Author: ride-n-mama Sharon

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Memorial Day at The Ranch

Carl attending the BBQ
First Course.
Western Motif
Tools
The kids made a new friend.
As the sun set, we remembered those who gave, “the last full measure of devotion.”

Good friends, good food, good fun and remembering the sacrifices of our fellow Americans who gave “the last full measure of devotion” filled up a Memorial Day BBQ at Grieb Ranch.

“It’s Always A Hit” Salad
Steaks cooking on the grill.

Good food started with a first course of salads,  followed by steaks cooked over oak on an open grill. The kids played hide and go seek and even found a new friend. Adults enjoyed each others company. A pleasant afternoon/evening was enjoyed by all.

 

“It’s Always A Hit” Salad Recipe

Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, Granny Smith apples, sugar-coated toasted almonds and feta cheese with a homemade mustard vinaigrette dressing.

Sugar-coated toasted almonds:

2/3 cup of raw slivered almonds

6 tbls sugar

Place nuts and sugar in a heavy sauce pan. Put over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until the sugar begins to melt. Stir constantly as sugar melts and the nuts toast. Do not leave this unattended as the sugar can burn quickly. Once the sugar is all melted and the nuts are toasted and brought to a lovely brown color, pour them out onto foil and spread to cool.  Keep little and big fingers from grabbing the freshly made nuts because the nut mixture will be extremely hot! Set this aside while you make the rest of the salad.

Salad Makings:

2 stalks of heart of romaine lettuce washed and shook-out and then chopped

2 Granny Smith apples, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 8oz carton of blue cheese crumbles

Salad Dressing:

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tbl sugar

1 tbl Dijon mustard

Place all dressing ingredients in a baggie (for traveling) or bowl if serving on-site. Mix together.

Making up the Salad:

Place chopped lettuce in bowl, add the chopped apple pieces and either the entire or 1/2 (depending on how cheesey you like your salad) carton of blue cheese crumbles, and place the sugar-coated toasted almonds on top. Dress salad just before serving. If traveling with your salad add the nuts just before dressing and dress salad at destination. The apples can also be cut on-site or add lemon to them to keep from turning brown. Mix salad together and watch people devour and exclaim how tasty it is!

 

For more recipes by this author check out http://crazyfreegf.wordpress.com/

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Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

 

 

Pecked out eggs.

Pecked out eggs.

Yes, Grieb Ranch hens are getting creative with their hiding places for laying their eggs. They are doing this due to the return of the attack on the eggs. Predators like the Stellar Jay birds that peck holes in the unhatched eggs, or raccoons who are stealing the eggs know to seek out nests in the barn (where a nest is provided for the hens) thus disturbing the nests and causing the hens to go elsewhere.

 

golf balls keep the hens laying

Golf balls added to the nest keep the hens laying when eggs are removed to enjoy or destroyed or stolen by predators.

 

As long as the eggs nests keep growing (more eggs added or not destroyed) the laying hens will “go broody” which means they keep laying eggs. Therefore golf balls are added to the nest as these won’t get stolen or pecked out and the hens will keep producing eggs to enjoy or to hatch out. The eggs to enjoy have to be grabbed before the predators get them and replaced with a golf ball. It is important to know where the nests are so the eggs can be gathered.

Just how many hidden nests can one come across at Grieb Ranch? Several. One hen discovered the security of being underneath the bench seat in the old truck. That one took awhile to discover.

The old truck made a secure hiding place.
Hide and Seek under the truck seat.

One hen found security in the garden shed. Several hens have set up house in the Gooseneck trailer and have gone to town more than once. One of the Gooseneck traveling hens ended up out of the trailer at Templeton Sales Yard and had to be caught and returned at a later date!

Why did the hen go to town? Because she set her eggs in the Gooseneck trailer and went to town!

Gooseneck trailer going to town.
Gooseneck trailer loft nest.

 

Once it comes time to hatch out a nest the hen and her eggs need to be moved to the large hen coop. This is best done in the dark, however demands of the ranch can keep one from doing so . . . even at 2 am sometimes there still isn’t time to move the hens!

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Grieb Farmhouse: The Humble Beginning

Grieb Farmhouse

Grieb Farmhouse

The history of Grieb Ranch starts with the Grieb Farmhouse which was originally built in 1888 by Konrad and Katharina Grieb, German immigrants who settled the original farmstead in 1872 as part of a Spanish Land Grant of 1100 acres. The original home was a one-room shack with a dirt floor. Eventually, a two-story family home was built in 1888 (as seen in picture above) to handle the Grieb’s nine children. It contained 6 bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs with one outside bathroom.

