More Water for Our Farm - Free Range Homestead Ep 48

Join us this week as we finish the last of our Autumn chores before the winter rains set in, grading the road and building a diversion drain to our dam. We also find some free food for ourselves and the livestock off the property and Troy introduces you to an unusual marsupial.
#savewater #homestead #watersecurity
Chapters
00:00 The business of Autumn
00:52 Grading the road to our property
01:55 Marking out the contour for the diversion ditch with an A Frame level
06:13 Digging the ditch with the tractor
07:59 Harvesting chestnuts
09:37 Harvesting Fejoas
11:52 Feeding and playing with the pigs
13:18 Mid-winter real time diversion drain results
16:14 Root and die: A most unusual marsupial
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Pascale has put together a FREE 40 page Provisioning Guide. The Guide explains and provides examples of how we can travel eating a variety of healthy and delicious meals for up to 6 months at a time on our tiny boat with no resupply. There has never been a better time to start learning how to increase the food storage potential of your home. I hope this guide will inspire you to make more informed long term provisioning choices for the future! For more information visit the Provisioning Page on our website ( www.freerangesailing.com/boat-provisioning ) or to grab a copy directly by clicking on the link below.
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Music Credits
Our theme tune (outro and/or intro song) Aquarium by TEVO. You can listen to his music here: soundcloud.app.goo.gl/4MAfa
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[@darling4713]

Your videos just make me happy. The joy of natural living is contagious. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

[@carenclemmons5002]

Interesting lil critter there at the end of the video. Flashy tail and all. Glad y’all are still taking care of the animals and land. Won’t be long until your lil human comes into play. Hope all goes well. So excited to see your new bi-ped addition. Take care.

[@sittinandthinkin]

Did that little marsupial have a smile on it's face?

[@davidmontgomery1016]

Jet with the piglets are almost as funny as the baby goats.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

She's a very good natured little dog with all but rats, rabbits and foxes.

[@richardp4544]

Just checking in to see if by chance there was anything new. It appears not, but, since it's mid August I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a baby in the next video. Take care both of you.

[@10lauset]

Cheers.

[@richardp4544]

I see that Troy has now added landscaping to his skill set and it's a handy skill to have. The diversion ditch seems to be working fine. I had to chuckle just a bit when Troy talked about the likely cause of the little marsupial's demise, a one night stand with an unfortunate ending for him. I raise leaf cutter bees and the male bees suffer the same fate.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I'm curious about your bees. Why leaf cutters?

[@richardp4544]

@@FreeRangeLiving They are less work than honey bees, better natured, I don't need a suit, helmet, or smoke to work around them and more importantly they are much better pollinators. The leaf cutters are summer bees that live 4 to six weeks, well except the males which suffer the same fate as your marsupials. During that time the females do a great job pollinating and laying eggs to provide a new crop of bees to serve me next summer. I also raise Mayson Bees which are spring bees and as members of the same family of bees as the leaf cutters they share most of the same attributes and are the ones that pollinate my apple and cherry trees which blossom early.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

How interesting. Locally, I have heard of people using our native bees as pollinators, as they have a quite restricted range. This suits operations that want minimal hybridisation thru pollination. I guess the honey yield is less important to you than all of those other, very attractive traits.

[@richardp4544]

@@FreeRangeLiving Correct. I have no interest in harvesting honey, but we seem to have a very low population of bees in my area. By keeping my own bees my gardens and fruit trees all benefit. These bees seldom range more than 300 yards from their nest which pretty much keeps them on my property. I lose a few but those losses are mostly made up for by the egg laying females using my nest.

[@dougsrepair1060]

Always some educational knowledge here.

[@StevieB_Slowbart]

Hi Troy and Pascale. It is always nice to check in with you guys and seeing what you are up to. We have some Feijoa trees in Hobart that we planted about forty years ago. They have been so bountiful over the years. Try making jam out of the pulp by using a teaspoon to scoop them out. The pulp is also worth freezing.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Jam we had seen, but for some reason, I hadn't thought of frozen pulp. Thanks.

[@StevieB_Slowbart]

@@FreeRangeLiving The other thing I should have mentioned is stewing them and then freezing. The spooning out process is a bit tedious but my daughter and I have always worked together on this and teamwork makes it easier and fun. ( I am looking forward to seeing the baby. Good luck.)

