February brought a sustained blast of winter with endless snowstorms and single digit temps.

Over two feet of snow covered the prairie and our plow piles reached toward the sky. Despite the cold, I bundled up head to toe and strapped on my cross-country skis for daily adventures with the dogs. Scooter pushed through the deep snow like a plow truck while Maverick preferred to leap over it like a dolphin. By the second half of our ski tours, they were usually both following in my tracks, happy to let me break trail.

A chuck roast slowly simmering in a cast iron pot fills our home with the warm scent of hearty meal to come. Paired with some mashed potatoes and home-made sourdough bread = solid comfort.

In the last week of February, we trailed the cows down to the pasture by our barn in anticipation of calving to start in March. They eagerly followed the bale of hay that Jack and Jill helped Bart haul down the county road. Maverick and I followed along in case anyone got out of line. Much to Maverick’s disappointment, the cows stayed focused on the trail ahead and didn’t dare wander into the deep snow off the road.

A sudden shift to 40 degree weather at the end of February meant a quick melt-off. Coulee Creek ran swift and muddy for a few days! Luckily, the beaver pond and extensive wetlands upstream helped slow the flow significantly and much of the moisture was retained.

The end of 2024 sure passed by quickly! We kept ourselves busy preparing for winter, selling meat and soaps at holiday markets, and enjoying quality time at Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends. Winter hibernation season is now in full effect. January brought time to slow down and get grounded in our daily routines: feeding cows, chopping/stacking firewood, and baking bread among others.

Big thanks to our friend Tom who helped Bart stack and bring home more firewood! He seems to love working with the horses as much as Bart does.

The early snows of the month lingered long enough for several cross-country ski excursions across the prairie with the dogs. What a treat after last year’s dry winter!

These Devon Yeast Cakes from Small Farmers Journal have been a big hit in our house. Enriched with milk and stuffed with sultanas, they are very easy to make and are hearty enough to keep Bart going all afternoon.

We flipped the switch on our new solar array, which will generate enough power to offset our pivot irrigation system’s use. This project was in the works for over a year, and we are thrilled it is complete. Let the sun shine!

Yep, Bart in the BIG city of Chicago with me. We enjoyed a lot of family time exploring the attractions and good food. We were relieved that my traffic-savvy brother-in-law from Texas did any necessary driving. We spent a bittersweet morning visiting the family plot in the Slovenian section of Woodlawn Cemetery to carry out Dad’s final wishes, followed by a lovely afternoon playing yard games and eating Dad’s favorite pizza with our Chicago family.

Back in his element, Bart finished up haying with Jack and Jill, our half-draft percheron team, and Arlo and Arvid, fjords that a neighbor kindly let us borrow for the summer. Together they mowed and raked over 100 acres this year!

The giant sunflowers finally bloomed after reaching over 10 feet in height. These beauties drew a number of pollinators from bumblebees and moths to butterflies and wasps. But the world became quieter quickly in September. The sandhill crane family across the pond took off early in the month and the nighthawks have been gone since late August. By the end of the month we had just a few meadowlarks and a bluebird or two hanging on with the chickadees, juncos and other year-round residents. I am left wondering what the migrating birds may know that we don’t know yet.

When the temperatures soar into the 90s, my cold plunge pool becomes absolutely essential to my survival (or at least to my positive mental attitude). Immersion in the chilly water brings my core temperature back to normal, and I stay in long enough to get goose bumps from head to toe. When it is 100+ degrees I get in the pool half a dozen times a day to stay sane.

The wetlands along Coulee Creek are home to a remarkable number of animals, including a beaver family that dams up the creek into a beautiful marshy pond. It is one of my favorite places to explore. On this morning, the glassy surface of the pond created a perfect reflection of the sky and moon. The full moon of August has many names, though I am drawn to the name “Ripe Plums Moon” given to it by the Lakota. Indeed the wild plums were ripe and juicy in August.

This year my garden has become a survival of the fittest situation. Luckily, peppers are doing very well with our salty water and clay soil amongst the competition from weeds. I haven’t had to buy a bell pepper all month.

Our bulls are off duty until next year, enjoying the solitude of bachelor life under the immense sky at the top of the ranch where one can see the Snowy Mountains, Crazy Mountains, Bull Mountains, Little Belts and Beartooths on a clear day. A high hazy blanket of smoke has come and gone periodically from our skies as large fires burn far away in Oregon, Washington, and Canada. I am sending out wishes for ample autumn rains across the northwest!

