Learn! Learn everything!
Well, at least the surface knowledge. During the apocalypse, she'd have plenty of time to learn these things in depth.
It was good to have surface knowledge because it would help her make more thorough preparations before the apocalypse.
Some of the points to study would be the needs of farmers and what plants need to grow. She could Doogle these things, but there were plenty of details and subtleties only personal experience would teach.
In the previous generation, and even until now, the impression of farmers wasn't prestigious. Not many youths aimed to be farmers unless that was the only path they could take; her mother and her siblings were the same.
Melinda had one older brother and one younger sister. From memory (which was 10 years ago), the uncle, Marcus, was the responsible kind of guy, though a bit meek. Her mother went into business, while uncle only finished high school and went to work at a construction site as soon as he graduated.
