Rural Lifestyle

Life in Rural America

Democrats Continue With The Russian Narrative

News and Current Events, Political Opinion, Random Ramblings
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Kevin Felts political commentator

Democrats continue to play the Russian narrative. Meaning, they refuse to accept voters rejected the progressive ideas of the Democrat party.

Some recent events:

Rudy Giuliani may be joining the Trump team.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) sued President Trump and Wikileaks.

The DNC is claiming President Trump colluded with the Russians so Trump would win the 2016 presidential elections. However, President Trump has been investigated for almost two years, and so far no evidence has been found.

Some people may say, “No evidence “yet” has been found.” Consider this – After the Vegas shooting by Stephen Paddock, just hours after the shooting the FBI said there was no connection with the Islamic State.

It took the FBI just hours to clear Stephen Paddock of any connection to the Islamic State, yet President Trump has been under investigation for almost two years. So either the FBI was lying about Stephen Paddock and any ties to the Islamic State, or there the investigation in Trump and Russia is nothing more than a witch hunt.

Let’s take a few minutes and talk about why Democrats lost over 1,000 state seats between 2008 – 2016, and why they lost the 2016 Presidential Election.

Democrats Continue Blatant Racism

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Camping Near Bogs, Bayous, and Sloughs

Hiking and Camping, Wilderness Survival
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Mud bog

Let’s take a few minutes and talk about camping near bogs, bayous, and sloughs. From the early 1980s until the late 1990s, I primarily camped around the bogs, bayous and sloughs in Southeast Texas.

Sometimes my buddies and I would hike to the camp location, sometimes we would take a boat. We had several places we would go camping. Most of them either near a marsh, or along a bayou and a bog.

There was one place in particular we visited on a semi-regular basis, The camp site was on a cut off the main bayou and near a bog. While camping there, we were just a dozen feet from the waters edge.

It was not uncommon to step off the boat, walk ten feet, and see a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin. One time, I walked right up on a cottonmouth and it struck at my boot. It was a warning strike and it did not bite. Just ten feet from that water moccasin was another one.

For close to two decades, I had somewhat regular run-ins with the Cottonmouth Water Moccasin and various other snakes.

I wish I had taken more pictures in the 1980s and 1990s of my camping trips, but alas I did not.

Camping Near Bogs, Bayous, and Sloughs

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SurvivalistBoards YouTube Channel Renamed to RuralPrepper

Preparedness Articles, Random Ramblings
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Kevin Felts political commentator

In April of 2018 the SurvivalistBoards YouTube channel was renamed to RuralPrepper. Some of the viewers were asking why the name changed. So let’s take a few minutes and talk about it.

I have been into survivalism since at least the 1990s. Part of the way I was raised – hunting fishing,gardening… in the 1970s was the foundation for my survivalist plans. Granny had her milk cow, chickens, turkeys, fig tree, pear trees, etc. Dad would take my brother and I fishing and hunting as soon as we were old enough to go.

Dad also usually had some kind of garden planted. I remember one year we had enough purple hull peas to fill the bed of a pick up truck. I kid you not, the bed of a short wheel base chevy truck was full of purple hull peas.

My grandpa usually had a small backyard garden planted. He grew all kinds of stuff from cantaloupes to tomatoes.

Those examples influenced my prepping plans. When I decided to get into prepping as a young man in the 1990s, I had a solid foundation to start with.

Renaming SurvivalistBoards YouTube Channel

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Watch Out For Snakes in the Early Spring

Hiking and Camping, Videos, Wilderness Survival
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Texas Water Snake in bushes

Watch out for snakes in the early spring. April 19, 2018 the dogs and I were walking around the farm when we came upon a snake. I was carrying a rather old camera which takes good pictures and just wanted to get some stock snake pictures.

Rather than finding a CottonMouth Water Moccasin, the dogs and I found a Water Snake. The Water Snake (Genus Nerodia) is non-venomous and poses no real danger to humans. Chances are the worst thing that could possibly happen is for the snake bite to get infected. Which is why we should not handle even non-venomous snakes.

The dogs and I walked through a low area where there is usually standing water. Wherever there is standing water, chances are frogs will be in the area. What eats frogs? Snakes. It is a typical predator-prey situation.

