Road to the Creston – This is the top of Creston canyon, looking east.  The ranch is to the left.  The fence post marks to boundary on the south.  The Dog is Growlie, now dead from poisoned Chinese dog food.  Jack’s new dog, who looks a lot like Growlie is Gopher.   Gopher’s siblings are running wild up in San Ignacio.  San Miguel  County has no animal control program.

 

Las Tusas Ranch – Sapello NM 87745

The little community where the ranch is located is called Las Tusas.

(For the curious, ‘Tusa’ is ‘Prairie Dog’ – they are long gone now.)

City Slickers Buy a Ranch – Date of Purchase 1970-71

Henry S and Clara L Rodgers – 2008

This property had been used for approx 100 yrs as a corridor between the settlements on the Sapello River and Las Vegas, the closest market for farm and forest products, and the closest source for staples needed for farms and ranches.

Most of the vehicular traffic thru this ‘corridor’ was horse-drawn wagons.  The sharp iron rims or wheels of these wagons cut deep ruts into the sod.

Furthermore!  This area had been open range for about the same length of time.  Thus, the livestock kept the grass and other vegetation grazed down so close to the roots that there was little vegetation left to hold the top-soil.

As a consequence, over the years these old wagon-trails eroded away into deep arroyos, some of which are 20’ deep, many others are 4’ -6’ deep.

This being open-range land, no effort was made to build or maintain all-weather roads.  Neither did the settlers who used the roads have even the simplest tools with which to build roads.  There was no ‘road’ on the property which had been ‘built’ when we came.  When one wagon-trail washed away, people simply moved the road to another place.  Most of these old wagon-trails are still visible – permanent proof of this history.

The interim owners of the ranch were simply speculators – thus making no effort to change the situation.  Neighbor stock still grazed freely on the land, there being no substantial fences to keep them out.

Fortunately, the State of NM had built and paved a road thru the Sapello Gap, thus eliminating most of the traffic which had been going thru this ‘corridor’. 

After we bought this ranch and had established living quarters for ourselves and family, we began to focus on restoring this mess.  At first, we tried working with the USSCS, but they did not believe that erosion control by our methods would work, so they gave us no support in this direction.  Eventually, we saw that natural vegetation is the best and cheapest method of holding top-soil in place.

We also began an intensive and sustained effort at forest management; pruning and thinning wooded areas according to the best advice available.  The slash from this operation proved invaluable for erosion control in the deeper arroyos.

Also, pruning and thinning cleared substantial areas (within the woods) where grass and other vegetation could grow thus controlling erosion within the woods.  We also found that properly managed woods encouraged wildlife as well as plant life.

Fences:  We found that most of the ranch fences had been put up 50 to 100 yrs ago, with second-hand wire and pretty sorry posts.  The local people were very poor and could not afford new wire, staples, or quality posts – they used what they could scrounge up.  We had to do substantial work on the approx six miles of fences, in order to control grazing.

Roads:  In order to service these fences – to bring in new wire and steel posts – we had to have all-weather roads that would give access to the fences.  Also. in order to service the wooded areas we had to have all-weather roads for that purpose.  We had to learn the hard way how to build these ‘all-weather’ roads – many of them have been built and rebuilt several times.

Gravel:  At one time there was a rock-crusher on the Richardson Ranch that provided crushed gravel for maintenance and improvement of the State Roads in the area.  While that crusher was in operation, we bought many loads (perhaps 20) of crushed gravel for our roads.

Field-stone:  As far as we could tell, no one had ever picked up one rock out of the fields or off of the hill-sides to clear them out and to put them into the wagon-trails (which eventually became the existing roads).  Since we bought the ranch, we have picked up hundreds of trailer loads of these scattered surface rocks, reduced them to road-bed size, and placed them in our roads.

Fire control:  When we started work on the ranch, we discovered that it was a virtual tinder-box of combustible material, and that there was no access road for fire equipment to any of the most hazardous places.  We have done much to alleviate this situation.  There are fire-control roads over most of the ranch – there are fire breaks around most of the boundary, and there is much less combustible material lying around.  

The Acequia:  The acequia is a part of the heritage of this area.  It has been in use for at least 150 yrs – perhaps longer.  The future of the acequias in NM is in the balance.  We have worked hard to do our share in keeping ours operating and in good condition.

The River:  The river has been the life blood of the area since the first settlers arrived, perhaps 250 yrs ago.  The fence crosses the river on both sides of the property.  It seems that almost annually, there is enough high-water to take out these two fence-crossings.  High-water also does much damage to the river bank.  We have worked hard to control erosion on it.  We have hauled whole trees from the woods and fastened them to the riverbank by means of posts.

Not everything we have tried has been successful, but enough has been so that we can say with confidence that Las Tusas Ranch is alive and well – there is no erosion of any consequence anywhere on it.  Both plant and animal life are thriving.  We graze every year, as much as the vegetation will bear.  We have a park here that Uncle Sam would be proud of, but it required a lot of work and financial investment.

Financial Investment:  Tools:  Power tools, Elec saws, air-compressors, pumps, generators, gasoline chain-saws, mowers, mulchers.

Heavy equip:  Tractors, mowers, 4wd vehicles, trailers.

Hand tools:  Axes, sledges, malls, carpenter’s tools, garden tools, shovels, rakes, hoes, forks, wheelbarrows, carts.

Labor:  We have never had enough money to hire any full-time help, but we have hired itinerant workers, friends, and acquaintances, usually for one day only, and thus obtained many hours of work.

Background: 12/11/94

From approx 1985 to 1995 I didn’t know it, but I was concentrating on getting my Emotional Health in order.  During that time, my two sons were in their own worlds, completely different from mine.

