The Covid shutdown provided plenty of playing opportunities with the grands at the Grieb Ranch. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” says the optimist. Ranch life gives us plenty of opportunities to make lemonade, both for real and for life memories.

Ride along with us at Grieb Ranch to see how we enjoyed “making lemonade” due to the Covid shutdown.

Picking and eating fruit from bushes Ethan and Mr. P planted.

Playing hide and seek with the bunny in Grandma Great’s yard.

Playing find the singing dog that hides in a different place daily at Nana’s house, eating treats, and training puppies,

Riding horseback with mom and Aunt Amanda,

and enjoying some relaxing creek time with Amanda and Mr. A.

We enjoyed making lemonade out of our church shutdown too

In addition, the Church closed its doors for months and became an online event.  Stan continued to serve our Sunday School class as the main teacher. Because meeting in person was put on hold, we started meeting by using ZOOM.  The added bonus of our ZOOM Sunday School Class was the opportunity for our Missionary friends in Africa and Indonesia to join us. 

On July 5^th 2020 we had a 50/50 Sunday School class. This provided for people to meet in person at the church and while others joined in on ZOOM at the same time. 

Although Covid has caused shutdowns across the country and lock-downs in California we are well on the Grieb Ranch . . . The reason you haven’t heard much from us is that we are busier than ever.  Lock-down for us meant work harder.  February gave us a good whip lash with a drought. For the first time in some of our lives not a drop of rain fell in the month of February. This meant daily feeding of our cattle and horses. Then the Covid crisis hit, and impacted many aspects of Grieb Ranch life during the Covid Lock-down.

Grieb Ranch School and Day Care

Nana Connie, became the kid care provider and Grandpa Stan became Mr P’s. 1^st grade teacher.  As both the grandkid’s parents began work-from-home, and the school and daycare closed, the ranch became not only homeschool, but day care.

Unique Classroom Settings

Homeschool for Mr. P took on many different looks.  Being on the ranch meant when adults were busy making repairs or doing farm chores, his classroom moved to that location.  In Grandpa and Nana’s house, a spare bedroom was turned into a classroom.  School lessons also took place in the shop, at the Goat camp table, in the truck or in the RTV/Kubota and many more unique locations. 

Upping the Covid Lock-down Technology Game

Nana and Grandpa had to up their technology game for the Covid Lock-down in order to ZOOM with the class.  Supplementing the Coastal Christian School classroom material, is list of favorite learning websites. Here’s the top three:  ABC Mouse (pay a fee),  Kahn Academy (math for free), and EPIC (pay a fee).

We at Grieb Ranch strive to be the best stewards of our land and cattle. Vegetation management is a key component of taking care of our land. Trees and shrubs are important to wildlife habitat, for erosion control and even wildfire safety when they are in the right places. When not in the right places, trees and shrubs quickly become “brush” and should be managed accordingly. In addition, we need to be sure there is proper grazing vegetation for our cattle.

Grieb Ranch Vegetation Management Plan 2020

Over the past year we have been making plans for how to best manage the ranch. So with a lot of prep work and over a period of time we have removed some brush and strategically planted grass seed.

Rotational Grazing a Tool for Vegetation Management

To keep land useful, and beneficial to raising cattle, the grazing must be managed. Therefore we have employed rotational grazing to keep areas of the ranch usable. This means we move the cattle from area to area so that areas can rest and rejuvenate. It is amazing how much nicer our beautiful hills look when properly grazed.

The Whole Family Helped Move Cattle

We had a great family time moving cattle to the back country-back of the ranch. By using some simple vegetation management techniques we can help reduce the fuel load, provide for our cattle, control erosion and provide habitats for wildlife.

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Grieb recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary hosted by their family. The event was held at the couple’s house on the Grieb Ranch in Arroyo Grande, California. Barbara made over 200 cupcakes for the event. Flavors from the Grieb Ranch produce were part of the delicious cupcake flavors. The celebration was attended by over a 100 friends and relatives.

Carl and Barbara Grieb Marriage Story

Carl met the former Barbara Decker in 1945 at a 4-H event at the Canyon Ranch in Shandon when she was 13 years old. He lived in Arroyo Grande, and she was the city girl from Los Angeles. Following a five-year long distance romance, they were married on February 12, 1950 in the “Little Church around the Corner” in Los Angeles. Carl graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 1947.

His family pioneered in Arroyo Grande Valley in the farming and cattle business. He did dairying in Templeton in the 1950’s and in Guadalupe in the early 1960’s, then raising cattle near Lopez Lake. He was a truck driver and heavy equipment operator for more than 30 years. Carl has been retired, yet working as a rancher, for the last 34 years. Barbara has been a homemaker for all these years. She and Carl were married three weeks after she graduated from George Washing High School in Los Angeles. She worked with the 4-H club for 19 years and taught youth at the Arroyo Grande Presbyterian Church (now Grace Bible) and Good News Clubs for 42 years.

Two of their daughters, Wynetta McClain, and Connie Willems live on the Grieb Ranch. Daughter Margie Runels and family live in Oregon. Over all they have six grandchildren , 12 great grandchildren and two great, great grandchildren.

Decorating styles come and go, but at the Grieb Ranch one consistent statement was made no matter the trend: We are Cowboys.

This statement was most clearly communicated through a visit to the Cowboy bathroom. Barbara Grieb the amazing women who kept the Grieb Ranch running by feeding the Cowboys and friends was also an amazing decorator.  Enjoy a peek at her Cowboy Bathroom. Many visitors do a double-take to be sure they didn’t wander out the backdoor to the outhouse.

Entering the Cowboy Bathroom

The first clue you were entering a not-so-common bathroom was the swing door you pushed through to enter. You entered it just like you were entering a cowboy saloon. Only here there was not a slew of cowboys belly-up-to-the bar.

Cowboy Bathroom Decor

Once inside you notice the wood paneling with brands burned into the planks. One window is stained glass showing grass-fed beef and the Grieb Ranch brand. The paneling gave you the feeling you that maybe you were not inside a home, but perhaps took a turn outside to the outhouse.

Suspicions Confirmed

Finally you get to the place where you do your business. Here the bathroom takes a quirky turn to make you smile. Yes it’s just like sitting in an outhouse! Your suspicions have been confirmed and you smile. Many a visitor left with warm memories of visiting the Grieb Ranch cowboy bathroom.