Alderspring is a small family owned operation raising delicious organic meat. Most of the work is done by the Elzingas: Glenn, Caryl, and 7 amazing daughters, who you can meet here. On our team we also have a few dedicated and wonderful crew members that you can learn more about below!
Glenn Elzinga
Glenn is the head guy (aka CEO), and with Caryl, co-founder of Alderspring. Twenty-four years ago, he left his 9-5 forestry job, bought 7 cows and a small ranch, and began producing beef with his wife Caryl. Today, he owns and manages Alderspring (1650 deeded acres and 46,000 rangeland acres) while raising his 7 daughters and producing grass fed organic beef. His passion for wellness as an interconnected web of soil, land, animal, and human health led him and Caryl to create their “inherding” grazing paradigm. Glenn also currently speaks as a guest in both podcasts and regenerative agriculture conferences.
Caryl Elzinga
Caryl is Alderspring’s CFO, co-owner and founder, and plant expert. She holds a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on native plants wetland and riparian systems, which makes her passionate about restoring wild plant populations and wet areas. Together with Glenn, she designed our “inherding” practice as a herding methodology for managing wild landscapes. Caryl is also the lead author of Monitoring Plant and Animal Populations: A Handbook for Field Biologists. Besides her regenerative ranching and botany work, Caryl is a mother and example to her seven daughters.
Kelsey Thorkelson
Kelsey has been working as Alderspring’s administrative assistant and customer service representative for several years now. She is an absolute lifesaver and is always efficient, cheerful, task-oriented, and detail obsessive. Kelsey will often be the person talking with you by phone or email about your order. Kelsey and her husband have three beautiful kids (pictured above), and she works remotely in order to stay close to her family. However, she makes the occasional visit to the ranch to stay current with Alderspring’s practices.
Joshua Madany
Joshua came to Alderspring after working at Polyface Farms. Joshua is currently the Alderspring fulfillment and inventory manager and oversees the shipping aspects of the business. From 2015 to 2019 he also raised pastured poultry here at Alderspring, innovating on the Polyface model to increase the percentage of grass and pasture in the chicken’s diet and selecting heritage breeds with foraging characteristics. Joshua is also a natural with cattle stockmanship, and has a conscientious and careful eye for detail that make him a valuable member of the Alderspring team.
Melanie Elzinga
Melanie is the oldest of the 7 daughters. Her responsibilities at the ranch include social media management, website design, photography, and much of the graphic and label design work. Melanieis also our horse manager, responsible for training young horses, herd health, and teachig horsemanship. In the summer she is one of our 3 range crew bosses, which is a complex job requiring stockmanship, wild-land management, ecological understanding, and horsemanship. Melanie currently obtaining a B.S. in Natural Horsemanship at University of Montana Western.
Abigail (Elzinga) Kelly
Abigail, or Abby, is the second of the 7 daughters. She does all the Alderspring video work, landscaping, and manages cattle on the home ranch under the Management Intensive Grazing paradigm. Abby married Ethan Kelly in 2014, then the two spent a year in Australia learning about agriculture there. Today, she’s mom to two beautiful little girls, and she and Ethan produce amazing pastured pork (available seasonally) here on the ranch. Abby is also a talented writer (of both stories and reflections on ranch life), and an artist in gardening and plant nurturing.
Ethan Kelly
Ethan came to Alderspring several years ago after completing an apprenticeship with Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms. He married daughter Abby in 2014, and today is father to their two girls, raises pastured pork (available seasonally) and is the manager of the Alderspring home ranch operations. During the summer, he is also involved in Alderspring’s range inherding project. Ethan also runs a side business handcrafting the leather gear used here at the ranch, along with belts, wallets, and bags. You can purchase his custom leather goods here.
Linnaea Elzinga
Linnaea is third of the seven daughters. She manages much of the marketing, messaging, and website design at the ranch, as well as some graphic design. She also takes most of the beef product photos and some of the ranch photos. She enjoys cooking and creating recipes, and runs Alderspring’s cooking blog, Meathacker. During the summer, Linnaea rides the range as one of our crew bosses. She’s graduating from Boise State University this spring of 2020 with a degree in Business Management & Entrepreneurship.
Emily Elzinga
Emily is the 4th of the 7 daughters. She is the resident computer guru and understands the mysteries of html and css. She takes care of the website coding and troubleshooting. She also enjoys working around the ranch. When she has time she runs irrigation and helps herd cattle. Emily is currently double majoring in Physics and Computer Science at Idaho State University. During her spare time, Emily loves to get out and ski and hike in the backcountry with her sisters.
Rebekah Elzinga
Rebekah, (Becky) is the 5th of the 7 daughters. She currently works around the ranch in a diversity of tasks, including irrigation, moving cattle, sorting cattle, and winter feeding. During the summer, she rides as one of the range crew. In her spare time, Becky explores her passion for music. She plays the mandolin and the piano, and also enjoys singing.
Annie Elzinga
Annie is the 6th of the 7 daughters. She is the quality control checker in the shipping warehouse, and also works around the ranch on irrigation, herding cattle, winter feeding, and helping Abby with landscaping. Annie also rides the range during the summer as one of the crew. In her spare time, Annie enjoys music, cooking, and writing.
Madelyn Elzinga
Madelyn (Maddy) Elzinga is the youngest of the 7 daughters. Her jobs include processing order labels in the shipping warehouse, odd jobs and irrigation around the ranch, and occasionally riding on the range. In her spare time, Maddy likes riding horses around the ranch, drawing, and skiing with her sisters.