I enjoyed the woods and spent much of this period back there just sitting by a campfire by myself with my mind completely idle as far as I knew.  (I was making these Journal entries.)  Actually, I realize only now that my Triune Brain was doing its thing – that the woods were part of my therapy.  Bearing in mind this aspect of the early Journal entries, one can see that at that time I wasn't focusing on Forest Management, or anything else of a physical nature.  I do not regret this neglect of Ranch Management.  I didn’t realize it then, but my emotional health was so wretched that I was lucky that I could function at all.  So! It wasn’t time wasted – it was time well spent, but it didn’t move Ranch Management along very fast.

For that reason, do not let these early Journal entries throw you off balance. 

Forest Management

Greenpeace informs international customers about clear-cutting practices in Canada.

Greenpeace backgrounder for international offices.  The report by the David Suzuki Foundation, ForestWatch, and Raincoast Conservation Society, entitled "Clear-cutting Canada's Rainforest", shows destructive clear-cut logging continues in the Great Bear Rainforest.

We saw on The Nature of Things, an essay on Forest Management in Canada.  We learn that Canada is not managing their forests at all; they are being rapidly destroyed by clear-cutting.

David Suzuki interviewed a man who, David said, was a good manager of his 'wood lot'.  From the description of what he was doing, I would say that he had at least 1000 acres, perhaps 10,000, certainly not what we would call a 'lot'.  The locale was in the Pacific Northwest, on or near Vancouver Is.  Forest management in that locale would naturally be considerably different from what it is here.  All slash is left to decay there, which it does rather rapidly, because of the high humidity, and the long 'rotting' season.

Here we have low humidity, and a short 'rotting ' season.  There are a minimum of fire hazards there, compared to here.  That forest manager is getting nothing from the woods except timber.  We have many products besides timber.  So, 'Circumstances alter cases.' 

We listen to other people; we consider what they say.  Our decisions are based on human experience, and finally on our own intelligence.

This is the way life should be.  We will make mistakes, but a mistake is a learning experience, an opportunity to learn.

 

Where Do We Start?  (2004)

Roads?

A woods like ours that hasn't been touched in 50 years is almost a 'wilderness'.  There is some debate right now as to whether it is sound practice to build roads into the woods in order to service them.  We feel that we almost have to build roads.  Of course, we don't build four-lane highways, or even two-lane roads.  We build a passageway through which we can drive a vehicle.  We use no heavy equipment, and no heavy logging trucks, thus we do a minimum of damage to the terrain. 

America is obsessed with heavy equipment and trucks so that things can be done on a massive scale.  Perhaps a new philosophy is needed.  Massive projects do destroy a lot while they are doing their work.

Today – 2/24/09 – The thinking is Go Green – Besides tearing up the terrain – Big Equipment consumes Petroleum that we do not have to spare, and dumps prodigious amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere that does irreversible damage to our climate.

It would be my suggestion that we prune and thin our National Forests just like we do this little parcel – easy does it. 

Our 'passageways' do virtually no damage to the forests, and they permit us to get in there with our Blazers with trailers to service the area.  So step one is really – Get to the area to be serviced. 

Wet Soil

We try not to drive on soil while it is wet.  Even our soft tires will make ruts in soft soil.  It will dry enough in two or three days to carry the weight of our Blazers.  (This does not mean that we cannot do anything while the soil is wet – it means go to a rocky place and work there.) 

Repairing Ruts

Almost invariably, in spite of all precautions, we will make ruts.  What we try to do is to repair them as well as we can.  After they are dry enough to work, we pull the mushed-out soil back into the ruts, usually raking in some mulch (pine needles) also.

Getting Started in a New Area – Columbine Meadow – 7/24/03

Re: Pruning and Thinning

When you approach an area that has not been pruned and thinned, trees are from 1 to 3’ apart – you can hardly walk through it.

Notice how thick the trees are here.

(It is not good practice to have a road in an arroyo.)

Our procedure has been to work the edges first.  Assuming you have an access road somewhere near the area to be worked, work along the edges of this road, dropping the trees to be removed into the open road.

We learned the hard way not to drop trees on top of each other.  Each down tree must be accessible to limbing where it lies.  Only later, after these trees and their slash have been removed can you drop new trees into the cleared area.  It may take 2 or 3 years, or perhaps even more, to get an area properly pruned and thinned.  Ponderosa Pines should be at least 8’ apart; other conifers can be closer provided the crowns do not touch.  Today – 2/24/09 – we believe that 20’ apart is desirable if the area will grow grass.  This is to be done over a period of several years.

Now we start to Prune and Thin!  Drop the Trees to be removed into the clearing – limb them, and pile the slash where it can be burned, or otherwise disposed of.

Leaving Stumps

A two-inch stump in a road (passageway) makes for mighty rough driving, and it is hard on the tires.  In order to avoid this problem, we usually rake away all the mulch from around a tree in the prospective road. Also we remove all rocks that can be removed so as not to hit them with the chain saw.  Jack can cut these trees as close as within 1/4 " of the ground.  Even a 1/2" stump is acceptable.  There is no sense in leaving a 4" stump anywhere.  (Jack doesn’t mind them.)

Prune and Thin, Cont'd

Keep working back into the thicket – watching for good places to clear for sites in which to burn slash.  They should be at least 25' in dia, or even larger.   

We usually Prune and Thin during the summer months, and burn slash during the winter months.  This gives the slash time to dry out.

(We do not have Ponderosa slash down while we have cows on the pasture – because the cows will eat it and it will cause them to abort their calves.)

 

Maintenance

Every five years or so, you must clean up your woods by means of a controlled burn.  Leaves, needles, and windfall branches accumulate and will become a fire hazard if not removed.  (2/24/09 – remember, our little ranch is used primarily for recreation.)  Normally, accumulated combustibles in an unused woods, will burn off periodically from lightening fires.  We can’t let nature take its course here.

Controlled Burns

A controlled burn is risky.  Preferably, you should have your fire dept standing by, or even participating.  Although we do not have it yet, one should have an emergency pump and water supply.  The one we looked at had a small gasoline-powered pump and a 125 gal water tank mounted on a skid that could be loaded into a pick-up from a loading ramp by one man.  He would then fill the tank with water and drive the unit to where it is needed.

