Summertime Blues | Keeping your cool isn't always easy - Free Range Homestead Ep 65

Summer came early to the Ramshackle Ranch this year and the heat brought a few problems.
We take a look at dealing with the inevitable effects of high temperatures and learn a few lessons.
We also want to take an opportunity to introduce another addition to the cast of characters, making up our motley farm.
#homesteading #rurallife #summer
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FREE PROVISIONING GUIDE
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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Also if you want to find out more about what I am cooking up every week for us at the homestead (and previously aboard SV Mirrool) you should follow my foodie Instagram page! gourmetsailor
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
All music sourced from Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)
On the request of one of our patrons we put together a playlist of some of our music on Spotify. Follow along and listen here: open.spotify.com/playlist/4Qe...

[@Thenewkidsonthedock]

you guys are the best, from ocean to land you’ve always remained such an inspiration for us ❤ thank you for taking the time to create and share these incredible videos x Phoebe

[@dougsrepair1060]

You gotta love summer.😊

[@donnarocchio936]

Love checking in on you. You have a beautiful family

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

Anytime it's 100°, with little rain, gardens aren't going to look great. Yours really doesn't look too bad. And, like you said, you don't need an over abundant garden right now. I love stories from your farm. Thanks for sharing.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I am planning a trellis for growing lots of melons and looking after tender crops in its shade.

[@dylanwebb9584]

Zip the Wonder Dog! Good grief, what a cutie.

[@gkeyman565]

Great video, nice new puppy, great new weed-whacker, gives milk too ! have a great day

[@americanbornwalkaway9110]

SO Beautiful your Place has Become!!!!! I HATE FLIES TOO!!!!!!

[@woodsmn8047]

all them flies would make excellent chicken food ... build a flying insect trap ..put a light on a pole with a fan that blows air into a mesh bag from right by the light ..insects flying around the light will get sucked into the bag you can empty the bag into a little grain and grind it into some high protein chicken feed and you'll be surprised how much and how quickly that sack will fill up with that many flying bugs and the doorway will be made more tolerable

[@richardp4544]

interesting presentation, looking forward to Zips first truffle hunt. LOL

[@FreeRangeLiving]

As are we all!

[@johnnyswag2802]

*HELLO* Hang some Bay Leaves in your patio and next to the door, fly's just hate the smell of Bay Leaves. If your Barbecuing put a couple leaves in the BQ or in a small candle on the picnic table.

[@alanrobinson5109]

Hi Troy, Pascale & Family, love watching your videos, lots of hard work looking after your animals and garden and not forgetting your new baby Constance. Wishing you all the best, from the UK.

[@bencampbell2407]

You guys are awesome ❤ loved you from the sailing start !

[@ronhuff9219]

Frame and screen the porch creating a pest buffer to the house entrance while still allowing air flow. Only way to truly enjoy sitting outside here in South Florida 😊

[@bake162]

Looking forward to truffle dog training

[@jerrylynch5611]

Two dogs are easier to manage than one I've found

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Judging by our last week, I think you are 100% correct.

[@jerrylynch5611]

@@FreeRangeLiving same with kids 🤣🤣🤣

[@wildtimbrown]

This has been our coolest "winter" in years!

[@MartynGrimes]

Another welcome episode. Cheers 😊

[@paulbowron6172]

when I had pigs there was a big potato farm down the road when they harvest there was tons of waist I would spread them under a hedge or shady place they would last for 6months they would go green but the pigs did not mind

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I cooked the spuds I fed our pigs. You didn't think it was required?

[@davidstoddard9160]

If you keep the ground connection where it goes into the ground, on a regular basis, the electric fence will work very well.

[@victorbitter583]

Looks like you're having a real summer over there. A polar opposite to the summer here in Sydney so far. We have had a few hot days but it's been very mild overall with many sub 30 days and lots of rain. There is not one yard over here where the grass is so green and growing so fast that mowing weekly is almost a must. It's been terrible for flies for our standards but nothing like what you have going on there. The new pooch looks like a ripper and hopefully he becomes a fantastic fungus finder. Cheers.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

After all the fires and floods the east coast copped the last few years, I'm glad you're getting a break. Yep, little dog seems to be a ripper. Pretty smart little thing.

[@rolandtb3]

Pigs keeping you on your toes. The other animals are all doing fine. Flies are a nuisance. Any DIY traps, plant deterrents? A new puppy with a project.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

The main problem flies are the biting ones, and I'm not sure what trap to use for them. Experimentation will be in order next summer.

[@tassiej3133]

Set yourself up with some fly traps. There are many on the market from Amazon to Bunnings. You can add your own bait and it does make a difference. Re-usable!!!

[@Lana_Warwick]

From memory you scored some shade cloth from the tip you were going to cover the dam with, help reduce evaporation

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Made house shades for the Western side. That made a hell of a difference to us but none for the dam yet.

[@shreksswamp9001]

Hi Guys, this is your neighbour in the town 150+ks to the east of you. I've been here for 24 years and this is one of the hottest summers we've had in all that time. We don't often get as many days over 40 at all, even in your neck of the woods. Your climate is very similar to ours. We have had many summers with no days over 40 and most hovering around the mid 30s. Manji is pretty much the same. In this last week, there was a cyclone in the northern parts of the Indian Ocean that headed southwards to Madagascar and its tail came all the way over to the west coast of Aus, which caused our heatwave, dragging all that hot air from the inland to the coast and southwestern/great southern regions, and for the second time in just a week, we got 44.9 deg C. Too hot! So don't frett too much about the summers. Yes they can be just as hot as Perth, but they normally don't have as many extreme days as Perth does. One other positive, is that the nights are usually cooler. Well, at least where I am because the cool mountain air flows in over the town in the evenings. Peter Great Southern

[@FreeRangeLiving]

We are nearly at our favourite time of year here, so a couple more hot weeks are OK. Next summer, I plan to have a decent trellis worked out for growing too many melons and cucumbers. The tender veg can live in the shade.

