Ridgemeade Ranch

05/31/2026

05/08/2026

Little lamb, little lamb

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day 🌎

We’re grateful to play even a small role in caring for this land we call home.

Our flowers are grown without pesticides and never flown overseas—just local, seasonal beauty.
Our Lake Effect lambs are out on rich spring pasture, living as they should—no grain, no antibiotics.
And beneath it all, we’re working to build healthier soil through carbon sequestration and regenerative practices.

It’s a simple approach, but one we believe matters.

Specialty tulip bunches are still available—reserve yours today and celebrate the beauty this Earth provides 🌷

04/15/2026

The first flowers of the season have come in from the Ranch, and our specialty tulips are now available.

These are not standard grocery store tulips. We grow distinctive double and peony varieties chosen for their fullness, texture, and unusual beauty…blooms with dense layered petals that open almost like old garden roses.

Click the link in bio to order. 💐

04/15/2026

Too Green Too Soon: The Early Grazing Temptation at Ridgemeade…. Field Notes for mid April

The weather has settled some here on the Ridge… nights in the 50s and das in the 60-70s—no snow, no frost, and the fields have responded all at once.

In a matter of days the pasture has gone from dull to bright, a clean wash of green across ground that only recently felt closed.

From the gate it looks ready. But…

Out there, it isn’t more than a couple inches tall. You have to kneel to see it clearly…thin blades pushing up, running on sugars they stored last season just to get started again now. It’s enough to catch the eye. Enough to make you think you’re behind. But I know my fields. I know my pastures.

The sheep are anxious, impatient. They crowd the fence in the mornings, watching the same ground, noses working. “Today?!” they seem to beg. We’ve kept them in still. “Not yet” I whisper as I collect eggs from the equally pent up chickens.

The barnyard bedding is deep now… nearly 2 g feet thick - and holding, quite literally, tons of moisture and manure. It will be word class compost in a couple weeks. You can feel it when you step in…warm underneath, a little too close, too humid, too soft.

Leave the sheep in too long and you start thinking about lungs instead of grass. Turn them out too soon and they’ll take the field down before it has a chance to build anything back.

There isn’t a clean answer. It reminds me of when I conducted small ensembles. What exactly is “Moderato”? What is “forte” or “piano.” these all mean something slightly different to each conductor, to each musician. To each rancher the right day to start the grazing season will neve be the same.

But just a few more inches and the grass changes completely. Two leaves, maybe more. Then it can handle pressure. Then it can come back and then some.

Right now it can’t. Right now it is fragile.

So the gate stays shut a little longer than feels right. It is not easy. Especially as our hay stores are virtually depleted.

In the meantime, there are plenty of branches to pick up, windfalls to cut, step in posts to place and temporary fencing to put in place so that when the grass is ready, we are too.

www.ridgemeaderanch.com/shop

04/14/2026

It's not too late! Clean, Drug-free, Forest-Raised Pork can still be yours! Reserve your pork box, half or whole pig now! early December delivery!

Forest Raised Pork, NON-GMO - No antibiotics or routine drugs A well-rounded freezer box with chops, bacon, ham, sausage, roasts, ribs, and slow cooking cuts. In keeping with our commitment to ethical, regenerative agriculture, we raise only a limited number of forested pigs each year. That allo

04/10/2026

Preorders are still open for our November pork harvest.

Reserve a 1/4 or 1/2 Curated Pork Box … or choose a whole or half hog for complete control over your custom cuts.

Our pigs are forest raised and rotated weekly through wooded paddocks filled with acorns, walnuts, shagbark hickory, and chestnuts. They receive supplemental NON-GMO feed and are raised without antibiotics or routine drugs.

Certified organic? No. We believe your trust should come from seeing the pigs yourself through 100% transparency... come walk with us in our beautiful woods and see the way we raise them. We would be glad to show you around the ranch this summer, including our sheep flock and flower gardens!

This year, all pork is sold by PREORDER ONLY, with no individual retail cuts planned for sale to the general public.

Order now before our limited allocations are sold-out!

