arranged two high with a design similar of a horseshoe.

Several years ago a smoker was built out of a 250 gallon, and a 150 gallon tank propane tank. One of the grills was taken from the 150 gallon vertical smoker and placed on the cinder block grill.

One cinder block was placed on top of the expanded metal grill taken from the smoker. Then a commercial grill was placed on top of the cinder blocks. This gave us two grills. One close to the fire and another grill higher up.

Flashlight Review: Jetbeam WL20 Hunting Flashlight

Hunting, Pictures, Survival Gear, Videos
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Jetbeam WL20 Flashlight close up picture

The Jetbeam WL20 is marketed as a multicolored hunting flashlight. The purpose of the colors is to help blood droplets become more visible. This helps hunters track wounded game animals, such as deer.

In all honesty, I have never used a hunting flashlight to track deer. Typically, the red blood droplets stand out well on leaves and pine straw. It also helps to understand how animals react when they are injured.

For this review, the Jetbeam WL20 hunting flashlight we will be looking at typical, everyday usage. Which means will the light survive being dropped several times, how easy is the light to use, and how bright is the Jetbeam WL20?

Jetbeam WL20 Specifications

Tips For Planning a Safe Hiking Trip

Hiking and Camping
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Hiking in Southeast Texas

Let’s take a few minutes and talk about tips for planning a hiking trip. Someone posted a comment on one of my YouTube asking for some hiking and or camping tips. So I thought, “Sure, why not?”

One of the things I talk about in my videos is my age and how long I have been doing certain things. When my brother were maybe 4 or 5 years old our dad started taking us squirrel hunting and walking through the woods. As of when this article was written I am 50 1/2 years old. So I have been doing stuff in the woods for around 45 years or so.

In the past 45 years I have developed various things I do when planning a hiking trip. Before I head out on the hiking trip there are several questions that should be answered.

For example, what is the purpose of the trip? How long is the trip going to be? Water sources. Last but not least is letting someone know your route.

Purpose of the Hiking Trip

Tips on Growing Jalapeno Peppers in a Backyard Garden

Homesteading
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Pepper plants sitting on the tailgate of a truck

How to grow jalapeno peppers in a backyard vegetable garden. Jalapeno peppers are an excellent crop to grow in a backyard vegetable garden. They do well in a range of soil conditions and tolerate the summer heat fairly well.

Fertilizer For Jalapeno Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers do best with a well balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers such as 21-0-0, or even 16-6-12. When taken care of Jalapeno Peppers will produce through the summer months and into fall. Unless killed by a winter frost, the plants may survive through the winter and into the following spring.

Because Jalapeno Peppers have such a long growing season they benefit from a slow release fertilizer, such as manure.

We are going to start off with tilling the garden rows with a garden tiller. Then mix in some well balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13, and some kind of manure or compost. Till the fertilizer, compost, and / or manure into the rows. Remove clumps of soil, rocks, or tree roots.

The 13-13-13 fertilizer will provide the Jalapeno Peppers with plant food to get started, then the manure / compost will provide a slow release fertilizer to help the plant thrive over the course of several months.

This should be enough to help the plant produce through the summer months.

Planting Jalapeno Peppers

Cleaning Evinrude Outboard Spark Plugs

Fishing and Boating
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Evinrude 30 hp outboard motor

Still getting the boat ready for a day long fishing trip on the Angelina River and Steinhagen Reservoir. Today’s project was the remove and clean the spark plugs in the Evinrude 30 horsepower outboard motor. The spark plugs are probably 5 or 6 years old, and have not been cleaned since they were put in.

Somewhere around 2012 the boat was put in the shop to have a new powerhead installed. With the tuneup also came a a new water pump, and spark plugs.

Before the brutal Texas summer heat kicks in I want to launch the boat at Bevil Port, then head south on the Angelina River to Steinhagen Reservoir. Once I reach Steinhagen, turn north and head into the north end of the lake. The north-west area of Steinhagen is full of cypress trees. Hopefully, there will be some good fishing, or at least some good nature photography.