George Grieb, son of Konrad and Katharina inherited the Grieb Farmhouse in 1925 upon his father’s death. The Farmhouse sat in the middle of walnut and apricot trees along with numerous, stately oak trees that were left standing with farm crops and livestock raised around them. George and brother, Fred, ran the ranch together which included acreage acquired in 1878 in the hills at the base of (now) Lopez Dam where they ran cattle. This acreage became the location of Grieb Ranch. Fred Grieb is the father of Carl Grieb who currently resides at Grieb Ranch.

George kept the Farmhouse property until approximately 1960 when he sold it and the remaining land to a family with 16 children. This family retained the property until the mid 1970’s and subsequently sold it to a building contractor who restored the house with a new foundation and updated the plumbing and electrical. Thankfully the deteriorating house was saved, but unfortunately, the remaining land was subdivided and sold.

In 1997, the Farmhouse was purchased and lovingly updated and remodeled to its current condition by a wonderful couple who had respect for the old house and its family history. In 2002, the Farmhouse was sold to the current owner, a Grieb family member, who reopened the home as a Bed and Breakfast in 2003. After 42 years, the Farmhouse is again in the hands of a Grieb family member. The home is a family treasure to the owner and innkeeper, who is the great-granddaughter of the original home builders. The Grieb Farmhouse still stands in Arroyo Grande, CA, off Todd Lane.

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What Having a Christian Mother Meant . . . At Grieb Ranch

Mother Daughter painting

 

Written by Margie Grieb Runels and read in church Mother’s Day 1980.

Proverbs 31:28-29 “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’ “

 
Having a Christian Mother meant . . . having to go to Good News Club or Sunday School when you would rather be out playing and always being encouraged to learn new Bible Verses.
It meant . . . going to Bible Camps and Daily Vacation Bible School in the summer and maybe even getting stuck with your mother as a teacher .
It meant . . . helping around the house instead of watching cartoons on Saturday morning.
It meant . . . getting up early to feed animals before school, in order to learn responsibility.
It meant . . . being punished when you did something wrong and always being expected to tell the truth.
It meant . . . sharing your food and especially the cookies with every Tom, Dick or Harry who lost a loved one, had surgery, or just was having a hard time.
It meant . . . not knowing if your friends liked you for yourself, or because your mother was the best home room Mother, 4-H leader and Sunday School teacher around.
It meant . . . saying grace even when you thought you were starving to death, and having family devotions when you would rather be sleeping.
It meant . . . always having a clean house and being expected to keep your room looking half way decent.
It meant . . . having parents that loved each other and who were still sitting by each other in the front seat of the car when you were a teenager.
It meant . . . being kicked out of your bed for every missionary or singing group that came along -and having to share the bathroom with several foster kids and exchange students over the years.
It meant . . . praying for a safe trip and then singing gospel choruses all the way to your destination, instead of listening to the latest songs on the radio.
It meant . . . being always expected to do your best.
It meant . . . being told corny things like, “I love you” every day and always having her around when you got home from school, wanting to know all about your day.
It meant . . . having someone praying for you all the time, even when you didn’t think you needed to be prayed for.
It meant . . . having someone around smiling, praising God and even sharing Bible verses when you felt like just being a grump or feeling sorry for yourself.
Having a Christian Mother meant growing up and suddenly realizing you have the BEST MOTHER in the World.
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A loving heart is the truest wisdom-Charles Dickens

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A Grove of Giraffes?

A Grove of Giraffes?

A Grove of Giraffes?

“What’s going on with those trees?” That question runs through the minds of the causal observer and the agricultural enthusiasts who drive by the citrus tree grove operated by the Ikeda family off Lopez Drive in Arroyo Grande, CA – Neighbors to Grieb Ranch. Sections of rows of citrus trees have been pruned back to three or four main branches, with one branch reaching to the sky, and a trunk that is painted white. These trees are in stark contrast to the lush full sections of orange trees that have been part of the citrus grove for 25-30 years. The resulting “trees” do not look much like trees at all, more like an orchard of giraffes.

Brysen

Brysen Ikeda in the becoming-lemon grove.

