Milestones are stepping stones
Big Rock has been our home for 5 years. This particular milestone frequents my thoughts. We now have a 3-year-old. This milestone isn’t a number under our belts, it is tangible, fluid, and fleeting. Clancy keeps me present, the anniversary of our time at the ranch satisfies my enjoyment of reminiscing, and what Nathaniel and I have created keeps me looking forward and planning the future.
Irises are finally in bloom, halfway through June. The erratic Spring squanched all hope of lilac blooms; the buds have withered away. We planted a granny smith apple tree where we had three failed elderberry starts, a disappointment smoothed away by the excitement of another apple tree in our yard.
Potato plants are thriving, I need to get another round in the ground. Onions are coming up sparsely but I have more bulbs I can stick in. I also have a four-inch pot packed with leeks that need to find their own real estate. Squashes need to find a spot and so do my Naked Bear Pumpkin starts! I’m so organized inside the greenhouse; these are all outside the greenhouse.
My outside garden plants: pumpkin, squash, leeks, onion, and potatoes, have sent me into a frenzy trying to get enough space! We have been rolling out weed barrier fabric like we own a factory for it! It is the best solution for the onslaught of happy cheat and foxtail grasses that are blanketing the surrounding greenhouse area. Little did these invasive weeds know they’d end up in an entirely different climate this year. Little did we know too!
The average temperature is colder but the precipitation is wildly higher for Spring. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) this rainy spring has made up for our lack of winter snow and has now put us above our normal precipitation average(looking from Oct-April). May and June have been exceptionally rainy and our irrigated pasture looks better than ever. Our weeds too.
I mention that the lack of snow and presence of rain may be fortuitous because the gentle, consistent showers have acted as a regional irrigation system, casting water down on land in a slow manner during a time when the soil is far more receptive to water(not frozen from winter or baked into a parched mass).
But who the heck knows what Summer will bring? We won’t know it until we live it. Each day we advance at least one little stepping stone along our life adventure. For now, we celebrate rain and smother the weeds so that we can grow our food efficiently.
Speaking of growing food, next week brings the excitement, stress, and sorrow that comes from taking a steer to the butcher. Granger’s son from two summers ago is ready to fulfill his purpose and go on to nourish us. That will be a great event on Tuesday. Another steer to butcher, another milestone. Keeping cows and raising your own beef is no light task! It is a legit journey. But it is the journey that we have continued to choose over other ventures. Cows are just exceptional creatures to experience… they also stay in simple electric fencing, haha!
George is born in 2020! It wasn’t an easy birth. He had to be assisted into this world by us and our vet! George eats hay with his mama, Granger. George on pasture 2021. George at golden hour 2021.
June brought us new milestones already. One was a one-night camping trip in the Ochocos using our new tent and sleeping setup—Nathaniel's great birthday gift to me! We went to a place I camped as a child with my family, grandparents, uncles, and cousins! Clancy enjoyed playing in Marks Creek just as I had as a child. Cattle were grazing the meadow and a lone wild horse had joined them the next morning. We may have only been gone a night but it was a joy to be amongst pines, wildflowers, cooking outside, and sleeping in our new tent. We tried fishing both in the little creek at camp and at Walton lake where the water was erupting with fish but we didn’t manage to catch a thing! I should mention that fishing is my new food-gathering hobby for this year.
The other is a photoshoot! Silipint booked our Hipcamp listing for an exclusive branding shoot. It is always fun to welcome people to the ranch but this will be a unique experience to see our ranch as the scenery for a company’s product advertising! This little venture came by way of my sister-in-law’s partner, Ben, the lead graphic designer for the company.
We just never know where what we have created will take us!
Enjoy the few photos I have; I’m struggling with phone storage.
