Spring has sprung at MMR: the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, and the chicks are hatching! Since the arrival of our new roosters this winter Jake has been waiting patiently to hatch some chicks. Jim and Julie Sperry were kind enough to lend us their incubator in the beginning of February, and 21 days later the sounds of peeping are now filling the shop. Say hello to the first chick to hatch here at MMR!

The horses and cattle have been busy munching on the new grass that is starting to poke up out of the ground, but Montana has been keeping our grass-fat and yearling calves well fed on a blend of organic grass and alfalfa hay with the hopes of an earlier finish this year. We are even irrigating some areas with the runoff we had coming to us from the warm weather already. Jen and Jeannie have been busy looking to find the perfect new ranch horse, but so far none of the prospects have quite measured up. As for the MMR horses, they got a workout with a visit from the Hughes family this weekend. We had three adults and three kids who rode BJ, Banjo, and Otto around in the 60 degree sunny weather after they had spent an epic day skiing the powder up at Monarch Mountain. Being able to ski and ride in the same weekend in fantastic conditions for both sports is what makes Jen smile, and she has been smiling a lot this winter.

Montana and Jake spent a day conquering their fear of heights this week. The Genie Lift that was rented to caulk the upper interior of the cookhouse helped the job go very well. All of the seams are in good repair, the beams have been checked, and even those hard-to- reach windows were cleaned. Many of the culverts and ditches got a good spring cleaning this week as well, and Jake has been knee deep in woodchips as he remodels the tack room with new saddle and bridle racks. Our gardener, Joe, will be submitting the seed order for the garden in the next week or two, so any special requests for particular veggies, herbs, or plants that you’d really like to see growing this year should be sent to Jen as soon as possible.