Our Scenes from the Ranch from July features a clip of our new 25 foot mower in action. It is propelled by four horses, and has a small gasoline engine that powers the sickle bar mower. The engine takes a tiny fraction of fuel compared to a traditional diesel-powered swather. The 25 foot mower length allowed us to finish the wheel line field in just one day (the previous 6 foot mower took about 3 days).

Working with the horses is such a joy! It was quiet enough that I could hear a variety of songbirds as we passed underneath the cottonwoods. Orchard orioles, yellow warblers, house wrens and western wood pewees all sang to us as we made our rounds of the field, while the smell of freshly cut alfalfa sweetened the air around us. A truly pleasurable day of work!

The whirlwind of busyness that is summer has begun! I managed to capture a few Scenes from the Ranch for June between all the activity:

It was a cool month, though not nearly as wet as last year. The prairie is drying out, yet the wildflowers continue to bloom. It has been a banner year for sweet clover (not pictured), which covers the hillsides in blankets of yellow. Sego lilies always catch my eye and my breath with their delicate, colorful beauty.

Maverick and Scooter are swallowed up by lush growth in our irrigated alfalfa fields.

Storms continuously sweep across the prairie, bringing gorgeous clouds and sometimes some moisture. The rains this year have fallen in unusual patterns, dropping an inch in one area while leaving the land just a mile south bone dry.

In March I collected cottonwood buds and soaked them in safflower oil for two months. I used my Grandma Clark’s “doodle bug” to strain the buds out of the oil, which is now infused with their sweetness and healing properties. Like many species in the willow family (Salicaceae), cottonwoods contain the natural anti-inflammatory salicylic acid, a precursor to aspirin. I was inspired to make this by my friend Kristian whose cottonwood bud balm has helped soothe many of my aches and pains.

Time for a few Scenes from the Ranch from May, which already feels like a lifetime ago. This time of year is a whirlwind of activity on the ranch. The days are jam packed with projects – from harrowing fields and irrigating them to planting cover crops and stringing up electric fence for frequent cattle/horse moves. Then if I have a sliver of time left I work on planting a vegetable garden. It’s a good thing it is light until 10pm or we’d never fit everything into the day!

May kicked off with our branding. We had a great crew of helpers to rope, wrestle and work the calves. It is a thrill to watch Faith and the Fauth kids hone their roping skills every year. I’m so very grateful to our community for helping us celebrate spring with this annual work party… truly a good combo of work and party!

This year the Kirst girls didn’t just observe the branding, they actually helped with a few things. The youngest stepped in to learn how to give vaccinations with me. I am glad I can share this timeless tradition with so many young people.

May is a month of abundant flowers and the pollinators kick it into high gear. The bright yellow prairie golden bean is one of my favorites. The bumble bees love it too. This one paused just long enough for a photo between visits to the fragrant blossoms.

A swarm of honey bees left the hives and took up shelter on a sagebrush. The swarm was surprisingly loud, and upon inspection I could see thousands of wings beating as the whole mass squirmed, continuously rearranging itself. I called the beekeepers who said that swarming is common this time of year. A queen may decide to leave the box, splitting the colony into two and bringing hundreds of workers along with her in search of a new home. The beekeepers came the next day and worked to settle the swarm into a new box.

April’s Scenes from the Ranch. It was a busy month with calving, farming, and a load of off-ranch work. Here are a few of the delightful moments:

Cat nap

Nuttal’s violets, among the first wildflowers to bloom

Cows, Coulee Creek and the Snowy Mountains

Maverick tries his hand at herding cats. Bear doesn’t care.

March’s Scenes from the Ranch capture calving season in full swing. I’d much rather have snow than rain during calving. This year March brought a mix of both. Between storms it was a muddy mess most days.

Most of the month things went smoothly with a couple of exceptions. During an absolute downpour around midnight, two of our heifers were calving simultaneously. Confusion broke out as they both wanted to claim the first calf born. Luckily, we had brought them close to the barn at dusk. Slogging through some mud in the dark, we sorted them into separate pens under the eaves of the roof and figured out who had had the first calf. A couple hours later the second calf was born and both cows were finally content. The next morning, the calves were healthy and dry, and the warm sunshine made the night’s work seemed like a distant dream.

Back out on pasture, it is common for one cow to remain with the calves while the others head to feed or water. I’m not sure how they delegate this privilege – or is it a punishment? Never-the-less, it is heartwarming to watch a cow patiently shepherding half a dozen romping calves over to the fresh hay.