I am not sure, but it seems to me that the feed to the pump should be throttled down to about 10 gal per min.  This would give you about 12 min supply of water from the tank, using a regular garden hose and nozzle.  The pump that is available locally has a 2” intake and discharge and has a capacity of 140 gal per min.  It is available with a 3.5 HP or a 5 HP engine.  Smaller pumps are available but they cost as much as the larger ones do.

Pressure Washers are available and reasonably priced.  Perhaps this is the way to go.

A road or a similar bare strip makes a good fire-break boundary.  At the present time, two of us create a clearing around about 2 acres.  We then light one side of the enclosed area and stay with it until the fire is out.  We do not try to put it out unless we have to leave.  It is best to let it burn itself out.  Fire companies are notoriously impatient – they want it out NOW.  Remember that a fire needs fuel – one way to stop the fire is to remove the fuel.  If it burns itself out, it has removed the fuel.

This fire is not as close to the trees in back as it appears.

It is at least 10’ away, possibly 20’.

These trunks will be removed later.

Thinning

 

Illustrating one possible use of these small trunks

 

This fire is at least 10' away from the nearest tree.

 

Now we start to Prune and Thin!  Drop the Trees to be removed into the clearing – limb them, and pile the slash where it can be burned, or otherwise disposed of.

Prune and Thin, Cont'd

Keep working back into the thicket – watching for good places to clear for sites in which to burn slash.  They should be at least 25' in dia, or even larger.   

We usually Prune and Thin during the summer months, and burn slash during the winter months.  This gives the slash time to dry out.

(We do not have Ponderosa slash down while we have cows on the pasture – because the cows will eat it and it will cause them to abort their calves.)

Forest Management by Jack Rodgers – Jour 11/27/01

Forest Management

There are two goals in Forest Management:

1. Protect it from destruction.  2. Harvest whatever it produces.  In that order.

What could destroy it?  1. Wildfire.  2. Erosion.

What does it produce?  1. Forest products.  2. Grass. 

3. Recreation sites.  4. Wildlife.

What forest products?  1. Firewood  2. Saw-logs  3. Cedar Posts   4.  Ornamental Trees and shrubs   5. Vigas

Recreation sites – of what value?

This is a philosophical question.  The answer is – Of immense value.

What are the risks from wildfire?  Great.

Wildfire came to within ½ mile of this ranch in 2000.  It has come close in other fires.  Protection from wildfire – vital.

How do we protect?

Any fire has three requirements:  1. Fuel.  2. Oxygen (air).  3. Heat.

How do we control a fire?

Regarding Heat:  We have control over when we burn.  We do not burn in August [unless we have had a good soaking rain].

HSR – The heat from a slash fire is fierce.  I do not build a fire bigger than a 6’ circle, and do not pile slash higher than 2’.  Jack builds bigger fires – 12’ circles and slash piles 4’ high.  Of course he is younger than I am, and able to work harder to keep the fire under control.  Both of us have additional slash nearby that we can put on our fires as they burn down.

Today, we would build only one pile in this area, and keep the remaining slash to one side to be piled on as the one pile is consumed.

Regarding Air:  We try not burn under windy conditions.  We listen to the Weather Person. 

Regarding Fuel:  How do we control Fuel?  

By Pruning and Thinning.

(Pruning is removing branches from standing trees.  Thinning is removing standing trees.)

Actually, pruning and thinning is only the first step.  It doesn’t remove combustibles.  It only enables us to do so.

Branches and trees removed by P&T are called ‘slash’. 

How do we remove slash?

1. Burning.  2. Chipping.  3. Reducing and placing in arroyos. 

Burning – at the present time we are burning.  We don’t like this method for several reasons:  1. It, in itself, is a fire hazard.  2. It is a waste of energy.  3.  Some air pollution results.

Chipping is the preferred method:

It eliminates all of the objections to burning.  Soon, we will have the technology to utilize chips for fuel.  This eliminates the objection that slash is wasted.

But!  Chipping requires a chipper, which most ranchers do not have, but which is available from our local Forest Service, at a nominal fee.  Eventually, the chipper will pay for itself after we learn to utilize the chips.

Reducing

We have used this method for years.  It is labor intensive, but it is a good method.  Slash is fluffy.  The solution to this problem is to remove the sub-branches from the main branches so that the whole can become compacted as it is laid into the various arroyos.  A whole tree can thus be reduced to a few cubic feet if it is so treated.

Wildlife

There may be as many as twenty elk grazing nearby that we can see.  Up the valley they see hundreds.

Yes!  Wildlife is an important product of this ranch.  We have a good stand of mature piñon trees that produce a bumper crop of piñon nuts every year.  My first though was to list these nuts as a ranch product, but people do not harvest piñon nuts the way they used to.  I think, primarily because it is a lot of work for such a small reward.  This suits me because piñon nuts are a major source of food for our wildlife; squirrels, and other small creatures, and especially wild turkeys.  [Jack’s dog likes piñon nuts, too]

We do not ‘harvest’ this wildlife, but I do think it must be done.  Most wild creatures, like the human, will breed itself out of house and home.  Deer especially, do this, and for this reason, our Game and Fish Dept sets hunting quotas based on population estimates.  Even so, hunters must be regulated, as anyone who has seen a wounded deer in the woods knows.

Turkeys grazing on bird-seed in our backyard.

Erosion

New Mexico is a windy, arid state.  Being arid, you might think that water erosion would not be a major problem; believe it or not, it is a problem because this is an arid state.  ‘They’ say that we get about 24”/yr of moisture, not much, but you should be here the day it falls.  We do get gully-washers now and then.  States with twice this much rainfall do not have this problem because of the lush vegetation that holds the topsoil in place.

