14 Tips for Building Your Survival Farm

svp_farm for survival

Building a survival farm is not easy. But it sure is rewarding, I’ll tell you that.

For those who choose to build a survival farm, it is very important to realize that it may not look or operate precisely like a conventional family farm.  Here are 14 tips you will need to take into consideration and some ideas about what things may be of most use to you.

Unfortunately, inflation and decreasing monetary values make it very hard to give accurate cost estimates.  When in doubt, shop around and look for as many ways to improvise using DIY methods.

1. Land Requirements

It goes without saying that you will need land to put a house on, grow food, store valuable items, and set up a perimeter defense.  Some experts claim that you can have a survival farm on as little as two acres, while other estimates go as high as 200 acres or more.

SVP_infogr farm

A great deal will depend on the condition of the land, weather phenomena in the area, and what you plan to do with the land. For example, if you are determined to have a full sized herd of cattle that will not become inbred after just a few generations, it will require far more land than doing the same thing with goats or chickens.

My own personal plans for a complete survival farm requires approximately 15 acres for prime wooded land to about 25 acres of desert land.

Aside from land, here a number of things that need to be built, stored, or developed in order to make the farm self-sufficient in a wide range of scenarios.

2. Powering Your Farm

Use solar, wind, magnetic, water, and earth based power generation technologies.  It is best not to rely on conventional solar panels because they take up a lot of space, cost a lot of money, are easy to spot, wear out very quickly, and can be very difficult to repair.  Instead, create your own heat multipliers and use them to generate steam for turbines, or heat that can drive a stirling engine.

In a similar way, rather than use conventional blades for a wind turbine, try experimenting with shell designs that spin faster and also concentrate air that can be used for air pressure tools and other applications.

3. Keeping the Farm Secure

{adinserter bph}Other than keeping a good supply of guns, ammo, and other weapons, it is also important to have a multi-level perimeter defense.

This includes invisible fences, rings of poison ivy/oak around the property, traps, and other ways to make it extremely difficult for others to reach you by way of land or water.

With regard to actual living space, it is best to have small cleared areas that are hard to see or recognize by air.

Since drones and other newer technologies can also detect heat signatures, building or carrying out various operations underground may also be of immense help.

4. Air Quality

Volcanic eruptions, poison gas, pollution, and germs can all make air unfit to breathe. Your survival farm should have air-tight rooms that are large enough to house all your animals and family members. It is also very important to have air filtration and oxygen generation systems on hand. Since modern air filters are usually disposable, this is the perfect place to develop your own equipment.

For example, something as simple as a UV light can be used to kill off air borne pathogens. You can also create other types of filters to remove particles and chemicals.

5. Water Quality

It goes without saying that water quality is going to deteriorate even in remote regions once a global crisis occurs. You should know how to make and use bone char and charcoal so that you can filter out heavy metals and other contaminants.  It is also important to be able to boil large quantities of water to get rid of pathogens.

6. Raising Food

Aquaponics can fulfill all your dietary needs as long as you choose the right plants and can keep a large enough stock of fish on hand. Even if you are not going to rely on this system, you should keep necessary equipment, seeds, and fish available as a backup in case you cannot farm the land or other problems prevent you from raising food out in the open.

If you are going to raise animals for survival needs, make sure you select heritage breeds, and then find out how many distinct blood lines you will need in order to prevent inbreeding. Unfortunately, there are thousands of “survival farmers” out there that only have one or two cows, and think they are self-sufficient. Once the cows die off, they may not be able to buy new ones, and worse yet, relying on frozen semen for reproduction will fail miserably once there are no other farmers to buy it from.

7. Health, Wellness and the Next Generation

While storing medications and supplies may have some benefit in the short term, eventually they will expire or become useless. You will be better served by raising medicinal herbs, and also learning how to make various medications in the field.  It is also very important to keep metal working, bacteria culture equipment, and sterilization equipment on hand.  Before a crisis hits, you can learn how to make various implements and also how to use them.

Many families looking to live in a survival farm know that they are interested in preserving life for the next generation.  That being said, who will the children marry when they come of age?  If you do not include multiple families with widely divergent blood lines, all of your hard work will be lost.

Contrary to popular belief, true survival for ourselves and our species does not depend on looking inward, it also depends on looking outward to others.

8. Transportation

Old style automobile engines, rickshaws, animal pulled carts, and pulley systems are all resistant to EMP attacks. You may also want to experiment with electric motor based systems that can run on solar and wind power.

EMP11

9. Communications

Your survival farm should include the ability to transmit and receive AM/FM, CB, Morse Code, and Ham signals.  Make sure that none of your equipment relies on integrated circuits, transistors, or other equipment that can be jammed by radars or EMP attacks.

10. Temperature

Each building on the farm should be designed in a way that uses passive solar heating and underground cooling for temperature control.

11. Clothing

Cotton, hemp, and other plants should be available for clothing and other fabric/rope based needs.  If you are going to raise animals, tanned skins can also be used for clothing.

12. Sanitation

No survival farm would be complete without having a safe way to get rid of human waste, dead bodies, and anything else that might spread disease. You can use compost piles, cesspools, and other systems for waste management.  Just make sure that you do not contaminate water and food growing areas with raw sewage or its derivatives.