Brysen Ikeda works this grove and has answers to what they are doing to those trees. The short answer from Brysen is, “We’re changing the orange trees to lemon trees.” The reason behind the effort is market demand. The demand for lemons is year round. The packing house, Bee Sweet Citrus – where the Ikeda family sells their fruit through – is located in the San Joaquin Valley. The citrus growers in the valley, due to the climate, can only grow one crop of lemons a year. Here on the coast the moderate climate, combined with the right variety of lemon (Eureka and Lisbon), can produce lemons year round. “Our trees can set fruit 4 or 5 times a year. The lemon tree varieties we choose are constantly flowering and blooming to grow fruit year round,” remarked Brysen.

Orange trees with orange becoming lemon trees.

Orange trees with orange-trees-becoming-lemon trees.

So why not just pull the orange trees and plant lemon trees? The difference is time for the tree to produce fruit. A new bare-root lemon tree will set fruit in 4 years compared to a grafted tree that will set fruit in 18 months. So that is what the Ikeda family is doing; converting 25 acres of orange trees into lemon trees. They are leaving 35 acres of orange trees and have 10 existing acres of lemon trees presently in this location. The Ikeda family currently has 4 generations of vegetable row crop farmers farming in the Arroyo Grande area where the family has worked the land for decades. Citrus is a new venture for the Ikeda family and Brysen spearheads the citrus operation, learning much about citrus as he goes about this conversion process.

Three lemon bud grafts.

Three lemon bud grafts.

Horizontal cut above graft to pool energy to graft.

Horizontal cut above graft to pool energy to graft.

Just how does an orange tree become a lemon tree? First the orange tree is pruned back to three main branches plus one reaching to the sky as the “nurse” branch. This promotes growth response in tree, as it sends its energy and sap flow up to feed the 3 main branches. Near the top of the branches that stop short two vertical notches are cut into the tree. A lemon bud is then inserted into the vertical notch as a graft. If the nurse branch is one of the remaining branches used for the lemon grafts, a horizontal cut is made above the lemon grafts to pool the tree’s sap and energy at the lemon grafts, instead of going up the limb to the oranges. The orange tree will continue to put out orange branch suckers which need to be knocked off so that only the lemon grafts will become new branches.

graft branches and nurse branch

Orange nurse branch will be cut off soon.

About a year after the lemon grafts are inserted the nurse limb will be cut off. The lemon tree grafts will then be cut back to 6 or 7 leaves of eyes to produce thicker growth and the top of the remaining limbs above the lemon grafts will be cut back to encourage the lemon branches to grow up and out. Because the tree no longer has the protection of its foliage the tree trunk is painted white to protect it from sun exposure. However in time, as the trees continue to grow and the lemon grafts take on their new life as lemon tree branches attached to an orange tree trunk, a beautiful grove of citrus trees producing lemons throughout the year will be present.

 

Lush grove of lemon trees.

Lush grove of lemon trees.

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Letting Go

Chickens

Chicks ready to leave the nest.

Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear I will help you.”

On the ranch we are always growing and raising things, but the most important item is our children. I had to claim his verse and many others as my beautiful daughter left the country life to move to the city.

There are times in life when one must learn to let go: of loved ones, of possessions, of control. In order to let go of something that is precious, you need to rest in God where you are complete. Take time to bask in the light of His love. As you relax more and more, your grasping hand gradually opens up, releasing your prized possession into His care.

One can feel secure, even in the midst of cataclysmic changes, through awareness of God’s continual presence. The One who never leaves you is the same One who never changes. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. As you release more and more things into His care, remember that God never lets go of your hand. Here in lies your security, which no one and no circumstance can take from you. Adapted from Sarah Young-March 24
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“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots (in Christ); the other, wings.” Hadding Carter
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Dear Lord may I release my cares into your hands. Thank you.  – Connie Grieb W.

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Mud Slides are Fun!

Mr. T's covered in mud.

A very muddy Mr. T.

Getting ready to take a trip up the hill.

Getting ready for a bareback ride to the top!

“Any amount of rain is considered a blessing for this ranch,” says Connie of Grieb Ranch. 2013 was the driest year in local history and the driest one Carl Grieb has experienced in his 85 years. SLO County has been declared a natural disaster area due to the horrific drought that we are in. Here on the Grieb Ranch we are usually blessed by green hills by Thanksgiving and rain that continues to fall so that we can usually sustain the herd to produce grass fed beef with out supplementing them until February – since December is usually too cold for the native grasses to grow. Otherwise we have a “Feed Year” where we have to supplement the cattle more than usual if the rains don’t come.