Unless, of course, something has destroyed the vegetation.  My mother (Jack’s grandmother) as a child, watched Kentucky wash into the Mississippi as farmers continued to plow the land.  Today, we know a little more about soil-conservation.  Things are getting better but are not yet completely satisfactory.  So also, here in NM we are learning – slowly.  This is marginal land.  For one thing, our growing season here is only 72 days, (2 ½   Mos).  Some people have gardens, but most concede that it is just not worth the effort.

The safest and easiest produce for this land is grass.  Where grass will grow, we encourage it.  Most locals didn’t want this particular ranch with its ‘rocky hillsides’.  They wanted grassy bottomland.  We weren’t grass oriented.  We wanted the mix.  We are still happy with it, but it is a special case all the way.

But we do have grass – 10 acres irrigated, and 40 acres pasture.  The irrigated portion, we cut for hay – called in this area ‘vega (pronounced ‘vay gah’) hay’.  Our neighbor cuts and bails this hay for half of it.  I asked my cousin Lamb, (Jack’s second cousin) if it would pay us to get the necessary machinery to do this ourselves.  He said, “Definitely not!  Machinery is expensive and grief – forget it.”

It is hard to sell hay (at a fair price).  (You can give it away, but that doesn’t pay the taxes.)

We do sell some, but most of it we spread around for erosion and mud control, and to re-seed burnt areas or other bare spots.

We let out the ranch to grazing during Sept and Oct (after the main growing season, but while the grass still has maximum nutrition.)  In a good year, it will accommodate 60 head for two months.  Soil Conservation has a rule of thumb – graze half – leave half, but we are not that cautious.  One of my neighbors said, ‘The cows will eat the ice-cream first.’  Meaning the best-tasting grass.  You expect that, but we watch the grass closely to see what they are eating.  Eventually, they will get to a point where, in their opinion, there is nothing left.  If the fence is weak at this point, this is when they will go through it.

If the fence is intact, they will begin to hunt – to walk all over without grazing.  When we see this happening, we know that the grass is all (as the PA Dutch say – meaning ‘all gone’).  Take them off!

We have learned that some grasses (like popoton) and forbs (weeds) are edible, but that the cows cannot bite them off.  For this reason, we often mow the pasture before we take the cows off, so that they can eat the clippings just like they eat hay.

Pruning and Thinning, Advantages of

In addition to the reduction of the risk of wildfire, P&T has other advantages.  Actually, more land becomes available.

Consider a single tree.  Normally it has branches on its trunk all the way down to the ground.  They may be dead, but they are there.  Effectively, they occupy as big an area as the crown, say 100 sq ft.

After it is pruned, and all small trees removed from the area, it will occupy only approx 1 sq ft, the size of the trunk at the ground.  Usually, we find there at the base of the tree an accumulation of needles and windfall branches and twigs.  Normally, this accumulation can be burnt where it is, but if pruning has released sap that has run down the trunk, that in itself is a fire hazard.

In this area, it is better to pull the branches away from the trunk (about 1’) so that when they are lighted they will not catch the resin on fire.  This is not a major problem, but is one that should be borne in mind.

After the pine needles are burnt, together with all the other slash near by, there is presented to you, free of charge, 99 sq ft of area.  The wind, now being permitted to scatter the needles as they fall, will prevent the accumulation of that pile of mulch in the future.

In addition, you will notice that wild turkeys can now get under the pruned piñon trees to scratch for nuts, thus scattering the needles as they fall.

You will note also, that you yourself, can now get under the tree and enjoy this new free space.  (Remember Jane Goodall, in trying to account for her overall good health; “I have known the peace of the forest.”)

Slowly, other vegetation will start to grow under the tree.  Weeds (forbs), perhaps the first few years, but eventually grass.  Most of the grass that spreads naturally is the local, natural wild-grasses that have been here for thousands of years.  Eventually, all low plants are displaced by tall plants – the wilderness will take over.  Unless of course, a new generation holds it back.

This photo illustrates a well-pruned area.  There was some thinning, as you can see by the stumps to the right.  The branch scars on the trees show how much brushy stuff was cut away.  All of the slash from this P&T operation was piled where you see the slash fire.  It looks like the fire is under some branches, but it is not.  We like to have a 30’ dia clear area for burning, with no overhanging branches.  Notice also that the area is fairly free of branches.  I like to rake up even the smallest stuff and pick it up with a fork and burn it.

Photos by Jack

Soil – 11/03/04

What we call soil started out as granite.  Granite is a mixture of silica and silicates.  As granite weathers, it flakes off particles of pure silica (sand), and particles of silicates (clay).  The particles of sand are usually approximately 1 mm across, ie fairly coarse, whereas the particles of clay are usually much finer, perhaps less than .01 mm across.  (Shake a mixture of sand and clay in water and let it stand.  The sand settles out within 1 min.  The clay may take hours to settle.  This explains why a flow of water does not ordinarily deposit both sand and clay in the same site.)

SILT: SEDIMENT particles with a grain size between 0.004 mm and 0.062 mm, i.e. coarser than CLAY particles but finer than SAND.  USGS

 

The Situation Today

We have little meadows here and there that were formed after the last Ice-age.  They were usually formed by clay washing down into low places and there accumulating.  Often they accumulated because some obstruction (dam) prevented the particles from being carried on further down.  The whole of Sapello Valley was formed in this manner (mostly by beavers – thank God for beavers).

In time, grass and other seeds (brought in by wind, water, and creatures) sprouted and thrived.  If not destroyed in some way, the grass and other plants put down a network of roots that served to hold this 'soil' in place.  Each season, new plants put down new roots, providing more binding.  The old, decaying roots also created 'humus' (decaying organic matter), and nutrients that encouraged the growth of the new plants.

Anything that disrupts this natural progression is harmful to these small plants, and hence to the well-being of the area.  It is also nature's way to plant seeds of taller plants, ie shrubs and trees.  These taller shrubs and trees hog the sunlight that the lower plants need to survive.  They also put their roots down deeper, thus hogging the nutrients and water.  Furthermore, they cover the soil with dead leaves, needles, and windfall branches that eventually smother the grass and forbs.

