When you might need a rock; Filet Mignons, Beef Sticks, Sausages, Ground, Briskets, & Pork!
Dear Friends and Partners,
Welcome to Alderspring’s weekend edition newsletter!
In this letter is Glenn’s weekly story, a suite of pics about work on the ranch this week, and an update on this week’s featured cuts!
Want to follow along more day-to-day? Find us on Instagram and Facebook.
And, as always, if you have any questions, observations, or comments, just shoot us an email to Kelsey at help[at]alderspring[dot]com.
Next shipping day is Feb 7, 2022!
Place your order by Sunday at midnight on the 6th to get it shipped on the 7th!
Looking for this week’s featured cuts? Head to the page below. Scroll on down for Glenn’s story and other newsletter stuff!
This week’s cuts include a flash deal on briskets and pork spare ribs, as well as filet mignons (that epitome of tenderness!) sausages, Wild Cow beef sticks, and ground beef burger patties! Find out about those below!
Also, scroll to the bottom of the page for an announcement about our annual “range riding” internship!
We’d love it if you forward the opportunity on to young people who would benefit from the experience.
The winter often brings strange things to sight–and wild animals certainly are part of that. They show up in weird places, driven by a quest for food–refuge from wolves, or just looking for new territory. Glenn spotted this mama moose and her yearling baby clear up in the tundra-like expanse of the upper Pahsimeroi Valley. By most accounts, this would look like they’re at risk–sitting ducks for a marauding pack of canines. But most wolves have a really healthy respect for moose (as do we), as the well-placed hind foot of a mean mama moose could split a wolf’s head open like a cantaloupe on a cutting board.
That’s Maddy, youngest of the 7 sisters, with Annie over there in the background. Glenn and several of the girls were up at the ski hill yesterday shredding 7 inches of fresh powder! The girls have all been skiing since they were 6 and all are still avid skiers. In the summer, we escape to the backcountry on horseback while herding cattle on the range. In the winter, we still feel the need to get out there–via a pair of boards underfoot!
Quote of the Week
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
―John Muir
This Week’s Story From the Ranch: When You MIght Need a Rock
In winter, hay feeding can get a little monotonous. It’s every single day, as long as the fields are frozen and covered with winter white. We got to keep the green of grass in front of these our growing beeves; indeed, they could survive on leftover grass from the summer, but we need them to grow. To put on weight. And then, the beef will be good: full of flavor tender, consistent with the flavor of summer (after all, it is that grass that we put in a bale).
But sometimes, even hay feeding can get very interesting. I mean, almost life and death. Don’t believe me?
If you do or don’t, let me take you back via a reprint of one of my favorite cow feeding stories that transpired about 35 years ago along the Continental Divide..
-Glenn
This week’s story features a dog causing problems (as they often do–we have a lot of experience with this). But problem-causers though they may be, they are our good friends and constant companions here at the ranch. Life is better with a loyal dog at your side!
Featured Weekly Cuts
A quick summary of this week’s featured cuts:
(As always, only you newsletter readers have access to these discounts)
First, the secret info just for you newsletter readers (we don’t update anyone else on restockings on these…)
This week (until Sunday the 6th at midnight MST) you can get 10% off on the following cuts:
- Weekend flash deal on briskets….beautiful winter roaster!
- Weekend flash deal on those beautiful pastured Pork Spare Ribs!
- “Filet Mignon” that pinnacle of tenderness! You longtime readers know that we discount these only rarely!
- Wild Cow beef sticks…ready to take along on the trail!
- Sausages…both spicy chorizo and our much milder pork breakfast sausage!
- Pre-shaped 3rd pound beef patties. Even if you’re not making a burger, this makes a great single-serve ground beef meal. You can easily take out one patty and leave the other one in the fridge in the package for another time!
Lamb & Pork still in too!
3Fs also in stock!
An Alderspring filet mignon. This isn’t your average filet mignon. We require them to be 2″ thick in order to meet our standards, and we also carefully curate these to be rounded and evenly shaped like the filet you see above for perfectly even cooking!
Calling tenacious young people interested in regenerative agriculture, working outside, and ranching!
We’re so excited to once again be offering our “conservation range rider” internship for 2022!
If you know a gritty, hardworking young person who is interested in learning about regenerative agriculture, horsemanship, stockmanship, living in the backcountry, and other facets of what we do here at the ranch, please forward this opportunity on to them!
Range riding interns will live with us up in cow camp throughout the summer for several days at a time. Each day, they’ll herd the cattle on horseback to good grass while focusing on regenerative objectives and controlling the herd’s movement to prevent grazing in ecologically sensitive areas. Crew members will learn about living and camping in the backcountry, coexisting peacefully with predators and range wildlife, getting along with a horse, and raising great beef!
This is a great experience for individuals wanting to get a “foot in the door” in regenerative ranching, those pursuing a future in ecology who wish to get hands-on experience (especially range or wildlife ecology), or simply people who generally hope to pursue a future involving livestock handling or Western landscapes.
No previous ranching, horsemanship, or cow experience is required to apply. However, physical and mental endurance is a must! This isn’t an easy job, and it requires someone with tenacity, “try”, a sense of humor even after getting rained on for 8 hours straight, a love for people and working with a team, and a real passion for animals and the outdoors. The days are long, the sleep is little, but the work is rewarding.
If you know a young person who would benefit from a summer on the range with us, forward them the link below! Applicants must be over 18 to apply, deadline February 10th.
A sense of humor and love for the outdoors is essential on the range!
And that’s it for this week!
Thanks again for partnering in what we do!
Glenn, Caryl, cowgirls and cowboys at Alderspring.
We’ve been crafting our pastured protein here in Idaho’s Rocky Mountains for nearly 30 years and delivering it direct to our partners for nearly as long. This is wild wellness, delivered from our ranch to your door.
Your partnership in Alderspring helps us maintain what is unique in today’s agricultural world; Alderspring is a Carbon NEGATIVE and Climate POSITIVE operation. We ran the numbers, and our cows help us capture more carbon in the ground each year on our irrigated pastures than we release!
That’s Willie there, and behind him, his friend Oscar. They are two “weanling” colts (weanlings are several months old and ready to leave their moms) that we got from a neighbor a few months ago. We’ve gotten many good cow horses from that neighbor and hope that Willie and Oscar will grow into two more. As it is, they show some athletic promise–they’re always jumping fences and making trouble!
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