How to Survive Summer on Your Homestead
Are you looking for some tips to help you survive summer on the homestead? Homesteading is demanding and in summer it’s difficult to cool off, keep the livestock happy, and stay ahead of the chores. So what’s a busy homesteader to do when the mercury rises?
The most important summer survival tip is to make sure everyone is hydrated and no one overheats on sunny afternoons. Try to do demanding chores such as weeding, filling water troughs, mowing, and fixing fences early in the day before the midday heat sets in.
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Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff!
If the lawn has hardly grown this week, don’t worry about mowing. A few weeds aren’t the end of the world. Water your veggies, keep the pets and livestock happy, pick what needs to be harvested, and freeze it instead of canning when the house is too hot. Some things just can’t wait, but you can divide the chores up and take breaks to cool down and rehydrate to help you survive summer on the homestead.
My Top 12 Tips to Help You Survive Summer on the Homestead
- Cool off -provide cool water several times a day, turn the sprinkler on for kids and animals, and make sure everyone has shade!
- Take a break – Set aside your chores during the hottest part of the day and rehydrate.
- Get up early – work in the cool morning.
- Put a fan in the window – Be sure to use a fan designed for use in the barn for cooling your livestock.
- Raise animals that are acclimated to hot climates. Read up on the 16 Best Heat Tolerant Chicken Breeds.
- Make cold treats – Ice cream, snow cones, smoothies, and popsicles are all delicious ways to cool off
- Drink DIY Sports Drink to rehydrate after working up a sweat.
- Use freezer jam recipes or dehydrate produce instead of canning. Use your crockpot to cook meals on the porch instead of heating the house up. Freeze fruit to make jam in winter.
- Made in the shade – If you don’t have shade trees, set up a shade tent, tarp, or patio umbrella. Awnings can lower the temperature in the house.
- Make your own non-toxic Cooling Eucalyptus Mint Body Spray
- Dump out water troughs and fill them with clean water to prevent mosquito outbreaks.
- Hang fly strips and fly traps to keep these pests to a minimum. Wipe down livestock with fly repellent to prevent bites and to keep flies from laying their eggs on livestock.
Plan Ahead for Heat Waves and Other Weather
Watch the weather forecast for your area and plan for heat, humidity, and storms. Having extra water troughs and buckets of water on hand can be a lifesaver for your homestead animals. Pick up extra fly spray and fly strips at the farm supply store. You may even want to stock up on feed ahead of time to reduce your trips to town and prepare for nasty weather. Check your emergency and first aid supplies in the barn, house, and your car and keep these kits well stocked.
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Remember to use an industrial electric fan for your barnYou’ll find it easier to survive summer if you don’t have to make extra trips or worry about your livestock and pets.
Check out these tips on How to Keep Chickens Cool in the Heat and Collect Eggs All Summer!
More Ideas for Keeping Cool & Pest-Free
Freeze fresh fruit for making smoothies, or get ingredients for homemade ice cream. Plan a picnic at a park or beach on days when the sweltering heat is expected. This is a great way to take a break.
With the beautiful weather of summer comes the return of those annoying flies. Rather than try to attack them with chemicals, consider using fly traps or sticky fly paper to reduce their numbers.
Fill plastic containers with water to freeze ahead for adding to livestock watering dishes. This will save energy for running the freezer (by keeping it full) and you can pull a container of ice out quickly for the livestock, a cooler for your picnic, or put it in your swimming pool to cool down.
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Try a portable cooling mister for the pets or kidsHomesteading is a lot of work and you can’t just sit inside in the air-conditioned comfort of your home all summer! However, if you plan ahead and make smart choices, you can reduce your workload and time spent out in the heat this summer. 🙂
What are your favorite tips for surviving summer on the homestead? Did you read something helpful here? Share in the comments!
Good ideas here – not that we’re getting much heat yet in our area! Good reminders to keep livestock and small animals hydrated. We’re learning how much water 20 chickens need each day! Found you on the Farm Fresh Blog Hop.
Great ideas! I do actually can outside which helps, for the big batches. Jellies I make inside. All of our 3 hen breeds have done well in our hot summers- Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds, Barred Rocks and our new White Plymouth. We’ve also had good luck with Black Australorps. We also use a small portlable, free standing mister by our coop when it’s over 90 degrees. Luckily we have a nice shade tree for coolness..
Sounds like you’ve got great strategies for keeping cool in the heat, Nancy! Thanks for sharing your additional ideas!