Are the Shrubs and Trees Happy?

No!  Shrubs and trees will immediately try to smother each other.  They will over-crowd the available space so that no individual tree can thrive.  Forest Management seeks to restore the balance, while doing a minimum of harm to the ecology.
 

Moraine - An accumulation of earth (soil) and stones deposited by a glacier.

If you find a 'meadow' that is such a mixture, it is more than likely such a deposit.  We have both here on the ranch; there is usually no question as to which is which.

Jour – 7/19/04 – Forest Management

Lesson One:  Nature has been managing our forests for millions of years without any help from us.

Bush has cited the ‘devastating forest fires’ as proof that it is for our own good that we must let the corporations into our national forests to do commercial lumbering.  A corporation will never do anything for anybody’s good but themselves.

One source on the Net said that most of the current forest fires are not ‘devastating’, but are simply nature’s way of cleaning up the dead wood, needles and other debris that must be cleaned up (burned) every five years or so.  What is ‘devastating’ is to let the commercial interests in.  They will destroy a forest faster than a fire.

What I propose is that we let professional forest managers do the planning.  We have no problem with the Forest Service, who has managed ours for the last 30 years.  We do have a problem with the Soil Conservation Service.  We do not feel that they work for the rancher or farmer.  They work for themselves.

It is a fact that you cannot please everybody.  We will continue to have negative input from the ‘environmentalists’, who are justifiably fearful that the mistakes of the past will be repeated.

 

Ranch Management – Road building

I told an acquaintance of ours in Santa Fe that I build roads like the ancient Romans did.  He then asked, “You have slaves?”

This exchange tells us a little about the mindset of the two principals.  One of us takes the rocks in his hand; the other visualizes how he will get the job done without touching the rocks.  I take the rocks in my hand because I know that this is the only way I can get the job done – I have no slaves or hired help.

Of course, I try to get the job done with a minimum of time and material.  Experience has shown that the ‘minimum’ is not as small as we had hoped.

Our road stone is limestone.  It has been lying on the surface of the ground for at least a thousand years – that is, it is well-weathered.  Like most rock, limestone has small fissures in it that will take in water by capillary action, perhaps to a depth of only 0.01 in., But the water thus absorbed will freeze, and thaw, and freeze again, often every 24 hours.

Freezing and thawing result in expansion and contraction.  Eventually the stone is shot through with invisible fissures, (some are visible), so that if you hit it in the exactly-right spot, it will shatter into perhaps hundreds of pieces of gravel.^[1][1] 

Our soil has a high percentage of clay.  Clay consists of very fine particles, in contrast to sand, which is relatively coarse.  Mix water and a fine powder, like clay, and it forms a paste – somewhat like putty or caulk, or mud.

This paste is plastic, meaning that it is formable under pressure.  Most of us are familiar with the way mud behaves.  Drive over it with a car, and it oozes out under the tires, leaving a tread pattern like that of the tires.  Mud is plastic.

So! (meaning ‘therefore’!) If we put a layer of minus 1”^[2][2] gravel on a muddy road, and drive over it with a car, the gravel will sink into the mud and virtually disappear.  Put another layer down, and drive over it and the same thing happens.  Put enough gravel down and it will eventually make a road – but there is a better way.

Put a layer of 4” rocks down on a muddy road, and you will find that the weight of a car will not bury them – a heavily loaded dump truck might, but a car won’t.

Four-inch rocks are not smooth enough for a normal roadbed.  We need some fines on the 4” rocks.  Should we use 4” of gravel?  It will take too much.  Better to put down 2” rocks on the 4” rocks first.  After the 2” rocks are leveled, then we can put down 1” gravel.

The fines in the 1” gravel will sift down into the larger rocks and form a concrete-like mass.  This is an ideal roadbed for our ranch.

If this were a perfect world, we would have a rock-crusher to prepare the materials for such road work.  We do not have a rock-crusher, nor the necessary screening equipment to separate the various sizes of rocks.  So!  We do this by hand.

Nearly all of our roads were originally old wagon trails.  Over the years they have been washed out so they are more like ruts than roads.  In order to keep this job as simple as possible, we originally filled these ruts level-full with assorted crushed rock.  Sometimes this worked.  If soil could wash down into the ruts, it would get caught in the rocks, and eventually fill up the rut.

But!  Under ideal conditions (when all erosion has been stopped) no soil will move into the ruts.  In this case, we sometimes fill the interstices with dirt hauled in from somewhere else.^[3][3]  

Another disadvantage of this system is that soon or late, with heavy traffic, the dirt beside the rock track will wash out leaving another ‘rut’.  We can continue to fill this new ‘rut’ with crushed rock, and eventually restore the road, or better still, we can remove the dirt from beside, and between, the original ruts to the width of a proper road (8’), and then prepare a proper road that will last a long time.

We have had no experience with building a road on top of the existing grade. This sounds like it would be the procedure of choice, but that would take a ton of rock (as a figure of speech) – more than we are able to supply.

In the design of a gravel road, it is important to keep erosion in mind.  Traffic and erosion go hand in hand.  Somehow we have to keep water off of traffic surfaces and traffic off of wet surfaces.  Every section of road presents new problems – this is part of the fun of the work – how do we solve this problem?

To Summarize:

The best road for LTR:  4” of 4” rock, (compacted as closely as possible by hand), followed by 2” of 2” rock (again, compacted as closely as possible by hand), followed by 1” of 1” gravel, spread carefully by rake.  (This may take 2” of 1” gravel, because the fines sift down into the coarser rocks below.)  Followed by ½“ of dirt, spread carefully by rake.  (Use just enough dirt to cover the gravel – no more.)

Followed by one inch of mulch (pine needles, or fine wood chips), spread carefully by rake.  This helps hold the dirt in place, and makes for a very smooth road.

On low-traffic roads, step one (4” rocks) will be all that is needed.

