Flood in the winter, drought in the summer This is a common enough thing to hear in seasonally dry environments, even farmers and ranchers will complain about too much rain in the winter and then lament about the long dry …
Bale Grazing: Transform your landscape during winter feeding
Are you feeding in a sacrifice lot? All too often on ranches all over the west, people winter their livestock on feed grounds that end up looking like ground zero after a bombing. The soil is packed hard and when …
How to work at home and get stuff done
What’s a typical day like at the Jefferson Center? Spencer and I work at home to manage the business and I am also a remote, full-time employee. We’ve learned how to structure our day to get the most work done, …
Jefferson Center Field Day and Festivities for Holistic Management
There is no place like home. Spencer Smith, a Savory Field Professional, spent most of April in Texas and Georgia with leaders from the Savory Global Network. He trained in the new Ecological Outcomes Verification process that is part …
Holistic Management Planned Grazing in Action
Why holistic planned grazing is needed Spring is just around the corner. With our holistic management planned grazing completed for the next growing season, we are all ready for it. Why plan the grazing on a ranch that you have …
Gardening with Animal Impact
Ever since visiting Dimbangombe Ranch in Zimbabwe, I’ve wanted to use livestock to grow crops. Cows in the cornfield? What? The Africa Centre for Holistic Management, our fellow Savory Network Hub near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is where Spencer and I …
Organic Hominy: hard to buy, easy to make
In July, Maezy began asking for posole. My foodie five year old loves dishes I never heard of until I was at least 25–things like baba ghanoush, hummus, kombucha, Bragg’s liquid aminos and of course posole (to name a few …
How to make organ meat sausage
Last year, my parents and I tried out direct marketing beef to local customers. We took them to Wolf Pack Meats, the University of Nevada, Reno USDA slaughterhouse. We worked with Facility Manager Mike Holcomb on the orders and it was …
Bird encounters through the generations
Family traditions My great-great grandmother wrote a book about homesteading in Northern Nevada. When we lived near Reno, our family went each Mother’s Day to the homestead site for a picnic. We looked at the springs developed by AJ Olds, …
Why we don’t spray weeds
Spencer and I manage our lives and our business holistically. Our family ranch is certified organic. We don’t spray weeds on the ranch to kill them. We do not use herbicides, pesticides and many other stipulations that allow us to …