13. Spiritual Needs and Burials

Land that is not suitable for growing food or other activities can be set aside for a cemetery, church, or other

14. Underground Living

Everything that you design for above ground living should be duplicated and functional at least 30 feet beneath the surface of the Earth. No matter whether you are dealing with a nuclear attack or need to hide out from drones, this is about the only way you will be able to succeed for long periods of time.

As you can see, building a survival farm is very different from what you might expect.  In today’s world, there are many complex ways to harm other people and prevent them from surviving.

So, if you are committed to putting in the extra time and work, there are also many ways to foil the plans of those who want to be the last person on Earth or have other sick ideas in their head about ruling over everyone.

CCC12

 This article has been written by Carmella Tyrell for Survivopedia.

Written by

Carmela Tyrrell is committed to off gridding for survival and every day life. She is currently working on combining vertical container gardening with hydroponics. Tyrrell is also exploring ways to integrate magnetic and solar power generation methods. On any given day, her husband and six cats give thanks that she has not yet blown up the house. You can send Carmela a message at editor [at] survivopedia.com.

Latest comments
  • I havent been on this site long, so you have have already mentioned this, but atomic radiation is in the air as a dust, not a gas, so filtering the air will help. A cheap way to do it is tape a furnace HEPA filter to the back of a box fan. EVery month, just hose it down.
    Putting iron and potassium on vegetables while while they are growing will make them absorb less radiation.

  • Back to green acres?

    • But, in this case, it’s going to mean eating “Arnold” after all. Really, folks, it’s time we all get on our knees and pray to God in Heaven that the dear souls, who love and serve Him, will not need to face such issues. The Book of Psalms is a great book of comfort, and the Bible is replete with miracles continually performed for those who sought the God of the Universe, that One Who created all things, and Who owns all the cattle on all the hills. He is well able to care for His own, our BELIEF in His Son, Jesus Christ’s finished work on the Cross ensuring that. In other words, we’re not only saved at the exact moment we’ve proclaimed Jesus as our LORD, but we can also trust Him to save us out of all our troubles, and I mean ALL. Which means that, should we be called upon to suffer, then He will provide the strength for such. It’s good to be prepared and to learn as we go, but in an all-out crisis, our help comes from the LORD, dear friends (Psalm 121). We would do well to remember this…ALWAYS…and with every thankful breath.

  • Hi Carmela good article but wasted i believe on the older people its one thing to be young and fit and another to be a pensioner who’s not surrounded by family most of what you suggest is not possibly either physically or money wise which most of the older folk are cheers

  • Thanks for your article. I’m 72 years young, a 20 year Army vet., a blacksmith, and was an E.M.T. . I have a small farm. with chickens, turkies, peacocks,horses and grow most of my own food in a big green house that I built using trampoline parts. In addition to vegetables I also grow many herbs. I live alone, but do get some help from some of my” Nam” buddies. So for the forks that think it can’tbe done if your old they should think again.

    • Hi Lee i suppose when i wrote that comment i was thinking of myself active mind and very handy at making things but the old body is stuffed anyway mate you have a good day

      • Something to think about. I found that in exchange for teaching a skill I could have a younger guy or gal help with some of the work. I put notices up at the library, the college,the high school,the 4H and FFA and any place that would allow it. I made new friends and got plenty work done. Working with young folks can make you feel younger. I didn’t intend to make lite of your situation. Good luck, keep smiling.

  • This is a good article mostly, except the part about solar panels.

    “It is best not to rely on conventional solar panels because they take up a lot of space, cost a lot of money, are easy to spot, wear out very quickly, and can be very difficult to repair.”

    Solar panels are cheaper now than they have ever been, they’re more expensive than using grid power, but what happens if/when the grid goes down? While they may be easy to spot, so is your house and barn. They absolutely do not wear out quickly. There are ones installed in the 70’s that are still outputting over 70% of their rated output.

  • If you are going to raise some animals, you have to provide them with food, which grows on land too, so there should be more space for that. If you live in a colder place you also have to think about storing food for animals (e.g. hay), and additional space to grow it on.

  • Folks you have to think of additional issues.
    Fires, floods, tornadoes etc.
    Nature can send some pretty nasty surprises.
    All of your hard work can be gone with in two hours.

    Lessons learned, your food can be gone, your barns, houses and water and fires can take underground structures out.
    Nothing is fool proof.

    Do the best you can, use your brains and do the best you can.

  • Greetings to all I am writing here from Brazil.
    I read everything very carefully, even the contradictory and weighed each opinion, so congratulations on the article and everyone for expressing it.

    Remember we are all moving as a civilization and not always forward. But being prepared and attentive to what is happening around us has always been fundamental for survival. This implies reviewing habits and always learning.
    Live remotely “you can” but don’t isolate yourself as an individual, because together we will always be stronger.
    What struck me most was Faith’s expression “It is good to be prepared and learn as we go, but in a total crisis, our help comes from the LORD, dear friends (Psalm 121). We would do well to remember this.. . EVER”.

    This was tremendous so here’s the tip:
    keep pictures in the environments or a printed list of biblical verses of Anima full of Strength and Faith. Example:
    – Lord, my strength and my fortress, my safe shelter in the hour of adversity. (Jeremiah 16:19)

    – Be strong and have good cheer, don’t be afraid. (2 Chronicles 32:7)

    – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; will never leave them, never forsake them. (Deuteronomy 31:6).

LEAVE A COMMENT