Wow it's been a minute


Holy cow has is been a summer! If you have been watching the news many of the know there has been a LOT of wildfires in the west and especially in Western Colorado. There is one that is called the Turner Gulch fire that is to the south of us that has burned at the time of this writing over 28,000 acres. We had one fire called the Enoch fire that came within 5 miles of our ranch. That fire is now contained and was much smaller only burning about 20 acres but is we still a little too close for comfort. The largest fire to our knowledge is out in Meeker, CO well to the north of us. That fire has been burning and at the time I am writing this is listed at 120,650 acres with a containment of 6%.

It has been so dry out here. We have been under fire restrictions for weeks which has limited what we can get done around the ranch. Elizabeth also had ankle surgery f couple months ago and is out of a walking boot but production of soaps has been a little know.

We do have our mini mill up and running and are producing our own batts of fiber and some yarns from our Navajo Churros. So some parts of the race are progressing and moving forward. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done that we want to or need to. Hope everyone is having a great summer

Jeremiah 29:11 ~ "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Fall is definitely in the air. Here up on the park the night time temps are dropping like a brick. Things are always changing here at the ranch. As of this writing we have 4 hogs available for purchase to take to your processor of your choosing. This is our first round of pigs that have been grown here on pasture.

We are on our third batch of meat birds. Most of our meat chickens have been growing to about 4-7 pounds. We currently have about 4 birds available. Our meat birds sell for $4.50 per pound and are all free range. Our first round of turkey processing will be in the next couple weeks as well. It will coincide with our chicken processing .

We are also looking for volunteers to help around the ranch. You don't have to have experience we can train you! This is open to college students looking to intern with a working ranch or just people that maybe want to farm but don't have the space for animals or the acreage to do it themselves. Volunteers would be assisting us in taking care of the over 100 animals on the ranch, building farm structures, and other tasks around the farm. If you support local ag and want to help us out contact us to find out more and to set up a farm tour.

Past few days have been crazy. We finally got moved into the house! The weird thing is this is the first move that very little has been broken. The few things that have been broken are easily replaceable. I think we live in a sea of boxes but it will get there. Little by little we are getting through it. I think the idea to get a shipping conex was the best idea ever. We packed everything up when we left the house in town and had it hauled up the Glade Park to our property. This made moving in so much easier than doing a storage unit down in the valley. Not to mention how much is saved in gas not having to go up and down the monument multiple times. Conex was about 20 yards away. We had some friends from our church up here at Glade Park come in and help move stuff in which was a huge help. Best part most everything got moved in before the recent snow started melting and it got muddy. Now it's just a matter of setting stuff up and unpacking everything.

It is my hope that I can get the shop and leather shop set up this week. It looks as though I will be having another ankle surgery in the coming weeks. So I definitely want to get that set up before I have surgery. The good news is this time around the tendon is not breaking down the nerve in my ankle is just scarred in and creating issues in both pain and numbness in my toes. After 3 previous surgeries I really hope this is it surgery wise.

Seems like every couple days we get a little bit more snow. Nothing too big ,an inch or two. It makes things a bit muddy when it melts it gets really muddy. That's the only thing that worries me about being on crutches. The mud. Up here on Glade Park the mud is like thick cake batter and sticks to everything it touches.

We finally got our C.O. ( Certificate of Occupancy). Basically its just a paper from the county that says our house if a house and that everything is above board and safe to occupy. Every stage of construction every little thing has to be inspected and signed off on. I know it's a good thing for home owners like us but at times it seems to be a little over kill. One such point was when the house was being taken off temporary power and put on permanent power. Temp power was cut off, then it had to be inspected and then another inspection done when perm power was finished about 90 minutes later. 2 different inspectors, 2 different trucks coming from town up to Glade Park. It just seemed to me at that point in time to be a waste of tax payer money and county resources. Couldn't things be done in a more efficient manner? I guess at the end of the day the big thing is we are done and are in the house and that is what is important.

We have started moving some stuff into the house. The mud has really been an issue. So far this winter the ranch has gotten about 12" of snow and the past few days with warmer temps all that snow is melting. The dirt here at the ranch is a very clay rich soil. Great for retaining water or for doing a pond or lake. It's hell if you have to walk through it. You leave the porch in muck boots you go 20 yards and you grew 5" and have platform heels from the 70's on. It's bad really bad.

The majority of the weekend has been spent doing post construction clean up and painting the last few rooms. We still have 2 rooms to go. The living room and the leather shop. I think like everything else about starting this farm and ranch it's a process. We just have to take it one step at a time and one day at a time.

Oxbow Farm 2.0

For those of you that have been following our journey it's been quite an experience. In August 2019 we bought 35 untouched acres to create our family farm version 2.0. We wanted plenty of space in order to do our thing and do agriculture our way.. We sold our home in the city of Grand Junction and moved 12 miles away to Glade Park CO. The new property sits at an elevation of 7,500 feet above see level above the Colorado National Monument.

We bought a 5th wheel which is where our family has been living since August. Our new house should be completed later this week and we can finally start moving in our beautiful home. Trust me I have a new respect for the people you see on TV who live in "tiny homes". Doing this with a toddler and a 16 year old is not easy.

Some of the obstacles we have had to deal with is having foundations put in, septic, having a well drilled, and lets not forget the snow and at times near zero temperatures. We hope that in the long run it will be all worth it. Finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We have created a you tube channel for the farm and have been documenting this whole process on our channel. Check out this whole process there . Like and subscribe to our channel.

Visit our channel here