Ranch Raised

Welcome to this 7/11 edition of Ranch Raised! Kinda makes me wanna go grab a Big Gulp Slurpee in celebration!

Whether cultivated, wild, fresh or frozen, blueberries are full of essential nutrients and fiber, and are high in antioxidants.

We are enjoying a few garden goodies. Earlier this spring I told you that I was challenging myself to try roasted radishes. Okay, okay, I now understand why they are all the rage! I broadcasted a bunch of radish seeds all around my cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli.

The July forecast says higher than average temps for our area and lower than average precipitation. Yep, it is time to make another hard cut to the cow factory roster.

It was a quiet weekend around the Jones Ranch. It is hard to get away with so many chores and mouths to feed of the 4-legged variety.

We were able to enjoy a few hours in our local small town enjoying the hard work of a committee who has been dedicated to providing a couple days of small-town fun for our area.

As I rode into that lake to grab a rope hanging off the bull or get him to dry ground, I realized I now had water over my saddle horn. I thought to myself, I shouldn’t be getting this deep on my big, bay gelding, Wrangler. Then I could feel my horse shifting underneath me and I knew I had to quickly kick free and swim away from my horse because he decided to take full advantage of the cool deep water and submerge himself and roll.

As I left off yesterday, I can tell you from first hand experience how important swimming lessons are even for ranch kids who may never hit the pool other than that week of summer lessons.

While there are a lot of life skills that I love teaching our kids, there are some areas I have to recognize that I am not a master of and defer to others for help. Learning to swim is a life skill that is not used a lot on the ranch, but I feel very passionately as a parent that my kids are equipped to handle themselves in the water.

I feel like it is time to revisit a subject I talked about in the fall, and that subject is, navigating these rural roads and highways safely! If you are tuning in today, I would venture to say, you are a commuter on rural roads and highways at some point during your day or week.