[@percival3830]

All kinds of wonderful.

[@johnhanson5943]

Nice to find you again. Glad you’re doing so well.

[@atiamuri101]

Hi guys,obviously i love your vlogs as i have followed you for ever.i just want to offer you some constructive criticism,we all enjoy watching your toil to create your amazing produce,coukd you please share more of you enjoying the spoils of your labors😊

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Yes we are a bit guilty of dropping the camera when it comes time to stuff our faces! 😄

[@townsville69]

We found a short, bushy tea-tree species (about waist high) worked a treat for our dam run in. Shades out unwanted species, holds the soil, not too thirsty and the fairy wrens love it.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I was hoping to plant out a bunch of Manuka with a similar idea. Very encouraging comment!

[@edwardhazelden6424]

I come from Kenya and one of the tribes is called the Kikuyu, which I think is the name of the grass that you have planted along the edge of the dam ditch. In Kenya it is pronounced kick ooo you. Great episode guys

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Yes, we have many plants here from Africa. Thanks for the pronunciation lesson.

[@davide7467]

Gotta say it’s entertaining the way you over complicate digging a simple trench. Don’t take it 😮personally Troy 👍 A simple string line and your level …. We all start somewhere your excavator skills improve with time as you know… Good content guys keep up the hard work . It’s gunna get harder when two turns to three, hang in there .

[@FreeRangeLiving]

What is the secret to using a string line on a curving bit of terrain to follow contour? I've dug too many septic leach drains with one but a diversion drain on conture has me stumped.

[@davide7467]

@@FreeRangeLiving All curves , radius or contours in construction/excavation are initially produced from a straight line . Retired plumber/builder/ excavation contractor. I’m feeling now if I explained that to you now you’d dismiss it. Not my intention to upset you Troy . My apologies..👍

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Not upset in the least, but if there's a better way, I'm all for it. Please bear in mind, I've only got a grader tractor- an excavator would be amazing.( and the knowledge to use it)

[@libmananchannel]

Hello "Free Range Living"! Thank you for showing us such a wonderful video! I feel so happy! I'm looking forward to your next work! Have a nice day!

[@highvibe4839]

Hi Troy and Pascale, What a responsibility you have with all these happy little farm animals that rely solely on their owners, a good incite into traditional farming values, it has to be a two way street, everyone looks content so I’d say it’s a labour of love that’s a win win for all, well done.

[@user-py5qk8uv7q]

Seeing your red clay soil, I myself would want to look into possibly producing bricks for various uses around your lovely farm. Best Wishes, former sailing fan now following farm.

[@markbernier8434]

really old school with an A frame and level. Was just watching about modern road building with high precision GPS on a 40 ton grader laying road out to a fraction of an inch. Huge difference in technique but the same result.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Modern machinery is all but miraculous but the fundamentals remain the same.

[@justinstubbs2631]

Always a pleasure catching up with your adventures. Thank you

[@Mr.Stacey-L-SCC]

With the four legged supervisor you had, I don't know how your excavating could go wrong!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

General manager, supervisor and swine liaison officer!

[@Mr.Stacey-L-SCC]

@@FreeRangeLiving 🤣

[@bombadil776]

I never get tired of watching the pigs.

[@bobuncle8704]

Loving journeying along with you. That’s a great bit of landscaping Troy. Looking forward to some updates on the winter garden, and how the water collection goes. Is it worth potting in a water stick to track depth?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We still haven't determined the depth of that dam or worked out it's volume. I would like to slow down evaporation loss, but this new catch drain has given us a very full catchment now.

[@bobuncle8704]

@@FreeRangeLiving there’s a lot of interesting technologies out there for evaporation loss. It’ll be interesting to see the future leads. There's aquafilm, a floating plant based solution which works well with a tree wind break, one with black balls floating on the surface, etc. Trees and a local floating plant would be interesting.

[@ashtonjose]

I love and appreciate these videos you make for us!

[@Mass-jab-death-2025]

Very enjoyable and informative as usual. Everything on your farm seems to get along so well. What a harmonious existence you both lead.

[@alanrobinson5109]

Hi Troy & Pascale, love to hear your farm stories. It must be a great feeling to be pretty much self sufficient for your up-coming winter months. All the best to you from the UK.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We just opened our first prosciutto crudo and it was an amazing feeling. The hard work does pay off.

