TEOTWAWKI Ranch...
We bought this land when Y2k was coming up on the horizon, so we were sort of thinking in doomsteading terms from the start, even though we didn't really expect much from that event. It was partially cleared land in a rural county, with old, small towns about ten miles in two directions, and the nearest city (Fedghetto in the making) around an hour away by automobile. The property is secluded in rolling hills. While the soil can be worked to produce crops, trees, and pasture, the geography is unsuited to large-scale, industrial farming with big combines.
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This is roughly the mid-point of our mile-long driveway.
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We custom-ordered a 1500 sq ft manufactured home with high ceilings, big windows, and hardwood floors. (The first two to aid in cooling without AC here in Dixie. The last because carpeting and farms are just a bad idea.) It's a three bedroom, two bath design. The "living room" is actually an office & workshop. Two of the bedrooms are closed-off for storage. We went with a manufactured home because it seemed like the fastest way to get a residence established for the chain of inspections and permits needed to get onto the grid, which we wanted to take advantage of for the further construction of the place... But, as it was the Clinton era, when unemployment was actually detrimentally LOW due to rampant construction, this turned out to be a mistake... If we had it to do over again, I'd have built a cabin myself and never gone on-grid at all.
One of the most essential resources for survival is clean water. We have a deep well into a robust aquifer with a typical (for this area) 240vAC pump and pressure tank. I built a free-standing solar power system that gives us grid-independent running water.
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We also have the creek pictured above, and a couple of springs on the property for back-up water sources. For food, we surrounded our house with apple, cherry, and peach trees, which also provide shade for the house in the Summer, while allowing passive solar heating in the Winter. We also have blueberry bushes and pecan trees..
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We've been working years to amend the rocky soil with lots of organic matter, and to master old-school row crop farming without freakin' herbicides. Potatoes are usually our best crop. Corn and sorghum work well here too most years.
We have a greenhouse, which is needed more to keep the 'coons and such from stealing veggies than anything else. Mostly used for tomatoes.
We have many of indigenous black walnut and hickory nut trees, wild onions, blackberries, polk salad, strawberries and such. And acorns, if it came to that.
A recent addition to the farm is the start of our dairy program...
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Although early 2012 is a while to wait for fresh milk, butter, cream, sour cream, and cheese, we figured it was best to start with a calf to make sure she was healthy and well-trained from the start. Of course, a Neanderthal like me isn't planning to get-by on just plants and dairy. We have a hog pen and old-fashioned smokehouse..
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Deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrel, and other game are pretty thick here. And there's the annual freshening calf from Maudeuce the Jersey pictured earlier. (Unless it's a heifer, which usually makes it more valuable as a future milker.)
We have an old, mid-sized, diesel farm tractor which has been useful for getting things started. But we've bemake sure she was healthy and well-trained from the starten transitioning to an old-school solution for farm traction and transportation that doesn't require petroleum or spare parts....
We've been actively collecting, refurbishing, and learning to use horse-drawn farm equipment for a while now. Forecart, wagon, hay mower, rake, plows, cultivator, stone-boat, etc.
Although there's arguably a surplus of horses in general out there right now, really good, properly trained work horses are few and far between. So we need to find a mammoth jack or decent stallion for the Belgian mares in the Spring so we can produce some worth-while workers for sale/trade.
Of course, equipment needs mending, and horses sometimes need shoeing. So we have a smithy complete with covered, draft-size stocks on the place, and someone reasonably qualified to put it to use.
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While Summer heat is the bigger weather concern here, Winter can be pretty rough in these hills. We purchased an old, cast-iron stove at the antique junkyard, which I refurbished and installed a few years back. Haven't needed the central heating since.
Our property includes dozens of acres of woods, so we can collect plenty of firewood from deadfall alone
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For LATOC lighting we have shake and crank lights, DC lighting that can be run from solar-charged batteries, and kerosene lamps... The latter, especially the little ones, can burn a remarkably long time on very little oil. They aren't finicky about fuel either, and could be made to work with vegetable oil or distillate.
For communications we have GMRS two way FM radios (with NOAA weather/alert), old fashioned CBs base and mobile, and crank-powered AM/FM/shortwave..
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Our primary defense strategy is staying below radar. To even see the working parts of the farm, you have to go the better part of a mile past a locked gate, down a washed-out, rocky road, then ford a big creek.
We get along well with our neighbors, the best of whom are almost as crazy as ourselves. This isn't the sort of area where looting, street gangs, or... well... Yankees... are well tolerated..
Welcome to my neighborhood.
Troublemakers aren't likely to make it past the locals.
Especially if'n they gots real purty mouths.
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I won't go into details regarding our armaments and perimeter defense set-up. But once you ford the creek and find yourself slogging through the mud-flat on this side, go ahead and wave, 'cause someone will be watching you. Probably through cross-hairs.
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And let's not forget Chompy McPsycho...
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Naturally we have a proper gun safe. One with an old-fashioned dial lock so that power surges, failures, etc won't matter. Handy not just for guns, but anything you really need to have protected from theft and fire!
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Really not that expensive. Just don't rupture yourself getting it into the house.
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Of course, guns aren't much use without ammo. For maximum versatility, we like to roll our own.
There are a lot of little things as well... Solar powered electric fencing. Portable 20w solar panels to charge various batteries and power packs. Portable 12vDC->12vAC inverter that can power the computer or TV from a motorcycle battery. Big fire extinguishers at strategic locations through the house, stables, and smithy, as well as handy aerosol extinguishers to kill smaller fires before they get out of hand.
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These things actually work very well. Hardly makes any sense to prep if you're going to let it go up in flames, no?
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It never ends. We're still plugging-away. Trying to get as much done as possible to insure a decent LATOC lifestyle while we still have some Cornucopian resources available... We need to add a solar powered freezer. A wind turbine. A proper out-kitchen. I've been working on a concrete and stone swimming pool for years. (We use a big Intex above ground now.) Gotta cool off somehow, and I don't know if we'll be able to trust the creek as a swimming hole during the collapse. Really need a root cellar. Might bury a school bus or shipping container if one becomes handy.
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Something like this, but I'd cover over the top!
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