However, before the trip takes place, the boat needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb. A couple of days ago I changed the oil in the Evinrude lower unit.

Evinrude Outboard Motor Lower Unit Oil Change

Fishing and Boating
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Evinrude lower unit oil change

Time to change the oil in the lower unit of my Evinrude 30 horsepower outboard motor. The last time the oil was changed was probably 6 or 7 years ago when the water pump was changed and a new powerhead was installed.

While my wife and I were in Jasper, Texas taking care of some business, we stopped by the Evinrude dealership and got some gear oil. The guy behind the counter handed me a package with a bottle of oil and a pump. The oil was Mercury brand name, SAE 90. I asked the guy if it was ok to use on Evinrude and he said yes. The shop is an authorized Evinrude dealership, so I took his word for it.

The drain the oil of the Evinrude lower unit there are two flathead bolts. An oil drain pan was grabbed from the shed and placed under the lower unit. The bolts were in so tight, I had to put a pipe wrench on the screw driver to break the bolts loose. Top bolt was removed first, then the bottom bolt.

Good news, the old oil did not have any signs of water or metal shavings in it. Nor were their any metal shavings on the drain plug.

How To Spot Fake Prepping Websites

Preparedness Articles, Random Ramblings
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Bass fishing on the Angelina River

In a previous article we talked about how fake prepping websites are diminishing the prepping community. So let’s take a few minutes and talk about how to spot a fake prepping website.

First, let’s define what makes a prepping website fake. The vast majority of the articles will be along the lines of:

  • 5 best of
  • Stockpile these items now
  • 5 foods that last forever

For example, the website may have articles along the lines of “5 best emergency radios.” All the author does is go to Amazon, look through the selection of radios, pick out the top rated, write an article and include links to the radios. When someone clicks a link to Amazon and purchases an item the website gets a commission.

Some of the readers may ask, “What’s wrong with that?”

Chances are the author has zero hands on experience with the items listed in the article. In other words, the sole purpose of the article is to make a sale. The only information the article provides is taken from Amazon reviews, which anyone can read.

No Unique Pictures

Thorfire TK01 AAA Battery Flashlight Review

Survival Gear, Videos
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Thorfire TK01 keychain flashlight

The Thorfire TK01 is a keychain sized flashlight that uses a single AAA battery. Unlike a lot of other keychain flashlights, the Thorfire TK01 is a single output of 85 lumens.

Upon opening the box first impressions were good. The flashlight came with a small keychain ring which slips through a hole in the tailcap, and a couple of extra o-rings. The o-rings are for the tailcap which unscrews, while the bezel does not.

When the Thorfire TK01 housing was opened to insert the AAA battery, the spring typically found in the tailcap had came loose and fell into the battery compartment. It took a little bit, but the spring was finally snapped back into place in the tailcap.

Turning the Thorfire TK01 on and off is as simple as twisting the head. The problem is, the head is very easy to twist. Also, when the head reaches a certain point on the twist, pushing on the head will turn the flashlight on. While carrying the Thorfire TK01 flashlight in my pocket I noticed it turned on several times.

Fake Prepping Websites Diminishing The Community

Preparedness Articles, Random Ramblings
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Kevin Felts at the Angelina River

Was scrolling through my Facebook feed when an ad came up for a prepping facebook page. The ad was something along the lines of “Best prepping website on the Internet.”

We all know SurvivalistBoards and my blog survivalboards.com are the best prepping / survivalist sites on the internet. Besides that, I thought, sure, I will check it out, why not.

So went to the Facebook page for the site, clicked a link and looked through several of their articles. Every article I saw was maybe 200 words, and then a link to another site.

I visited the other site, and guess what, it was the same short articles with no original content. Articles were along the lines of “Stockpile these 10 items now”…. the typical click bait article titles.

There was no way to comment on the articles. If there had been a way to leave a comment, I would have called them out for being nothing but a spam site.

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