Obviously, we cannot make 4” rock without making smaller rocks also.  My own practice is to reduce everything to minus 4” beside the road^[4][4], then to place the larger rocks on the bottom, then the next larger rocks in the next layer, etc, and finally to pick up the fines with a shovel and put them on top.  I have a tendency to be compulsive about this work.  I need to learn to say, “Good enough,” at the right time.

When Do We Work on Roads?

When it is not too hot and not too cold – just right.  Not too wet, and not too dry – just right.  One thing we have learned in our short lives is that it is seldom ‘just right’.  Life is not perfect, we do the best we can with the situation that exists.

Usually, when it is ‘just right’, there is something else more urgent.  One must remain amenable.  Every new situation requires a new set of priorities.

Fringe Benefit

It is an important part of road-building that it sooths the mind.  I, for one, am often troubled by mental distractions that prevent me from attaining serenity – ie, tranquility.  Road-building requires just enough attention that the mind is able to focus on the problem at hand, and ignore other problems that want to present themselves.

Burning Stumps

If a stump is in a road or a campsite, or anywhere you don't want it, the best way to get it out out is to burn it out.  The stump should be at least a year old.  On this old stump we pile several 8" Dia, or larger, blocks.  (For this purpose, the blocks can be 3' to 4' long, or even longer under some conditions.)  (The larger the block, the slower it will burn.)  On top of these blocks, we build a small fire, big enough to catch the blocks on fire.  These big blocks will burn fairly slowly, usually for 12 to 24 hrs. (Of course, they should be checked more often than that.)  If the fire goes out or nearly so, before we re-start it, we rake-out the ashes and all the loose soil and rocks.  (Rocks will absorb a lot of heat, and thus slow the burning of the stump.) 

Old Stumps

It is possible to pull out some old stumps with a heavy truck.  The main trick is to get a hold of the stump with the chain.  Experience will guide you as to what will work and what will not.  Just don't tear up your truck.

Trail Markers

Our trail-markers are made from aluminum cans.  Originally, they were 2” squares, nailed to trees on the right side of the foot trail as high as I could reach so that I could see them even if the area was pretty brushy.  Later, we began to mark road trails also.

For Roads, we need to have the markers visible in the headlights.  Therefore we now put our markers between 2 and 3 ft above the ground.

We are now crushing aluminum cans as flat as we can, and nailing the whole can to the tree.  Still on the right side – still 2-3’ high.

Originally, these markers were nailed on with iron nails.  Later when we began to take down some of the marked trees, jack was fearful that we would hit an iron nail with the ax or the chainsaw ( or even with a sawmill saw).  Therefore, we now use aluminum nails, which will do virtually no damage to an iron tool.

We try to put markers on every tree on the trail or road, without going to extremes.

At abrupt changes in direction, or at forks, we put a double marker – one above the other, about four inches apart.

In order to provide a nice flat surface to nail to, and to sink the nail in a minimum, we cut most of the bark away from under the marker.  (The nail will not ordinarily grow out with the tree, but will become embedded in the tree as it grows.)

 

Tour-guide’s Lecture – Revised – 3/14/01

This was an idea; nothing came of it, but here is what’s left.

(There are two Outdoor Life Channels on the Dish – both occupied primarily with hunting and fishing.  Can we get people interested in the outdoors and just observing wildlife and nature?)

Intro:  My name is __________ [1], and I am your tour guide for this trip.  Thank you for your interest in the tour, and in seeing the wildflowers.  Please stay on the trail so as to not trample the plants.  Please do not pick flowers or plants, nor remove natural items, so that the next person can see them.  If you have questions, please feel free to ask.  None of us claim to be experts, but we will answer if we know.

As we enter into this pasture, we see some antique horse-drawn farm implements that remind us that this has been a working ranch since 1850 that we know of.  That was when NM became a Territory.

One reason we have such a nice display of wildflowers is that we do not graze this pasture until they mature.  After that, we put 50 to 100 head of cattle in here for two to three months.

We are sure that there is another factor, and that is that most wildflowers seem to prefer this limestone ridge that extends from across the valley all the way to the Creston.

The Geology of the Ranch

Even though nearly all of the rock on this ranch is limestone, there are deposits of sand-stone here and there.  (Point to sand-stone wall.  Show and Tell on ‘moss Rock’.)  This tells us that even though this area was at one time at the bottom of the ocean, it was not very far from the mountains.  Up the valley from us are granite mountains, which are always eroding to form sand.  Even so, there are sandstone deposits where the sand was blown in by the wind – not washed in by water.  Living here in NM this sounds plausible to us.  This layer right here seems to be relatively thin, only a few feet thick.  Normally, it takes pressure to fuse the particles of sand into a solid mass.  In this case, we have no idea where such pressure might have come from.  We do not know what the glaciers might have pushed off of this surface, but it was probably not more than a few hundred feet, if that much, certainly not enough to create fusing pressure.  There is another layer of sandstone up near the top of the Creston.  It is much thicker than this layer.  That tells us that this layer may have been much thicker millions of years ago.

Shale[2] is an important geological deposit.  Its harder counterpart is Slate.  It is composed of fine clay – mostly silicates – from granite.  These silicates disintegrate into such fine particles that when suspended in water, they may take hours to settle.  As a result, when clay is washed into an ocean where currents are a major factor, the particles may be carried far from their source.

There is just above us here, a major deposit of slate that is a major factor as we clean our acequia (Irrigation Ditch) each year.  We don’t know why, but we seem to have to throw slate out of our ditch every year.

We do know that in our efforts to keep loose rocks picked up off of the pasture we find that every year new rocks are pushed up by frost heaves.  Our frost normally goes down about two feet – sometimes to three feet. 

When water freezes, it expands.  When it melts, it contracts.  This expansion and contraction is a major ecological factor in our daily life here.

A major consequence is that it keeps the surface in motion.  Thus, when a mixture of fines and course rocks are shaken, the coarse rocks gravitate to the surface, and the fines settle to a lower level.

This might have to do with why the shale is always coming up into the acequia.  For whatever reason, shale is always a factor in our ditch.

