A typical spring week running a cattle ranch.

You might think running Alderspring Ranch is about rural bliss: kicking back with a tall, cool lemonade, watching kids play in the spring sun, listening to bees buzzing in the apple trees. Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to kick back in the spring! Here’s what we did last week:

• Started up the new irrigation system (hooray!). After some problems and delays on the part of the partners installing the system, and after we spent two anxious weeks hoping the weather didn’t get too hot before we had an operational system, we finally turned on the water Tuesday. Spent two days cleaning clogs and fixing kinks, but some 400+ acres of pastures are now turning a glorious green. The long ditch we used from the river for water supply has been abandoned to keep more water in the river for spawning salmon and steelhead that migrate up to our valley from the Pacific some 900 miles downstream.
• The contractor finished installing the new cattle waterers. These are needed because the new irrigation system no longer relies on open ditches, which had also served as livestock water.
• Fed our last load of hay (hooray!). On a normal year, we would have been done feeding over a month ago. But this hasn’t been a typical spring. Plant growth is nearly a month behind normal (in some ways a blessing because we didn’t have water anyway until the new system was operational). We had to feed hay for about 3-4 weeks longer than we planned, a daily 3 hour job.
• Still calving. While the bulk of the mother cows have calved, we still have about 1/5 of them yet to go. We check them at least twice a day to see if anyone needs help. Thankfully, no one did.
• Got a family milk cow. We’re wondering if this was a good idea. We’ll try to write about why later.
• Turned out about 1/3 of the mother cows with the oldest calves on the range. This involves making sure the cattle are paired (don’t want to send a calf up there without a mamma), and up to date on their vaccinations. We also made sure all the water systems were operational on the range (to keep the cattle from stream water sources), the fences tight (about 30 miles worth) and closed about 20 gates that were left open by fall hunters.
• Took down the hay corral that protects stored forages from deer and elk through the winter. This hay corral is in the way of the new pivot path so had to be removed. We stored the materials away to use for a new corral this fall when we figure out where to put it. Then we cleaned up the area so it could be farmed.
• Cleaned up debris and garbage left by irrigation system installation.
• Filled in, leveled and seeded old ditches that are no longer needed because of the new irrigation system.
• Removed old fences that were in the way of the new irrigation system path (a pivot tangled up in an old barbed wire fence is an expensive proposition). Salvaged potentially useable wire, prepped the rest for recycling, and stored old wood posts in the firewood cutting area. Nothing goes to waste around here!
• Turned out the finishing yearling cattle on pastures. This required ensuring water is available, fencing a paddock with electric fence and moving cattle to the paddock. The kids did most of moving on horseback, and even had a friend to help.
• Removed sod from the new garden spot. We’ll put composted manure on it and finish working it up this week.
• Worked on house plan designs and layout to try to increase solar efficiency without compromising the magnificent views. Our log builder needs final plans soon.