Living off the Land

"Only he can understand what a farm is, what a country is, who shall have sacrificed part of himself to his farm or country, fought to save it, struggled to make it beautiful. Only then will the love of farm or country fill his heart.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery quotes (Author of 'The Little Prince')

Eventually most discussions on preparedness end up with moving to the country side and living off the land once you've lost all faith in the government or civilization to sustain you. I'm not that extreme but it remains the "holy grail" of preparedness. Here is an alleged first-hand account of a family who learned how to farm the hard way.

Perspectives on Prepping on a Very Low Income, by Kuraly

...I was forced to take very low-paying jobs and survive on a low-income.With our savings we were able to buy a small rural house and 7.5 acres in the southeast. We were able to pay cash, I wanted it to be ours with no strings attached, regardless of what the future held. I figured that at the very least we would have a roof and some plantable land.

...My first priority was for two weeks worth of provisions. ...

... We also invested in chickens, and watched some of them die, some of them be eaten by neighbor's dogs, some get eaten by our dogs, and the hardy survivors begin to lay eggs. We watched them eat their own eggs and learned to give them calcium.

...We had zero experience at any of this, and no one around that we knew to advise us. We had to learn everything from scratch. We bought a goat and promptly saw it attacked and killed by a stray dog. That hurt, financially as well as emotionally. After sending the dog to join the goat "on the other side", I bought another goat. and then another. These have survived. We have learned to care for them.

Bottom Line

Read the whole story. How would you do in a similar situation?