This is our second major “Feed Year” in a row, so to adjust to this new way of life, we have managed our cow herd by selling off older cows and open cows (ones not pregnant). Fortunately cattle prices are high, but that reduces the stock to build next year’s herd. So with only a few cattle held back we stored hay at the top of the hill to feed them.

Recently some much-needed rain has fallen, turning the hills green again but the cows still need to be fed, even in the rain. Rain also makes the very steep hills of Grieb Ranch impassable with anything but a horse. So Connie got to ride bareback on a very muddy Mr. T who took her to the top of the hill where the hay was stored so that she could feed the cows. Once the cows were fed she turned Mr. T loose and then walked or slid down the steep hill home to tackle the next chore. Connie described her experience of sliding home like this: “Most of the time the walk/slide was a beautiful experience of sliding home except for the day of high winds – that was not so beautiful. I only had to ride up the hill to feed for 3 days, just after we got our first big rain in March. Being wet and muddy made feeding the 100+ pound bales of hay a real challenge!”

Keep praying for rain! “Even though we have had some rain and the hills may be green for the moment, we are still in desperate rain for the ground water supply,” writes Connie.

I think she just wants to go mud-sliding more often!

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“Walking” Tacos

Image

 

“Walking Tacos” are always appetizers at our yearly branding events, just like the one held recently at Grieb Ranch. We also treasure the special memories at Grandma and Grandpa Grieb’s house on Halcyon which included eating “Walking Tacos” as we enjoyed BBQ’s under the huge avocado tree. Of course we use avocados grown on the ranch, just like the one pictured.


Recipes for: Guacamole & Walking Tacos

From the Kitchen of: Grieb Ranch – Barbara Grieb

Guacamole Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados (peel and mash with fork)
1/8 tsp. or to taste garlic salt
1 TBL sp lemon or lime juice
½ tsp chili powder
¼ cup fresh salsa

Instructions:

Blend first ingredients well.
Then stir in the salsa.
*Cover with plastic wrap directly on the top of the guacamole with the seed in the mix – this keeps mix from changing color so quickly.

Servings: 6

Recipe for 5 Layer Walking Taco

1 bag of Tortilla Chips
2 large flour Tortillas laid out on a flat plate
Spread the following in layers on top of tortillas:
1 can re-fried beans
½ cup fresh salsa
1 cup sour cream
½ cup guacamole
Top with grated cheese

To eat: Scoop the layers onto tortilla chips. You can eat this appetizer while walking around . The remaining empty flour tortillas can be rolled up together and enjoyed.

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Round ’em Up!

Round ‘em up! Have you ever used that phrase? Well that’s exactly what happens every year at the Grieb Ranch when it’s time to “work” the calves. Preparation for the day begins with inviting friends and family to come be part of the work crew for the event. The number of hands needed depends on the number of calves that need to be “worked”.  The day begins with the hands mounted up on a horse and the group heads out to gather the cows and calves out of the hills. The cattle are found and then using dogs and horses the cows and calves are encouraged to make their way down the hill into the working pen.

Dogs help gather the cattle.

Dogs help gather the cattle.

Here the calves are tallied, branded with the ranch ID and they get several shots to keep them healthy.  Everyone at the round-up has a job. One person ropes the calf’s head and then another ropes the hind by catching (hopefully) the two hind legs which helps the ground crew. Next a strong, young man tips the roped calf to the ground, putting the calf in a position to be safely worked. In a matter of moments, the calf is branded, vaccinated, ear-tagged if needed, given a copper bolus to balance the lack of that element in the soil, and the bull calves get castrated. This process is the fun part as all the generations of Grieb family and friends work together to get all the tasks done.  This year it was a small round-up as the drought has forced a smaller herd so the focus was on giving the youngest generation more of the work to develop their cowboy skills. Grieb Ranch had four generations working together to finish the job in a few hours one afternoon.

Josh getting ready to rope.
Roping the head.
Roping the heel.
Calf gets worked.

Once the work is done the cowboys gather at the house for a meal. Traditionally a round-up meal at the Grieb Ranch starts chips and onion dip or guacamole (made with avocados from the ranch) and walking tacos (more on walking tacos in a coming post) and is followed by a full-on Santa Maria style BBQ tri-tip with all the traditional trimmings of beans and toasted butter-soaked bread, potluck salads and finished off by scrumptious desserts. As long as cattle roam the hillsides of Grieb Ranch the cowboys and cowgirls will come lend a hand to work the calves every time there is a round-up in years to come.

The younger generations got to use their cowgirl skills

The younger generation developing cowgirl skills.