Spring continues to slip its way into our lives as Alderspring is alive with the sounds of our returning summer avian residents: sandhill cranes, red-wing blackbirds, killdeer, and robins. Their welcome cacophony in the morning makes the icy stillness of January a distant memory.
Things are really ratcheting up with regard to spring ranch work now. Cowboys are out for long hours  working on fences and irrigation systems (you can see it on our Facebook page). Another big spring job is “dragging fields.” Everyone likes this job- it’s relaxing and kind of mindless. It involves pulling a homemade set of tires and harrow teeth behind a tractor or pickup truck to break up the larger piles of manure and fluff up leftover hay and dead plant material on the field.
This releases the grass from smothering thicknesses of organic material and speeds up the nutrient transfer to the soil. After all, living soil is the foundation of our existence here on the ranch, and if we don’t feed the life in the soil profile with fresh organic matter to feast on, those waiting bugs will go hungry after the long winter. It’s funny how those critters, invisible to us, are responsible for nutrient-dense flavor on our plate and, in the end, our wellness.
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