2. Transition to a Season of Growing— with Shannon Maes
Photo by Shannon Maes of Indian paintbrush
Hello everyone,
The growing season has really kicked off at here at Sol Ranch! Every year is a little different. Last year started out with rain in May and by June the ground was lush with vegetation, unlike the dry brown forage we had this year at the same time in June, the vegetation barely waking up for the season.
The human component of our operation was different last year as well. We had two wonderful ladies working for us in 2021 around this time, Meagen Larson and Shannon Maes. Luckily, we had Shannon documenting the different seasons and the different types of work that were taking place on the ranch that make up our yearly rhythm. Shannon is a former Sol Ranch apprentice and originally wrote these little blurbs to be published in Polk’s Folly Farm’s newsletter as a way of helping customers get to know us. Our friends at Polk’s Folly have been selling our beef for the past couple of years at their butcher shop and farm stand in Cedar Crest.
Speaking of Polk’s Folly Farm Butcher Shop and Farm Stand, if you are ever in the area you can stop by and check out the great offerings of local meat, produce, and other locally made food items. They sell our beef by the cut right there in their store and at nearby farmer’s markets. They have been a huge support and a great friend to us at Sol Ranch. You can visit them online at polksfolly.com.
Shannon is currently working at the San Juan Ranch in Saguache, Colorado as a second-year apprentice furthering her skills in the regenerative ranching realm. We were so lucky to have this amazing woman join us for eight months in 2021. We are certain that she will make wonderful contributions to agriculture throughout her life. She is filled with passion for soil health and ecology with a strong commitment to restoring the land and producing good food. Please read on to hear about Shannon’s spring to summer transition to the growing season of 2021.
10 June 2021
Hi readers! Shannon Maes here, Apprentice at Sol Ranch through the Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program. Here at the ranch today it’s hot and windy, so the cows and calves are sprawled out taking midday naps or grazing lazily in their new pasture. All the rain in May (3 inches - oh wow!!!) brought out a burst of growth on cool season grasses and a spectacular showing of wildflowers, of which the most recent to bloom are the prickly poppies and Indian paintbrush, two of my very favorites.
The three finishers (beeves) that went to the processor this morning were fine looking cattle, carefully chosen and quite healthy with an average of one hundred extra pounds gained during the past month and a half. Emily’s discerning eye could pick out the slightly rounder, more finished appearance of these three but to my more novice judgment they looked quite similar to the other animals in the herd.
The excellent spring growth in the pastures so far has led us to joke that all the steers are finishing themselves on a diet of yucca blossoms (a REALLY popular food around here among grazers both wild and domestic), several species of Lamb’s Quarter or Quelites that have favored the cooler, moister weather lately, and a variety of cool season grasses that have helped make the land a patchwork of shades of green. Besides feeling fortunate whenever we see a raincloud on the horizon, we’ve also been helping our neighbors at branding and preparing for our own, planning our grazing season, moving cattle, keeping an eye out for unusual birds and as always, fixing fences. Hopefully this spring rain was an added bonus and we still have a monsoon to look forward to.
*Update: Since this was written, the ranch received almost 2 inches of rain that came down in a nice slow drizzle over about 5 days at the end of June with more rain in the forecast. Things are really looking and feeling good out on the ranch and everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.
—Shannon Maes
Shannon Maes and Sofi
Well we don’t necessarily have as many yucca blossoms this year in 2022, or they are just slow to do their thing, but we do have a bit of lamb’s quarters around in addition to old faithful and my personal favorite, the chocolate daisy. I’m sure we will soon have tons of wildflowers as this monsoon rain kicks in just like it did last year at this time. Stay tuned for more blog writings by Shannon Maes, my partner Will Jaremko-Wright, and myself.
Once again, thank you for joining us and happy Monsoon Season!
Cheers,
Emily Cornell
Sol Ranch
Wagon Mound, NM
solranchnm@gmail.com
solranchnm.com
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