07/28/2022
We’re about halfway through summer and still have plenty of grass and the springs are still flowing, which is fortunate since our ranch in Chileno Valley is dealing with the great aridification of the West just like everyone else. People use the term drought, but droughts are temporary. More and more, I think you'll hear people talk about aridification, which is a combination of both increasing dryness and increasing heat caused by climate change.
Last year it was a lot worse. This year, our herd is smaller, reducing the water and forage demand. Plus, two late rains this spring gave us a huge boost, re-charging the springs and filling the stock ponds.
We reduced our herd further due to large orders of early sales. We still have beef available to order for quarters, halves and wholes - please contact me if interested.
We are still looking at possible new water saving projects, like capturing gray water for our native pollinator garden, adding more storage tanks, and improving existing springs.
We also continue to spend our time and resources protecting the wildlife and biodiversity of this ranch. We put 15 bluebird boxes on fence posts this spring. We also obtained a “Healthy Soils” grant from the state to create hedgerows of native trees and shrubs. Every year, we also welcome bird experts to do a bird count - Sally loves walking the hills with them and looking for birds. This spring, they counted 52 different species of breeding birds on the ranch.
We had an unexpected lamb crop. Six ewes gave birth to eight lambs in June, which is past our normal lambing season. Overall, we have 17 healthy lambs who were born this year. It is a lot of work, involves late nights and early mornings, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Every year is different, but we are confident that we are up to the challenge, and hope to be selling healthy, locally produced food to our customers for many years.