[@moonmountain_2841]

I guess I've figured out why I enjoy watching y'all so much...I feel like y'all are talking to me (and the rest of us me's😁) so kind and real and you're such a sweet couple, working together with a common goal.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Very kind, thank you

[@tlmoscow]

If you ever wonder how the Egyptians built the pyramids, Athens built its Acropolis, or the Khmer whipped up Angkor Wat, the answer is simple: they had a guy like Troy in charge.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Over-time but under budget!

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

I learn something new every week. Most times, several new things. I hope your pregnancy is going well. Thanks for sharing. See ya next week.😊

[@kimphilley621]

You all are doing fine.

[@marksierra667]

It looks like tory was ready to start painting 🎨.

[@pkshome123]

Very good presentation Sir. Thank you and the dame.

[@darrylmcleman6456]

Looks like it CAN rain in Australia! The red soil is new to my eyes!Soil black here on westcoast Canada!CHEERS

[@BillB23]

Not as red as the soil here in the piedmont of Georgia. It takes a bit of organic material to make it bear crops well.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We also try to keep up soil material or the winter rain can leach away the goodness.

[@briangilliland3620]

Looking good 😊

[@jay_behr]

What a superb episode! Never even heard of those fruit before :) Looks like it's all coming along beautifully! Our news is, we have finally moved! Mum, fiancé and I are now on our little place in the UK and biggest news of all is we're getting a dog ... a rescue dog so hopefully she'll be a bright one, we shall see :) Hope you're all doing well. PS: that's one crazy marsupial and no mistake :)

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Congratulations are in order! We do hope it's small trials and mostly tribulations with lots of learning by all. You seem very positive and kind, so I shouldn't worry at all about the outcome of your new dog- just mind your mum doesn't spoil her like mine does;)

[@rolffigueiredo3786]

Your piglets are well looked after..❤

[@susankillian2805]

Makes me believe I could do it also! You guys are brilliant!

[@lightprint348]

love the Phasogale or Tuan, as a though, you now have a dam side swale for a fruit tree planting....... happy farming

[@mariemorrissey9378]

Always enjoy your videos!!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Thanks for sticking around Marie

[@BoatDawg]

Thanks!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Thank you very much!

[@bradbusch9585]

Great job guys I thought the animal you were holding was alive You made the transition from boat to farm look easy but I know it wasn’t Cheers

[@terratribefarm]

To stabilise that bank an idea might be to use vetiver grass this will also help direct the water.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I have some sets in the vege garden, I hope some will take. Frost may be an issue but that stuff is amazing.

[@timdunn2387]

Living off the land? Oh, that old chestnut!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

People think we're nuts

[@bradbusch9585]

I didn’t hear but why are you raising wabbits? Great video guys always learn from them Cheers

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Good food, rapid turn around and inexpensive to do. We also were given the cages and rabbits for free...

[@iansmith6086]

You can estimate the age of the chestnut by measuring its girth. and for every inch for an open growing tree, you can count as a year approximately. I would guess somewhere from a 100 to a 125 years old.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Fantastic, thanks for that.

[@zzlee14]

Maybe add fruit tree and shrubs that bare fruit would be a good add to the farm. :)

[@FreeRangeLiving]

At present, we have so much fruit we get from surrounding properties with excess, so we have held off. Blueberries might be a strong temptation though.

[@zzlee14]

@@FreeRangeLiving It can take years fore some fruit trees and shrubs to bear. So think of it as paying it forward to yourself. :)

[@rolandtb3]

Depending on water flow and volume, any plans for a gravel ditch drainage bed to the dam? Minimize silting, soil erosion and easier to maintain the grade.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We hadn't thought of buying in that many meters of gravel, though there is a planting plan waiting for late winter. Happily, during the last heavy downpour, a quick walk out there in wet weather gear showed nice slow flow in and fairly clear. Which indicates erosion isn't too severe. The base of the ditch is showing some volunteer grass already.