Another interesting property of shale is that after it is thrown out of the ditch and exposed to the weather it begins to disintegrate.  By the next year, what was thrown out last year has crumbled back into clay.

Remember this if you are temped to use this shale for flagstones or any other outdoor application.  Slate weathers nicely as you can tell from the many Slate roofs that have lasted for hundreds of years.

Slate is solidly fused where shale is only lightly fused.  This tells us something about the geological history of these two varieties of the same basic substance.

We find some pieces of granite here and there on the ranch, that were brought here rather recently either by the river or by the glaciers.  (Display sample)  As late as 10,000 years ago, this whole valley was covered by ice, perhaps a mile deep.  As the glaciers moved they pushed the underlying debris along, which action scoured the fixed rocks, and filled in the low places with the debris.

Visualize such a mass of ice moving across this valley from the north.  (Point to the north.)

National Geographic Mag – Dec 2000 – Hunt for the First Americans p 48

“The era in which the Clovis people lived is limited by a time barrier that stops about 13,500 yrs ago:  Two things create that barrier:  The date of the organic material found with the [Clovis] tools, and geologic evidence that the ice-free corridor would not have been open much before that.”

The article goes on to point out that there were earlier people in America.  Even so, the Clovis people were probably the first in this area.

HSR – I do not know how ice-ages geology establishes time periods.

(Interrupt your spiel at any time to point out each variety of wildflower as you come to it.)

There are not many trees in any pasture because cattle break them down scratching and rubbing on them, and we do mow now and then.  The few Ponderosas you see are either in the fence-line, or otherwise located where cattle can’t damage them.

Note the interesting shape of that Sabina Juniper.  Normally, that tree would be pear-shaped, but over the years, cattle, threshing their heads in it to fight face flies, have reduced the lower portion to a few trunks.

This arroyo is basically a neglected road.  When this ranch was open range, this area was used to get to town in horse-drawn wagons.  This caused ruts, which in turn washed away in the rain.  This arroyo was originally half again as deep as it is now, but we have been filling it in as we get the opportunity.

The Ant Hill

(Call attention to the anthill as you pass it.)  There are perhaps a dozen such anthills in this pasture.  Originally, we tried to discourage them by putting big rocks on top of the hill.  That will either kill them or they will move to another place.  Eventually, we decided that they cause no harm provided you respect their sting.  There are no more here than there were 30 years ago.  Ahead, there is a different variety of ant that puts thatch on its hill instead of leaving it bare.  We will go by it.

Thatch Ants

Here is a bed of Thatch Ants, for lack of a better name.  Unlike the Red Ants who clear all vegetation away from their nests, these ants bring in little pieces of grass and other plant matter and cover the nest like this.  We have no idea why they do this.

Travertine

This hill has an outcrop of this type of rock, which we call travertine; it is regular limestone that has been bored by sea creatures into these interesting formations. 

Pruning and Thinning

You will notice that where the trees are thicker we have pruned the trees and thinned the area.  This is good forest management.  There are many advantages in doing this, chief of which is for forest-fire control.  Last year’s forest fires alerted us to the risk so that we spent all last winter pruning and thinning and burning the resulting slash.  Permits from the Environmental Dept are required to do this.

At Cabochon Park:

My (Brittany’s) father and my uncle are jewelers.  They make and use cabochons – semi-precious stones that are rounded and polished on one side.  (Show sample).

We call these rocks cabochons because they too have been rounded on one side, but by glaciers pushing small rocks and other debris over them.  These rocks are the ends of a tilted formation.  Cabochons are not formed on un-tilted layers.

They say there has been an ice age every 10,000 years.  That would mean that we are due for another soon.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock.  It is formed from the shells of sea-creatures falling to the bottom of the ocean over a period of millions of years, and this was millions of years ago, during the Paleozoic age.  Limestone thus became a part of the earth’s crust where it was pushed around by the same tectonic forces that are still at work in other parts of the world.  This little ridge, The Creston, and the ridge up through the pasture that we walked over are examples of tilted layers of limestone.  (Show how this happens.)

Ahead of us is another layer of limestone that has not been tilted.  We can see the surface of that layer.  On that surface, there are deposits of animal tissue and other debris that fell to the bottom.  Here is a sample of that kind of deposit.  (Coprolite Specimen)  These are fossilized animal products, but we are not sure what animal is involved, for it must be stressed that there were no large vertebrates yet, and that mammals had not yet appeared on the earth.

Limestone was being formed at least 600 million years ago at the beginning of the Paleozoic Period, and is still being formed today.  What we need to know is when did this particular layer get pushed up?

Geologists can tell that by looking at the fossils in it.  We suspect that this particular layer is Silurian (400 million years ago), because we do not find any Devonian (345 million years ago) creatures in it.  See The Little Golden Guide to Fossils.  Another source tells us that this is a part of the Porvenir Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian) from about 300 Million Years Ago (MYA).  Here are two samples of unusual fossils from this hillside.  (Coprolite and Travertine – explain how the holes got in the Travertine.)  The ‘Borings’ Formation is important. 

The Douglas Fir

 

This tree is a Douglas fir.  Douglas firs don’t normally grow at this altitude.  There are many of them up toward the Creston, but this one is kind of a stray.  Two other high-altitude trees that grow here are the Limber Pine and the White Fir.  Also, we have some Gambel Oak – Quercus gambelii, like this (show sample), which makes good fireplace wood.

Quercus gambelii

A Geology Tour

There is so much to the geology of this area that we have devised a separate tour in which you will be encouraged to locate and take home a fossil of your very own.  We will furnish the tools – you furnish the enthusiasm.

The Pond

If there is water in the pond, we can go over there and show the frogs and tadpoles.  Frogs are losing ground in their struggle for existence, for reasons we are not sure of, but when these frogs come out of the mud after having spent the winter in the ground, it doesn’t look like they are endangered.  They begin to croak for a mate – they breed – and they die within a few short weeks.  It is one of the mysteries of nature as to what happens to the dead frogs.  We never see any at the end of the season.  After the tadpoles mature into frogs, they in turn bury themselves in the mud where they stay in suspended animation until next spring. 

