Natural Resources on YOUR Property

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Biggkidd

Biggkidd

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Have you ever looked to see what natural resources are on your property. I am often surprised when I find we have yet another thing here on the land we could possibly use. There are lots of wild blackberries and walnut trees. Along with some other edible nuts and acorns. We have lots of native herbs so many I wonder if some weren't transplanted by native americans. I'm not able to identify a tenth of what's here. We know indians were here because I have arrow heads and a tomahawk head found here. But we also have areas with course sand below the clay which could be used to make mortar. Clay itself that bricks, adobe or many things could be made from. Last week I found another deposit of building size stones. Possibly some type of limestone which would be great if it is and we need to make mortar or anything that uses lime. Plus we have a wide variety of timber.

My purpose for this particular post is for us to each take stock of what we have never noticed that is available right on your own property.
 
Want to know about the resources on your property? This was a complete work of Botany for the southeastern US. But... most of the plants/trees etc that are listed grow east of the Rockies. Or local or regional variations can be substituted. 1000's of plants are referenced.

You can buy a hardcopy or download pdf copies. Links in the library.

Resources of the southern fields and forests, medical, economical, and agricultural : being also a medical botany of the Southern States; with practical information on the useful properties of the trees, plants and shrubs by Porcher, Francis Peyre

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/herbal-medicine-books-peanut-recommends.6745/#post-225478
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/herbal-medicine-books-peanut-recommends.6745/#post-226478
Southern Resources.JPG
 
We are in a subdivision, so property is limited and urbanized, lawns and landscaping. That said we do have water. I may be over a spring. Not sure, but they hit water when digging the foundation. We do have a sump pump and it does run.

A creek runs through the subdivision and a few neighbors have made a nice collection of arrowheads and spearheads they have found in the creek. There is other evidence but it is widely believed that the native Americans used the rivers like highways and we are pretty close to one.

Learning the edible plants in the area is still on my bucket list.
 
Peanut said:
Want to know about the resources on your property? This was a complete work of Botany for the southeastern US. But... most of the plants/trees etc that are listed grow east of the Rockies. Or local or regional variations can be substituted. 1000's of plants are referenced.

You can buy a hardcopy or download pdf copies. Links in the library.

Resources of the southern fields and forests, medical, economical, and agricultural : being also a medical botany of the Southern States; with practical information on the useful properties of the trees, plants and shrubs by Porcher, Francis Peyre

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/herbal-medicine-books-peanut-recommends.6745/#post-225478
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/herbal-medicine-books-peanut-recommends.6745/#post-226478
View attachment 84342
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting that great info!!
 
Multiple springs and creeks and a pond.
Coal seam
Wild black raspberries
The orchard was restored 8 years ago
Grape vineyard is being cloned now

Ben
 
Out at the farm there's all you'd need save one thing. There's fruit trees, wild and cultivated berries, and wild asparagus. Plantains grow everywhere. And of course there's all the corn you'd ever need. There's a creek with small rough fish, crawdads, and turtles. Small game is fairly abundant. What we don't have, is potable water because the well went bad. It's on rural water supply now. If one were to sink a new casing I believe the well could be restored but I'm not confident in the supply from that aquifer any more.
 
Morgan101 said:
We are in a subdivision, so property is limited and urbanized, lawns and landscaping. That said we do have water.

Learning the edible plants in the area is still on my bucket list.
Click to expand...

The best time to learn new plants is in spring when they bloom. Photo everything that blooms and look it up at night in one of the many university plant data bases.

Right now you should be seeing several of the Rumex sp. sheep sorrel, curly dock most common, along with corn salad and dandelions etc. Early spring fleabanes are starting to bloom (white), many are medicinal. You should also be seeing the early plantains, Plantago virginica and Plantago lanceolata. Both are going to seed here (already have seed stalks up).

I used to drive miles on gravel roads, just creeping along I'd stop and photo every new bloom I saw, look them up at night. I learned over 400 new species by July one year.

Spring buttercups are also blooming, almost always toxic. They usually have yellow blooms.
 
Tons of deer, turkey and lesser critters, a spring, and terrain that doesn't favor people approaching my house. Absolutely no shortage of firewood! Plenty of vegetation, some of it edible. I could and probably will plant more, but that's not my primary garden.

I fully expect the wildlife population to drop like a stone in the event food becomes unobtainable. The water should be OK. What I don't like is my proximity to violent morons.
 
We have several springs, a pond, a few creeks, a river, tons of wild edibles (muscadine grapes, may apples, dewberries, persimmons, paw paws, etc.) and lots of critters (deer, snakes, wild hogs, squirrels, etc.) 20 acres of mostly hardwoods. Most of our neighbors garden and hunt and have been out here for generations. It was truly a God thing finding this land.
 
Not much on our home property. But our used-to-own farm is sitting on oil. We sold the surface - that was just maize and stuff - but retained the mineral rights. We get paid for the "right to drill", even if they are not drilling. Payments for the right to drill are not going to make you a millionaire, but they're still nice to receive. We get offers every few months from various speculators wanting to buy our mineral rights. I don't think so...
 
I guess I could feed my family for a year on all the rabbits we have around here now. Those things are everywhere. That's a food resource. We come home and there are 4 or 5 of them sitting in the front yard. The back yard is even worse. Next year should be the year of the fox. Rabbits gone, foxes lounging around in the yard. The year after that should be the year of the coyote. The foxes and rabbits are gone in those years, you don't necessarily see the coyotes, but you can hear them all over. The following year, the rabbits are back. It's a never ending three year cycle. But at least this year I won't starve with all the rabbits. About half of them bolt when you get near, the other half just sit there thinking "maybe he won't notice me". You can just grab those stupid ones. The bolters might require a pellet gun or slingshot.
 
The Lazy L said:
You gave me a fantastic idea! I've totally changed my opinion on all the Socialistic stray cats my wife supports!
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Not all the "community/stray" cats are socialist, they put a hurt on the moles, mice, so at least they work part time :D

I told a lady at work once cats were great with BBQ sauce, oddly enough she became my step sister in law :brewing:
 
I agree rocks are a resource. As I stated above we have a lot of building size (think cinderblocks) rocks here and boy do I have plans for them!
 
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The spring rains produce a fresh collection of rocks in the stream beds each year.

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We have used them for a small dam

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and retaining walls to create terraces on the hillside.

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Also been used to create walkways and stairs.

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When we first purchased The Ridge the only access to the orchard was via a steep ravine where I installed a rope to helping climbing in and out. We called it "Crack pot hill" because it was crazy trying to climb in and out. I used the shale rocks to create steps and make it accessible even in icy conditions.

Rocks are a resource!

Ben
 

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