This year’s cattle gather was the first we had done without horses in my time at Saguaro Juniper, and I wasn’t entirely sure how it would go. I was optimistic, as the cows are used to following the little pickup for hay, and they move on foot with us between pastures in the summer; but […]
The time has come to take the two-year old steers to the slaughter house. Three went today, the other three will go at the end of October. It is satisfying to be able to provide people food that has been raised with love, but it is also a sad time. As I made all the […]
Yesterday was our big cow move off range, which we made this year by shifting the herd from the Fenceline Drinker to the Lower Drinker, then walking the whole herd from the Lower Drinker the mile-and-a-half along Cascabel Road to El Potrero. From there, we spent the day trailering them one load at a time […]
Believe it or not, Mycha’s calf Myco, who was born on range, is almost two months old and it is time to think about castration, branding, and vaccination for the little guy. To this end, Madi and I brought Mycha and Myco off range to El Potrero on Wednesday. Madi and I had spent a […]
Last year we home-slaughtered Konchita, an older cow who had become permanently lame. I can’t say it felt “good” to do this, but it felt right to give her a quick, humane death, and to pass on the skills of food harvesting and preparation. Working together to feed ourselves is a primal and satisfying experience. […]
Life ends. And life continues. Pat Corbett, one of Saguaro Juniper’s founders, passed away on September 26th of this year. Though she had been fighting various ailments for many years, the end seemed to come suddenly. I simply couldn’t imagine a world without Pat in it. Then she was gone. At the end of her […]
Lucia had her first calf on November 15, 2024, and Madi named her Lumen in honor of her lineage — Blaze was the mother of Flame, who was the mother of Candela, who was the mother of Lucia. Lumen is a little light in the fields, with her long delicate legs almost like a fawn. […]
In honor of the passing of a long-time member of our herd, here’s an album of some photos and videos of Cruella from the past few years. In the last video, Lucia is giving her some extra love not long before her death. Cruella was born on range on May 5th, 2014. She had the […]
On July 6th we had to put our 13-year old cow Crockpot down. We found her on June 30th near the drinker at the Mason Pasture unable to get up, and though she continued to try to rise through the week, her legs were not able to support her. We did what we could to […]