I spotted a snake tail sticking out from under a clump of grass. One of the dogs almost stepped on the snake, and the snake did not move. This told me chances are it was a Water Snake. If a Water Moccasin feels threatened, it will coil up and get ready to strike. This snake did not move when the dog almost stepped on it.

Snake Camouflage

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Syrian Gas Attacks: Why Survivalist Prep

News and Current Events, Political Opinion, Preparedness Articles
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Kevin Felts political commentator

Want to know why survivalist prep? Look no further than the Syrian gas attacks in April of 2018. The chemical weapons attacks on civilians in Syria is an excellent example of why survivalist prep, this is the reason why we exist.

Not that chemicals weapons would be used in mass on the United States, but the use of chemical weapons on civilians has brought the world to the brink of World War III.

To view the full picture we need to go back to World War I. Chemicals weapons were used by various sides, and people were slaughtered in mass.

During World War II the use of chemical weapons was avoided. However, over six million Jews were slaughtered in camps at the hands of Germans using chemical weapons.

Realizing how devastating chemical weapons are, the world agreed to abolish their use.

Crimes Against Humanity

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How To Use a Garden Tiller to Till Manure Into a Garden

Homesteading
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Load of chicken manure in a wheelbarrow

Using a garden tiller to till manure into the garden is a labor of love. It would be easier to pick up a bag of 13-13-13 fertilizer and spread it into the garden, than it is to shovel, spread, and then till.

In a way, tilling manure into a garden makes a full circle. The feed the animals ate came from the ground, so why not return it to the ground.

April 12, 2018 I tilled three wheelbarrow loads of chicken manure into the spring garden. Some of the seeds I put down in March did not take, so I redid the rows with manure, and planted fresh seed.

I also tilled chicken manure into the garden along the peppers and tomatoes, then raked the soil up around the plants. We are expecting terrible storms in the next 48 hours. So I worked the soil up around the plants to protect them from being damaged by the wind and rain.

To Till Manure Into The Garden:

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Planted Two More Brown Turkey Fig Trees

Homesteading
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During the spring of 2018 I decided to put two more Brown Turkey Fig trees here on the farm. This gives me a total of five fig trees. Three are in the chicken yard, and two are outside the chicken yard near the chicken house.

Planting the first set of fig trees in the chicken yard came with some problems. For one, they were a long ways from a water source. To water the trees, about 100 yards of water hose had to be strung together. They were also planted in sandy soil which did not hold very much water.

The two Brown Turkey Fig trees planted in 2018 were planted near the chicken house. the clay layer is around 12 – 14 inches below the surface, the the soil holds water better than the sandy soil. Also, the fig trees were planted where they could use manure in the chicken house as fertilizer.

Two More Brown Turkey Fig Trees

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Planted Some More Pepper Plants

Homesteading
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Garden salsa pepper plant

Decided to go ahead and get some more pepper plants in the ground. The local Walmart has their garden plants on sale, so I thought why not? I bought five more pepper plants for $2.94 each.

Peppers usually do a good job of withstanding the Texas summer heat. All they really need is plenty of water and they usually bear until the first frost.

For fertilizer I am using aged chicken manure from under the brooder house mixed with dirt. Also, under the plant is a fresh chicken yard egg. Using eggs as fertilizer is a little experiment I am doing this year.

More Pepper Plants

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Rethinking Buff Orpingtons For My Prepsteading Chicken Flock

Homesteading
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Buff Orpington Chick

There have been some events which have caused me rethink the Buff Orpingtons for my prepsteading chicken flock. Buff Orpingtons have been part of my chicken flock for around four years, and during that four years I have noticed a common trend.

When new chicks are bought from the local feed store, they are brought home and put in a six feet X eight feet brooder house. The house has perches, plywood walls, screened in floor, heat lamp… everything the chicks need to be safe.

The chicks are usually kept in the brooder house for around six weeks, and then put in the main chicken house. A lot of it depends on outside temperatures, and how feathered out the chicks are.

Buff Orpingtons

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Garden Update: Contender Snap Bean Sprouts and Peppers

Homesteading, Preparedness Articles, Videos
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Contender snap bean sprouts

Contender snap bean sprouts are breaking through the soil and pepper plants are getting established. Some the peppers have died, and some are not looking too good, which is to be expected.

