The fourth was a fun-filled holiday on the ranch, with BBQs, fantastic lunches, and roping practice.  Montana and Sarah hosted a huge holiday BBQ for friends and family of the ranch with incredible food (even homemade ice cream), and Deanne fixed a beautiful celebratory lunch earlier in the week for ranch staff to enjoy.  Our roping cattle arrived last week, so the Maytag and Martin families were able to spend a sunny holiday afternoon enjoying some team roping practice with Jimmy and Quincy the Quarter Horses.

We currently have 88 calves on the ground, with only a few more due later this week.  The cows and calves are looking very well; watching them graze and play out in the lush grass we have been blessed with this year is a picture-perfect scene.   Our 2009 organic inspection of the ranch, cattle, and garden will be in the next couple of weeks.  The managers put a lot of time and effort into obtaining and maintaining the ranch’s USDA Certified Organic status, so a good inspection and being awarded certification for another year will be a fulfilling reward after so much hard work.

Our first crop of USDA organic-certified grass-fat cattle are finishing quickly on the lush pasture and will begin shipping this week.  Beef sales are in full swing so call the office at 719-942-4860 or email Montana at canterbury@maytagmountainranch.com to get your order in as soon as possible.  The garden is doing very well; items available right now include cherries, currants, gooseberries, a variety of lettuce and salad green mixes, radishes, and many herbs including dill, fennel, rosemary, coriander, cilantro, and much more.

The weather has been perfect lately and the arrival of afternoon clouds had made for for breath-taking sunsets lately.  The moon has been particularly gorgeous as it reaches full - watching it rise over the wet mountains is a show in itself every evening.  The yucca have reached full bloom and trail rides across the ranch reveal the changes in the wildflower species throughout the season.  Mowing began in the alfalfa field Monday and will continue for the next two weeks until all of the alfalfa and grass hay is cut, dried, and baled.