Last week, we docked our sheep, one our favorite workdays of the year. It’s become a kind of unofficial reunion, as family making their way in Colorado, and other far flung locations, come out to pack lambs, let their kids run wild and eat street tacos. Former ranch hands show up as well. As we … More The OG Club
Shearing, Kem and I believe, if it does not fall on a weekend or Spring Break, warrants a school holiday. It’s a day spent in a barn, which, I’ve insisted, is a necessary antidote to the daily grind of schedules and classrooms. Also, it’s one of the most important ranch work days we have, and, … More Child Labor
I witnessed the first sheep feed of the year last week, when, after dropping the kids off from school, I crested the hill just above our house I saw Kem’s truck out in the pasture, surrounded by a knot of hungry sheep. As he began to drive the truck in a slow circle, dropping cake … More Winter Feeding
When I came across Helen Rebank’s memoir, The Farmer’s Wife: My Life in Days, I thought: Well, shit, she wrote my book! She gives us a glimpse into the daily life of a farmer’s wife, getting kids to school, checking on livestock and feeding a hungry family. She’s a champion of the unpaid and invisible … More Domestic Perfection: A Review of The Farmer’s Wife
Every year in late May, I begin to watch antelope, paying close attention to the does who stay put rather than running from the sound of the approaching vehicle. I scan the grass, looking for the newborn fawn she’s protecting. It’s a ritual I began long before becoming a mother myself, and, actually, I think … More Tough Mothers
Why do we work? For the money, or at least, that’s the easy answer. Gotta put food on the table. Still, isn’t there more to it than just punching a clock and getting a paycheck? Shouldn’t our work mean something? Isn’t that why, when we first meet someone we ask, “What do you do for … More Grunt Work
Vegetarian Ranchwife 