The rain has continued for over 6 days now, a rare bit of continued moisture not often seen in this part of the country that has given us over 1.5 inches of much-needed water.  The clouds have been gorgeous to watch and riding out during the sunny parts of the day has yielded incredible views of the Seven Sisters shrouded in mist and rainbows falling across the valley.   The grass and flowers are growing at a tremendous rate and even the cacti are preparing for a bloom this year.  It is the perfect week for the start of our calving.  The 16 calves we already have on the ground are looking fantastic.  Montana expects another 30 to hit the ground this week as the weather warms back up and the sunshine hits full stride again.

Our pivot was able to run across the alfalfa for a few days so we have now turned to irrigating some of the fields with the water we have running in our ditches.   The grass-fat cattle are looking good and we should have the first of them ready to go by July 1.  Beef sales are going well; we’ve had a good response to our beef newsletter as well as ads placed in the surrounding county visitor’s guides.  Let your friends and family know that they should reserve their selection soon!

Saturday brought a rare bit of rain to us here on the ranch and the misty morning gave our plants and grass an extra burst of energy to grow.  Everywhere  you look you see various shades of green, from the bright almost-yellow of newly forming leaves just popping out on the oak brush to the dark emerald green of the established grass in the wetter areas.  The songs of the bluebirds and the buzz of the hummingbirds fill the air - life doesn’t get much better than this.

Our first few calves have hit the ground without any trouble thanks to Montana’s careful management and we look forward to the rest of our 93 cows calving in the next month.  Pictured above is our first calf of 2009!  Wednesday is the official starting date for our calving this year, so by the middle of this week we should be in full swing.  The horses have almost finished shedding out and are now the smooth, sleek animals of summer instead of the woolly mammoths of winter.  The snow in the mountains is melting fast in the warm weather we’ve been having so hopefully we will be able to run our pivot over the alfalfa field soon to give it some much needed water.

The garden is incredible to walk through right now; the irises are up and blooming, the raspberry bushes are growing tall, the herb garden is spilling over its borders and onto the paths, and the grape vines are just sprouting their first leaves.  The owners and guests of the ranch have already been enjoying the asparagus and chives that were the first edible plants to come up, and the cammomile has already flowered and been cut to dry for use in tea later.  The first vegetable and annual seeds have been sown by Joe our gardener; our organic tomato seedlings will be planted next week.

Our Permaculture Workshop was a great success.  We had over 40 attendees, and our speaker Becky Elder gave everyone a good introduction to the principles of permaculture.  The MMR garden tour was the highlight of the afternoon, and all participants went home with new, innovative ideas for their own home garden designs and plants that will work well in our high altitude environment.

We have had the immense pleasure of having many owners and guests visit with us so far this May.  The MMR staff have enjoyed having extra help with building fence, tending to the pregnant cows and growing yearlings, and grazing the horses.  Everyone has been working hard, but there is always time out for a trail ride in the beautiful Colorado sunshine.