Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

Cultivating Muscadine Grapes At The Bug Out Location

Homesteading, Preparedness Articles
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Southeast Texas Muscadine grapes

Looking for an easy to grow grape for the bug out location? Look not further than the Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), aka possum grape. However, the Muscadine is not native to the northern portion of the United States, or the western states, such as California.

While there are a number of varieties available from big box outlets stores, we want native wild species at the bug out location. This means finding wild growing Muscadine grapes, harvesting the seeds, and then planting the seeds.

Typically, wild Muscadine grapes will grow along creeks, streams, or highlands with well drained sandy soil. Seeds are spread by wildlife eating the grapes, then pooping the seeds out.

Look for wild growing Muscadine grapes under the base of trees, along the edge of bodies of water, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. In other words, anywhere birds may roost.

Life After SHTF: Moving Food From Farm To Market

Book Reviews, Homesteading, Preparedness Articles
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Bowl of okra and peppers grown as part of a survival garden

For this article we are going to take an exert from the book “Life in a Medieval City” by Frances and Joseph Gies. We are looking at chapter 3, a Medieval Housewife, pages 47 and 48. Last paragraph of page 47 talks about how the housewife shops for food on a daily basis. She would go to the market, divided into different groups, then shop for a variety of food.

There are several lessons to learn from this example.

Since there was no way to preserve food for a period of time, gathering food was done on a daily basis, and was seasonal. Food was grown locally, harvested, then brought to the market almost daily. How else do we think the housewife shopped for food daily?

Someone had to organize transportation for the food to go from the farm to the market. Today we call those people “middlemen.” The middleman organizes and communicates between the merchants and the farmers.

After a SHTF event we could probably expect this same type of organization to become reestablished. Chances are people who have horses and wagons will divide up rural farms into routes, very much like what the United States Post Office does. Rather than numerous middlemen going to the same farm, middlemen would divide up the farms and have established routes. This would allow the middlemen to develop relationships with the farmers.

Planning a Fall / Winter SHTF Survival Garden

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Turnip as part of a survival garden

Let’s take a few minutes and talk about planning a fall and winter survival garden after SHTF. There are a number of variables in planning a fall or winter survival garden, such as location and growing season.

In the southern part of the United States we have a long growing season. Depending on location, we may not have our first frost until late November or early December. Sometimes we may not have a frost until mid to late December.

The northern portion of the United States has a rather short growing season.

Due to the various lengths of the growing seasons, first and last frost, please adjust the dates listed in this article to your geographical location.

The fall and winter survival garden will be divided into two sections:

  • Fall
  • Winter

The difference between the two? First heavy frost will kill the fall crops, while the winter crops will survive until the most severe cold weather sets in. An example would be the difference between acorn squash and turnips greens.

Fall Survival Garden

Viability of the 308 Winchester for SHTF

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear
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308 Winchester Survival Rifle for SHTF

How viable is the 308 Winchester for a SHTF survival rifle? In the grand scheme of things, the 308 Winchester is probably the best suited rifle cartridge for a SHTF situation.

Typically, the 30-06 Springfield is the largest rifle caliber most people can shoot accurately. The keyword there is “most” people. As recoil goes up, accuracy goes down as shooters flinch before pulling the trigger.

There are two ways to counter trigger flinch:

  • Training.
  • Use a smaller rifle caliber.

The 308 Winchester offers less recoil than the 30-06 Springfield, but is very effective on deer sized game. People who live near dangerous animals, such as grizzly bears, may want to use a larger caliber than the 308 Winchester.

What makes the 308 Winchester well suited for SHTF?

How to Start Prepping for SHTF

Preparedness Articles, Survival Gear, Videos
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Kevin Felts political commentator

Interested in how to start prepping for SHTF? This article breaks down various aspects of prepping so someone with an interest in survivalism should not feel overwhelmed.

Prepping for SHTF can be a daunting task. Some people new to prepping / survivalism may become overwhelmed with stockpiling ammunition, selecting a SHTF survival firearm, storing food in mylar bags… etc.

Believe it or not, prepping for SHTF can be an easy process, that is if someone understands what they are prepping for.

Where does someone begin prepping for SHTF? For people new to prepping they should turn to history.

Over the course of a several millennia humanity has faced various events. These events include everything from an Ice Age to outbreak of bubonic plague in the middle ages.

SHTF Historical Examples

The Case Against Corn for a SHTF Survival Food Crop

Homesteading, Preparedness Articles
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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

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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

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