Weekend at the Farm

 

ROAD TRIP!!!  On Friday night, Mrs. Hopper loaded us up into her Honda CRV and we set out on a 2 hour trip to visit Mr. Hopper's family  for the weekend at the Hopper Farm near Rome, Georgia.  Mr. Hopper's brother, Nicholas, owns a house on 40 acres.  

Muscadine vines at the Hopper Farm

Within the 40 acres are, carved out 4-wheeler paths, a small creek that has been damned and stocked with fish, and Nicholas uses some to most of the land for deer hunting and for dove shoots.  At a corner of the barn has been carved out for a future worm farm and just outside the barn are rows of muscadine vines.  The Hopper's harvest the fruit and make it into wine.


The Hopper's held a BBQ at the farm on Saturday.  Nicholas smoked parts of a wild boar that he shot in the spring and delicious smells and the feeling of excitement started to fill the air as game time approached for the Alabama vs. Texas A&M football game.

My first ride ever on a tree swing!

As much fun as the adults were having cheering on their teams, I was happy to go outside with Mrs. Hopper, as she gathered the kids, all under the age of 6 and going stir crazy, and took them outside to explore the farm.  The kids and I loaded up in their 4-wheelers and we ventured out past the barn for a treasure hunt.  We parked our 4-wheelers and started on foot, occasionally stopping to investigate a plant or a tree.  Along the way Mrs. Hopper taught us some survival skills, teaching us how to open a hickory nut with a rock, identify animal tracks, and explained that, if lost in the woods without food, to chew on some pine needles to obtain some nutrients we would need for survival.  I was fascinated to learn more and Mrs. Hopper admitted that some of the survival skills that she learned about she read in the novel, Hatchet by Gary Paulson.  She has a copy of the book back in Birmingham that she said that she would read with me.

Touring the farm on wheels.

In the meantime I have been researching survival skills online and I came across an online quiz designed to Test your survival skills.  

How confident are you about survival in the wild?  Find out more about wilderness survival by clicking here or download the Wilderness Survivor Pro App to have the information at your finger tips during an upcoming excursion.     


Wilderness Survival App  
This app serves as an active guide and aide for survival in the wilderness.  If you find yourself lost in the wilderness, the app is designed to take you through the necessary steps for survival providing detailed "How to..." information.

-Flat Annie