Seasons on the Ranch Bring Balance

By Lisa Schmidt

This April, I think I’ll host a good-bye party for my husband, Steve, and me. I might as well. From the first of May through mid-September, our two-for-one days keep us zipping in opposite directions. We hardly see each other during the long daylight hours and our longest conversations come as one or the other of us travels through the intermittent cell phone service in our area. Our chats revolve around who checked the water in the cattle pasture and who will take care of the kids in the afternoon while the other finishes a project.

The beauty of this hectic pace comes with knowing it will slow with the late dawning sun. By mid-September, the sun rises a little later and the season of the Land of Grass Ranch has changed. By then, Steve and I are packing the horses to ride into the Bob Marshall Wilderness so we can spend more time with each other than we have for the past four months combined. We look forward to this time all year long.

The shorter fall days also bring a time of gathering food. We harvest vegetables from the garden. We freeze and can the food we will enjoy later. We hunt deer and elk as the mornings become frosty. When we come in for a cup of hot chocolate, the colorful jars of our summer garden warm us, too.

The undersized days of winter give us a chance to evaluate the year and plan for the next growing season. After feeding the cattle and sheep each morning, Steve and I evaluate the ranch finances to figure out how we might improve our operation. We think about which projects we should invest in now and which should wait. We spend enough time indoors that a room even might be painted and I get to devour some of those books on my nightstand.

Earlier spring sunrises bring new life to the ranch in so many ways. As the tiny blades of grass begin to show, so do new calves and lambs. Even though insulated boots are the norm on most days, we celebrate the jobs we get to work on outside again.

I could not feel fulfilled if I had to live in just one season. Fortunately, the glorious beauty of living at the Graham Ranch comes with the changing weather, vegetation and jobs to do. Caring for the animals, managing the grass and hay, and meeting the needs of each family member happens every day. How to balance all of those aspects changes with each sunrise.

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Lisa and Steve raise grassfed beef and lamb naturally.  You can order grassfed beef or order grassfed lamb from A Land of Grass Ranch in Conrad, Montana.