[@donmelvin7102]

Hi guys. Look up Green head fly traps. I think they might work on your blow flies. Just some ply and screen...

[@Jolleseileren]

Godt laget video og det blir sikkert spennende å gå på trøffel-jakt - fortrolig hundevalp det der!

[@KnackFarmer-theanswerismeat]

We've all had it pretty miserable down here in the SW, eh!? We hit 43.9° up in Balingup and the chickens were struggling x But they all came through the past few weeks and are loving the better day today!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I was surprised that the heat didn't send the chooks off the lay. Eggs remained steady.

[@KnackFarmer-theanswerismeat]

@@FreeRangeLiving Our two (!! coddled, evil) Australorps went broody on Nov 1 - no fertilised eggs or other - for 3 months, I was escorting them out of the nest for food / water 4-5 times per day. They only started laying again about 3 weeks ago, so pleased they've held up in the heat.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Definitely spoiled! We are looking for someone with a Saanen buck for our goats. Do you know of anyone in your town?

[@KnackFarmer-theanswerismeat]

@@FreeRangeLiving Outside our knowledge space however I'd imagine folks who 'do goats' may have a better appreciation of what breeds are available here in the SW -- maybe start with Tambookie stud? tambookieboergoats.blogspot.com/

[@SuperNova-Steve]

Wow that fly buzz in your shed was crazy, surprised the roof stays on. No doubt a bit cooler now. Been a helluva summer in Auckland too, got to 30 a couple of times 😅

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I need to experience an Aukland summer

[@janana6786]

Oh man, blow flies are horrific!

[@bryanbadger6841]

Hi folks. Troy not sure what fence unit you have, but if you are in possession of a unit rated for 50-75-100km of wire, great. But what gives it a kick, is the depth of the earth. When I was dairy farming, I had my earth wire attached to our bore pipe which was at a depth of 250mt. With an earth at that depth, no stock will challenge the fence, after the first zap. However you may not have that advantage like me. However if you do have any old bore pipes lying around, particularly 10mt sections, chuck them in, vertically, of course, hook up the earth from your unit, and see what happens. Bottom 2 wires for the pigs should be steel. As for the rain, um, can either of you do a rain dance.? Thank you for sharing. Take care and atb from across the ditch.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

The pigs won't cross steel wire around the perimeter, it's just the poly wire they have no respect for. No bore pipe here, but I think if a couple of wires ate 'negative' every star pickets will contribute 600mm of steel to the earth array, even if the critters don't touch both wires simultaneously. We just had our first litter if piglets this year too, so there's more hijinks.

[@rizpahbrewer7]

Love your little short overall outfit! Do you have the link?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

They are from "Tree of Life" but they are old. I got them about 6 years ago in Cairns. Maybe check them out online to see if there is something similar.

[@bishopkinlyside8477]

Hi Troy, Pascale and little baby you should be here in Queensland we have too much rain. If you can say that been raining since November off and on I bought a camper in November and I know you been able to use it three times because it’s raining so much even this morning it poured down for about half an hour to an hour anyway keep up the good work always love the videos Cliff from over here on the east coast at Logan City Queensland, Australia 🇦🇺

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Yes, I remember QLD rain from my home in Cairns. I do miss rafting in the storm drains!

[@claudiah5643]

❤❤❤

[@Corkedit]

When the shearing sheds are silent, and the stock camps fallen quiet When the gidgee coals no longer glow across the outback night And the bush is forced to hang a sign, 'gone broke and won't be back’ And spirits fear to find a way beyond the beaten track When harvesters stand derelict upon the wind-swept plains And brave hearts pin their hopes no more on chance of loving rains When a hundred outback settlements are ghost towns overnight When we've lost the drive and heart we had to once more see us right When 'Pioneer' means a stereo and 'Digger' some backhoe And the 'Outback' is behind the house. there's nowhere else to go And 'Anzac' is a biscuit brand and probably foreign owned And education really means brainwashed and neatly cloned When you have to bake a loaf of bread to make a decent crust And our heritage once enshrined in gold is crumbling to dust And old folk pay their camping fees on land for which they fought And fishing is a great escape; this is until you're caught When you see our kids with Yankee caps and resentment in their eyes And the soaring crime and hopeless hearts is no longer a surprise When the name of RM Williams is a yuppie clothing brand And not a product of our heritage that grew off the land When offering a hand makes people think you'll amputate And two dogs’ meeting in the street is what you call a ‘Mate' When 'Political Correctness' has replaced all common sense When you're forced to see it their way, there's no sitting on the fence Yes, one day you might find yourself an outcast in this land Perhaps your heart will tell you then, ' I should have made a stand’ Just go and ask the farmers that should remove all doubt Then join the swelling ranks who say, ' Don't sell Australia out!’ Please keep this going - Australia is in real trouble! Author credit- Chris Long Far North Queensland Photo below to keep this post circulating, a little homestead that raised a large 10+ family back when Australia was Australian Owned 🇦🇺

[@mattschaal5578]

Troy, are you doing any fly-fishing these days?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

No, I haven't pulled out the long wand. Skipped a few spinners though.