Alderspring Ranch Grassfed Organic Beef

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Alderspring Ranch Grassfed Organic Beef Connecting wild landscapes with human wellness through exceptional beef and restoration ranching.

Produces extraordinary grassfed organic beef in the wild Rocky Mountains.

A look back at September…📸 Chris Hayek
10/01/2026

A look back at September…

📸 Chris Hayek

Now that things have slowed down around here, we're finally catching up on going through summer photos. These are from o...
09/28/2026

Now that things have slowed down around here, we're finally catching up on going through summer photos. These are from our first ever cow camp trip back in August. It was so much fun having this incredible group of women come from all over and join us on the range for a few days.

We've talked about doing something like this for a very long time and this summer we were finally able to make it happen. This first group brought the best attitudes and a great sense of camaraderie. Despite rainy weather and the usual list of unforseen circumstances, these ladies all rolled with the punches.

To our first group ever--it was a pleasure sharing range life with you, and thank you for riding with us!

- Linnaea, Kaden and the crew!

A few favorites from a summer on the range. Now that we’re up near 8000’ feet of elevation, and nearing the end of the g...
09/06/2026

A few favorites from a summer on the range.

Now that we’re up near 8000’ feet of elevation, and nearing the end of the grazing season, the low sagebrush country seems like so long ago.

-Melanie

It was with sadness I heard Wendell Berry died. His books were foundational to Glenn and my thinking about the how and w...
09/03/2026

It was with sadness I heard Wendell Berry died. His books were foundational to Glenn and my thinking about the how and why of Alderspring Ranch and our work here. We both read his book “Unsettling of America” in college, and over the years were encouraged by “The Art of the Commonplace,” “The Gift of Good Land” and “It all Turns on Affection” (the Jefferson lecture and other essays). Berry also was a prolific poet; my favorite collection is “The Country of Marriage.”

What we both found shocking about the New York Times headline was the failure to recognize that Berry’s work was not some anachronistic reflection on the bygone days of rural life and small agriculture. Berry was not a chronicler of the past. For many of us in the regenerative and organic agricultural space, he is a prophet for the future.

What mattered to Berry over the 50 year tenure of his writings are themes that are no less critical today: meaningful work with our hands, work as art, the importance of community and place, care of the land and husbandry, growing food for local people rather than global commodities and local governance.

He ran his race well, publishing another book in his Port William fiction series just last year at 91, totaling more than 50 books during his career.

“I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until ‘retirement,’ but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know they can never compass with their understanding or desire.”   The Unforeseen Wilderness: An Essay on Kentucky’s Red River Gorge (1971)

I included some quotes from several of his works in this post. I hope that if you haven’t read Wendell Berry’s work, these entice you.

-Caryl

08/30/2026

Just so you all know what we're dealing with up here on the range

In the wake of Dolly Parton’s passing at 80 this week, a 1977 interview by Barbara Walters with Dolly has been getting w...
08/29/2026

In the wake of Dolly Parton’s passing at 80 this week, a 1977 interview by Barbara Walters with Dolly has been getting widely played on social media. It is a fascinating interview, and I watched the whole thing. At the time of the Walters interview Dolly was just 31. And while today’s online crowd are condemning Walters for her condescending tone and questions, the interview illuminates who Dolly Parton was and why young people are still inspired by her.

“Dolly, where I come from, would I have called you a hillbilly?” Walters asked.

I’m not sure what Walters is trying to do here. Maybe she can’t help herself. But rather than being flustered or disavowing her roots, Dolly calmly replies: “We were very proud people, people with a lot of class. It was country class, but it was a great deal of class. And most of my people were not that educated, but they are very, very intelligent. Good common sense, horse sense, we called it.”

Dolly didn’t see her roots as something to be overcome. She saw her roots as something that gave her a firm foundation. She was proud of where she had come from, and she was proud of where she was going.

Walters also asked Dolly if she thought people saw her as a “joke,” because of her appearance. Again, Dolly responded with confidence: “I am sure of myself as a person. I am sure of my talent. I’m sure of my love for life…. And I’m very content. I like the kind of person that I am. So, I can afford to piddle around and do-diddle around with make-up and clothes and stuff. Because I am secure with myself.”

Such assurance at such a young age.

For you who are aspiring to enter agriculture, take a lesson from Dolly. Don’t be ashamed of where you came from but proudly know it is why you are who you are. And don’t be discouraged or intimidated by people who judge or gate-keep. Like Dolly in this interview, be secure in yourself.

As Dolly said: “I know who I am, I know what I can do, and I know what I want.”

We can all learn a lot from that. -Caryl

Summer grazing season on the range is winding to a close. I can feel the approach of fall in the cooler nights, and see ...
08/25/2026

Summer grazing season on the range is winding to a close. I can feel the approach of fall in the cooler nights, and see it in the occasional red tinged leaf. Soon plants will stop their growth up here on the high elevation ridges and slip into dormancy for the winter months, blanketed by snow.

The cows are doing well, and the calves are big and fat from grazing and nursing. The herd finds a wealth of nutrition amongst the glades of timber and sagebrush. Multitudinous forbs and grasses are there for the taking, and they intuitively pick and choose based on their taste preferences, driven largely by their nutritional needs.

We’re doing well too, but as always at this time of year, we’re tired. The ebb and flow of work with the seasons is something I enjoy about ranching. The long days of summer will give way to slowing down some as fall approaches, and we can rest a bit more.

But for now we enjoy the last few weeks of grazing up here on the shoulder of Iron Mountain. We might be a bit bone-weary after the relentless pace of summer, but when we bring the cows home for the winter it won’t take long to miss the work and long for a return to the high country. -Melanie

📸: Melanie Elzinga Jed Clement Eleanor

Schaefer Outfitter

This beautiful shot was taken by Melanie on our stint last week, featuring Jed at the forefront. She has an amazing gift...
08/13/2026

This beautiful shot was taken by Melanie on our stint last week, featuring Jed at the forefront. She has an amazing gift for capturing how the moment felt, like on this hot dusty day in the saddle. Our crew is grateful to have pictures like this to look back on, it beams us right back to the range. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

-Chris

📸 Melanie Elzinga

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Ellis, ID
83235

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