04/06/2026

Easter, 2026 - Rain, Mud, and the Start We Don’t Rush

Yesterday we enjoyed a roasted leg for the holiday. Inside the kitchen was hot from the oven but outside was windy and cold. Only the day before it was 83. The temperature won’t hold.

This morning it’s back in the 30s, a mix of rain and snow drifting down without much purpose…just hanging there and making everything damp-er.

The ground has taken it all. The pastures are very soft now…not flooded, not ruined, just heavy. Every step leaves a mark that stays. By the time you cross a field you can turn around and read your whole path.

From the gate the color has started to turn. Enough green pushing through the brown to make it look ready if you don’t walk out into it. The flock lines up along the fence in the mornings and watches it.

They’d tear into it if I let them.

I opened one section a few days ago that I shouldn’t have. Not badly. Just enough. The surface held at first, then started to give. By the time I pulled them off, it had that worked look…pressed, slightly turned. It’ll come back. It didn’t need to happen.

So they stay in the yard now, and the yard shows it. Manure building where I don’t want all of it. Hay going faster than I’d like. The alfalfa still smells soft when you break it open. The orchard grass is dry and gets eaten. Ten bales a day, sometimes more.

I dragged the Hay Sleigh out yesterday to keep from cutting the place up worse than necessary. It slid clean in the morning, then started catching by midafternoon, pulling heavier where the soil had gone loose underneath. I left it sitting halfway through a pull longer than I meant to.

The lower paddock can wait. I stepped into it anyway and sank just enough to feel it through the sole of my boot. That thin line of cold that stays with you.

Up on the higher ground you can kneel and part the grass. The first shoots are there. Thin. Bright. Straight up through the old stems.

Lambing hasn’t started yet, but it’s close. A week, maybe a little more. The spring ewes are heavier, slower getting up, more particular about where they stand. You notice it without trying.

By evening the air drops again and the surface tightens just enough to carry your weight if you stay up high. The low spots hold water in temporary pondletts. For a few minutes before dark the sky clears and the field goes flat and reflective.

The flock settles. No pushing. Just standing and chewing - waiting.

03/18/2026

Dear Blake,

I’m writing with a simple and heartfelt thank you.

There are so many organizations you could have chosen to support. The fact that you chose Savory means a great deal to all of us. Your generosity directly supports people and communities around the world who are working to regenerate grasslands and strengthen their livelihoods.

Since 2009, Savory has partnered with local communities to help regenerate over 100 million acres of grasslands and train more than 36,000 farmers, ranchers, and pastoralists in regenerative land management. Together with our global network of 50 Hubs operating in 30 countries, we are helping restore soil health, increase biodiversity, strengthen water cycles, and build resilience in rural communities.

None of that happens without donors like you.

I would like to share a short case study from Kenya’s Maasai Mara. It shares one example of how Holistic Management is restoring degraded rangelands, improving wildlife habitat, increasing the land’s ability to hold water, and strengthening local livelihoods. It’s just one project among many across our network—from Australia, Spain, Portugal, and Uruguay, to new work launching soon in New Zealand. We’ve also completed or transitioned large initiatives in places like Mongolia, Brazil, and the United States (Iowa), where local hub leaders are now carrying the work forward. You can view the case study by clicking HERE.

If you’re open to it, I’d genuinely love to hear what inspired you to support Savory. What part of our work resonates most with you?

And if you’d ever like to schedule a short Zoom conversation, I’d be glad to connect. If you share what you’re most curious about ahead of time, I’ll make sure the right team members join the call so we can have a meaningful discussion and answer your questions directly.

Thank you again for standing with us. Your support truly matters.

With gratitude,

Virginie Pointeau

Global Portfolio Liaison
Savory Institute

03/18/2026

Planning your Easter dinner? 🐣

A Ridgemeade Ranch leg of lamb is the kind of meal people remember. Raised right here along the southern Lake Erie ridge, our lamb is grass-fed, pasture-raised, and harvested after a full season of grazing—giving it a naturally tender texture and a clean, slightly sweet flavor.

Just salt, roast, and serve. It’s that easy—and that good.

Limited availability for Easter.
Shop via link in bio.