[@sigmundfred251]

Hi Troy and Pascal, I've been a long time watchers of you guys. You did a detailed explanation of the "porta Bote". I've bought one. I need to know about the transom mod you did. Which Video was it?? Paul

[@FreeRangeLiving]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2WTkqeeoa6Hb5I

[@gertboerman3666]

Hi guys. I followed you as a free range sailing channel. And, as you may notice, I still am. Absulotely great content. Still free range. And, thinking slightly bigger, your content should spread further than your viewers/subscribers. Your knowledge on how to grow/raise food and prepare/preserve/cook the same, is spot on. Both of you have incredible skills, which, I think, should be spread more widely. It could change the world into a better place. Your thoughts on that?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Well we do hope for our audience to grow again as it did while we were sailing. We don't really fancy branching out to television if that is what you mean but we are always open to advice sent our way.

[@gertboerman3666]

@@FreeRangeLiving No, didn't mean television. Not sure about you, but who today believes anything on television. However, what you two do might change the world. Especially in continents like Africa. I would hate to see your expertise wasted. UN, EU, African Union, World Food Program...etc. are the ones who should know. However, no pressure......just think about it. And...I am not a patreon.....saving for a sailboat.

[@goodandgreen]

@@FreeRangeLiving write a book, make a course, teach people to learn the way you two do…. We need what you know to be out in the world. What a gift to follow along for free. ❤

[@-hopskinny5865]

As a Kiwi, it is really funny watching Aussies encountering feijoas for the first time! The next stage will be Aussies claiming them as their own, like Phar Lap, manuka honey, and pavlova!!! We don't mind if you claim Russell Crowe.

[@luckymike3065]

Wow.. you can keep all that stuff. No problem.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We thought feijoa to be a Brazilian fruit, though we do look to our kiwi bros to see how best to eat them. We are planning on manuka plantings to be fair cause bees reckon it's choice.

[@-hopskinny5865]

@@FreeRangeLiving Yep, it is native to quite a lot of the continent of South America, but it is now extremely common in gardens in Aotearoa and is a very popular fruit here. There are a lot of varieties that have been bred here for size. A friend who went into feijoa growing commercially told me they are pollinated more by birds than bees. And birds like blackbirds seem to prefer diagonal flights than working their way along neat straight line rows! Re Manuka - I am not sure why the current obsession with manuka honey - it is touted for its medicinal qualities, but what other medicine would you voluntarily ingest every day unless you had a condition that requires it. I prefer honey for its taste, and kanuka tastes just as good as manuka, is much cheaper (until it becomes fashionable I guess), and the bush propogates just as well. You may be able to find something similar in Oz rather than planting manuka, which probably costs an arm and a leg for seedlings.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We have lots of leptospermum varieties here and scoparium is just one lot of seeds I have stashed away to provide a large choice of bee forages. I always thought that manuka honey was good topically on infections for its peroxide content, then I think the marketing people went nuts with it.

[@-hopskinny5865]

@@FreeRangeLiving Your latter point is true. Kanuka has similar qualities, and has been used in topical applications for some years.

[@gkeyman565]

great video, except the poor little guy at the end, maybe the was a little smile stuck on his face? have a great day, stop before the heart attack!!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Lol. Will do.

[@kasiakordys266]

hi Guys, I hope you check on your carbon monoxide levels.... greetings from Greece x

[@joycethorn2313]

Why would you stuff around with that A frame? Why not laser level? And do it properly.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Because I had wood and a level. The nearest hire depot with laser level is 120km away.

[@americanbornwalkaway9110]

WOW!!!!! MATE AND DIE!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!! what a WAY to GO though Huh???? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@FreeRangeLiving]

New t-shirt design?

[@sheerluckholmes5468]

He had the unique experience of coming and going at the same time. 😀

[@FreeRangeLiving]

😂

[@lamarkeenum4529]

Promo>SM 😬

[@marktaylor484]

I really don't understand your likes v. subscriber count...!?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We got a lot of subs as a sailing channel and views dropped as we changed our life direction. It's just that many remained subbed, perhaps from habit or maybe in the hope we go sailing again! Happily, our like to dislike ratio is around 99.8 % likes so that will have to do.

[@marktaylor484]

@@FreeRangeLiving Well from a UK perspective you are a version of "Tom & Barbara" from a program called the good life. And from a fellow sailor I wish you all got things.

[@ericandrusty9250]

I hope you guys paid the elders for permission before you graded that road.. 🤪

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Shhh..

[@brettkirkpatrick8211]

Ok done before July,

[@ericandrusty9250]

@@brettkirkpatrick8211 it’s an absolute joke. The world has gone crazy.