The pepper plants were planted in a garden spot around 100 yards behind the house. Just a couple of days after planting we got around 8 inches of rain overnight. I suspect a couple of the plants drown during the rain. Some of the pepper plants look nice.

One of the things I love about spring is the garden. Seeing sprouts break through the soil is a wonderful sight. They symbolize rebirth after winter is over.

No signs of the potatoes yet, but that is no big deal. It may take the potatoes a few more days. When the potatoes were cut, I made sure each eye had plenty of meat on them. The potato chunks provides nutrients so the roots and sprouts can get started.

Snap Bean Sprouts

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What a Trade War with China Would Mean

News and Current Events, Political Opinion, Random Ramblings
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Kevin Felts political commentator

What would a trade war with China mean? It would mean the collapse of the Chinese economy.

It has been proven historically, time and time again, Communist do not innovate. Neither do slaves innovate.

Where does innovation come from? Free people and mainly from a capitalist economy.

Why don’t Communist innovate? Because their inventions belong to the government. As a result, there is no financial incentive for people living under a communist, or oppressive, regime to innovate. As a result, China is totally dependent upon what the people of the United States create.

What would happen if U.S. based companies were forced to move their factories back to the U.S.? The economy of China would collapse. Unemployment would skyrocket, and there would be wide-spread civil unrest.

Civil Unrest

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Facebook And End User Privacy

News and Current Events, Random Ramblings
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Kevin Felts working on his bar-b-q pit

Why is everyone upset about Facebook allowing user date to be accessed? From the time someone logs onto the Internet, just about everything they do is logged in some shape or manner.

When a device accesses a website, a whole series of events have to take place.

All information sent over the Internet is sent in the form of a packet. The packet has the sending IP address and the destination IP address.

DNS Server

First, the name of the website has be translated with an Internet Address. This is done through a Domain Name Server (DNS). Whatever device the user is using makes a request to the DNS server.
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Being a Good Country Neighbor

Homesteading, Random Ramblings
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Cow in field

Part of being a good country neighbor in a rural area is treating people and their property with respect. There is an old saying, “People in glass houses should not throw rocks.” Here in the country, just about all of us have something to lose. Chances are most of us have chickens, ducks, dogs, cattle, goats, horses… etc. It would be a shame for my neighbor to shoot my dogs, when we both have chickens and dogs. It could just as easily have been his dogs that found my chickens, as my dogs found his chickens.

A few days ago I was walking to the back of the property with my dogs, when I spotted one of my neighbors cows. Not wanting the dogs to go after the cow, I took them back to the house and closed them up. Continue Reading….

The Second Amendment Is Not About Hunting

Political Opinion, Random Ramblings
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AR-15 SHTF Survival Rifle

In the gun control community there is a popular statement that has been repeated for decades – “Nobody needs a 30 round magazine for hunting.” Another statement is – “Nobody hunts with an AR-15.” Then the classic – “Nobody needs an AR-15 to defend their family.”

What those people do not understand, the Second Amendment is not about hunting, and it only slightly about protecting ones home and family.

The true nature of the Second Amendment is for the people of the United States to be armed to protect themselves from their government and from invaders.

Who was the militia? Every able-bodied male.

Even though congress passed laws changing the militia from armed volunteers to the national guard, the intent of the Second Amendment remains.

The founding fathers wanted to the people to be armed in order to resist a tyrannous government. This is a last ditch effort so the people may protect themselves.

What happens when people are disarmed? Ask the 100 million people Communism killed in the 20th century alone.

30 Round Magazine

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Planting Pepper Plants With Homemade Organic Fertilizer

Homesteading, Videos
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Planting pepper plants

Let’s take a few minutes and talk about planting pepper plants and using homemade organic fertilizer. If there is one plant in my spring garden that has a special place, it has to be pepper plants. Because of that, pepper plants need some tinder loving care.

Pepper plants need nitrogen to grow big and tall, then they need potash (potassium) to grow peppers. Those are the first and third numbers on a bag of fertilizer. The middle number is bone meal (phosphorus), which promotes root growth.

Around the farm I have chicken manure, and some potash from the smoker. These were used to mix up some homemade potting soil, which will be used as organic fertilizer.

Aged chicken manure from the brooder house was mixed with potash and some topsoil in a wheelbarrow.

Planting Pepper Plants

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