Are you planning to create your own homestead and prepare it for an apocalypse? Whether you are still a beginner to homesteading or have some sort of experience, you can still learn from others and prevent yourself from committing the mistakes they made through proper research.
Check out these ten tips for preparing your homestead for an apocalypse. With these tips as your guide, you have a higher chance of building a self-sufficient homestead that is ready to take on whatever adversity or disaster you will be dealing with.
#1 – Prepare for power interruptions
An apocalypse or a disaster such as winter storms and cold temperatures can put your location at risk of dealing with power interruptions. With that in mind, power interruption preparation should be one of your priorities when it comes to preparing and building your homestead. You need to prepare for this scenario even if power interruptions in your area are rare.
Make sure that you have a sufficient supply of fuel for heating. Also, remember that you may have a hard time acquiring heating oil, propane, or firewood during an apocalypse, so ensure that you have these fuel supplies prepared. If you use gas, then research about how long will gas last if you use it for an alternative source of electricity so you will know how much you should prepare.
Your preparations should also involve setting a safe alternative source of heating as well as a sufficient alternative fuel supply. Avoid heating your home using a stove or gas oven. If possible, install an alternate source of power, like a backup system run by solar battery or a gas-powered generator.
#2 – Ensure that there is a good supply of clean water
Your homestead serves as your escape location during an apocalypse, so there should also be a source of clean water close to it. If possible, this source of water should be on the property. Some sources of water include drilled well, spring, river, or creek, which is close to your homestead. Having a DIY water filter or purifier on hand is also a big advantage as this can give you access to safe drinking water.
#3 – Plan for food
Apart from water, your homestead should also have a good supply of food that can last for the usual duration of an apocalypse. A wise tip is to store home canned foods guaranteed to last for a long time even if you do not refrigerate them. You may also want to begin growing fruits and veggies and planting an orchard. In line with that, you can cultivate an herb garden with medicinal plants that you can use anytime you need natural remedies.
#4 – Grow a hidden food forest
You can also begin growing a hidden food forest, which can provide you with easy access to fresh produce each time you run out of food. One advantage of having a hidden food forest in your homestead is that it can produce around five times more food compared to traditional row gardens for every square foot. You only need to plan this form of alternative garden once. You can disguise it in a way that it will look like overgrown underbrush. This will prevent anyone from stealing your crops.
#5 – Strengthen your home and livestock shelters
Remind yourself of how important it is to fortify your properties during an apocalypse. By keeping your property secured, you can also prevent intruders from gaining easy access to it. One thing that you can do is to create storm shutters. These are helpful in keeping your doors and windows fully protected from strong winds. Make sure to secure them in such a way that your entire family can easily and quickly lock and close all doors and windows even with just a simple hint or warning. Also, your door locks should be properly reinforced to deter thieves and intruders.
#6 – Build an emergency kit
It is also necessary to build an emergency kit and put it in an easily accessible spot in your homestead. The kit should be intended for the whole family. It should also be versatile in the sense that its contents will work for various disasters. Among the things that you should put in the kit are medicines, first-aid supplies, important documents, and emergency contact phone numbers. Put this kit in a dry and safe place. If possible, it should be stored together with your emergency water and food supply.
#7 – Have an emergency escape route
Another way to prepare your homestead for an apocalypse or any form of disaster is to build an emergency escape route where you and your loved ones can easily pass through. Educate your loved ones about this route so they can easily escape whenever needed. Plan for a meeting point, too, in case one of your loved ones is not yet home when you evacuate.
Furthermore, be aware of the emergency plans in your community, including safe shelters and evacuation routes. Inform your family about this and figure out whether your community has enough resources to make your private property fully protected.
#8 – Update your emergency readiness kit
Your homestead also needs to have an emergency readiness kit. Check it from time to time to ensure that it is completely updated – that is it contains almost all, if not all, of the things you need when an apocalypse happens. Find out if your kit contains flashlights, extra batteries, battery-operated weather radio, and battery-powered lantern. Check your first aid kit, too. Make sure it has a sufficient supply of medical supplies and prescription medications.
#9 – Ensure that you are fully prepared for carbon monoxide leaks and fire
To do that, inspect the batteries installed within your smoke detectors. Examine your fire extinguishers, too. Your goal is to ensure that they are fully serviced and still in excellent working condition. Check, test, and service supplemental electric space heaters regularly.
Also, remember that carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless yet deadly gas. It might lead to poisoning with symptoms like vomiting, chest pain, confusion, dizziness, and weakness. You can prevent this issue from happening if you install a carbon monoxide detector in your homestead. This will give you an alert each time it detects the presence of life-threatening gas. Once you have this detector in place, test it from time to time and change its batteries two times every year.
#10 – Set aside a hidden location for your backup supplies
Another way to prepare for an apocalypse is to make sure that your homestead has a hidden cache location where you bury some backup supplies. You should be able to gain access to this spot in case your supplies get confiscated or stolen. You may also want to stockpile items, like coffee, sugar, cigarettes, and honey that you can use as an exchange for other things that you specifically need to survive.
Conclusion
With the tips mentioned here, you can now fully prepare your homestead for an apocalypse. Just make sure that you and everyone in your household are well-informed about what they should do in case such a scenario happens. It also helps to invest in a backup generator as this can give you peace of mind each time you are threatened by severe weather.