This pond is not only necessary for the frogs, it also provides water for all kinds of wild-life, as well as for the cattle.

Wild-life

We have here several varieties of ground-dwelling mammals, as well as tree-dwelling mammals and birds.

We have bears, elk, coyotes, porcupines, skunks, and wild turkeys.  When we first came here, our neighbors in the back kept goats, which attracted mountain lions, but none have been seen since they got rid of the goats.

The little mounds of fresh earth you see here and there, are gopher mounds.  If there is a visible hole for ingress and egress, it is probably a ground squirrel or a chipmunk.  We also have Rock Squirrels, which are full-sized squirrels, and regular Tree Squirrels.  We also have field-mice and rats.  We do nothing to discourage these ground-dwelling mammals, for two reasons:  first, they cultivate the soil.  By keeping it soft and porous, the soil will absorb the little quantity of rain that does fall, thus holding it in the soil where it is needed, and preventing run-off, and the resulting soil-erosion.

Second, we like the GDMs because they attract the raptors: the hawks, the eagles, and the owls, also other predators, eg coyotes.  It is all part of the balance of nature.

Beavers

We have four beaver dams on the river, which you can go see, but they are not part of this tour.

Birds

Our most colorful bird is the Stellar Jay - much more colorful than the Mountain Bluebird.  People who have never seen a Magpie think they are spectacular, but we see so many, we are not impressed.  For spectacular, it is hard to beat the soaring hawks and eagles.  Sometimes we see flocks of Blue Herons in the air – that is spectacular.

We have many wild-birds on the ranch; they are attracted by the bounteous harvest of weed-seeds, insects, and other goodies.  A major source of food for the wildlife is the piñon harvest.  Wild turkeys especially, love the piñon.

We appreciate the wildlife because they provide fertilizers and insect control.  We do not use insecticides, because insects are a vital part of the food chain.  Without insects, neither trout, which are stocked in the Sapello River, nor songbirds could survive.

We use insect repellents, and fly-swatters, because they are ecologically sound.

 

[6] Originally, this was designed for Brittany, but like most of us, she does not have time during the summer to do everything that needs to be done.

11/14/94 – On Arroyo Rd – Stump Burning – Ranch Philosophy – Guiding Principles

The Natural Look

Central Meadow

 

Jack and I used to say, "We've been working all day in this area, but it looks like we haven't done anything." 

On reflection, we realized that this was our goal.  We wanted it to look natural but manicured.

If you have ever been in a wilderness area, or anywhere where nothing is done to 'improve' the woods, you know that it is a kind of mess.  It might be the 'forest primeval', but it doesn't 'look nice' to the dedicated housekeeper.

We want a woods you can walk around in, and feel a part of.

Naturalists tell us that decaying vegetable matter on the forest floor is the habitat for many creatures, mostly small, who are an important part of the environment.  We will try to leave areas like that, in the same way that we leave some dead trees standing for the creatures who use them.

We don't claim to have a completely natural environment.  What we want is a place as natural as possible that is adapted for human habitation.  There may be some species that will pay the price, although we hope not.

Nurse Plant Association – http://eebweb.arizona.edu

Nurse plant association is a phenomenon that occurs mostly only in desert environments.  A nurse plant is one that creates an environment that is less formidable for young seedlings growing underneath it to survive in a harsh desert environment. A seedling is vulnerable to desiccation when fully exposed to the heat of the desert sun, but when growing in the shade of a larger plant, has more of a chance of survival.  The larger plant also protects seeds from predation from birds and rodents, allowing them a chance to germinate. 
In other environments, growing under the shade of a larger plant may be detrimental to a seedling's growth, reducing the amount of sunlight available for photosynthesis, but the harsh desert environment makes this protection more beneficial. 

My Observations

Ranch Life – Journal – June 2001

Most of these entries were originally Journal entries

(This File shows the relationship between my other books and Ranch Life.)

 

Right now, my interests include:

Forest Management.

Travis is interested in a variety of things including forest management.  I am happy that he is, and have dumped on him some of the forest management problems I see.  Two facts are primary: 1. The devastating forest-fires, and 2. The energy crunch.  My proposed solutions: 1. Harvest as much of the forest products each year as is ecologically sound, and 2. Use all scrap produced in the production of energy.

Right now, we are pruning and thinning primarily for fire protection.  We have been burning the slash (as long as it was safe to do so), even though we realize that such burning is a monumental waste of energy, and a source of CO₂ that isn’t doing the planet any good.

A more sensible way to dispose of slash is to put it through a chipper to reduce its bulk, and then put it in a land-fill somewhere, or preferably use it for raw material for manufacturing .  The Asplund Fiber Co. and others have been doing this for years.  Asplund has been converting the chips to paper for use as tar-paper, pitch-saturated soil pipe, and other useful products.  When we run out of petroleum, we may return to this technology.

These slash chips are not very useful for ordinary paper, but that may change when we run out of prime wood for the paper-mills.  What these chips have is stored energy.

The last I heard, there were big corporations back east who were harvesting ‘bio-mass’ – all plant matter in the forest.  They were burning this bio-mass in their furnaces.  A big furnace can do this.  It is not easy, but it is being done.  The big furnace is designed to blow bio-mass and air into the combustion chamber where it is reduced to CO₂ and H₂O, and Energy (and ash).

The task I assigned to Travis was to design a small version of this massive furnace that will do the same job for a single-family home, or perhaps an intermediate version that will heat a huge apartment building.

In order to control forest-fires, and begin harvesting the energy that forests produce, we need to begin this year – right now.

Besides this small furnace, we need to design harvesters to collect this bio-mass.  As I understand the harvesters used back east, they are similar in principle to a wheat harvester.  They just move along a path, perhaps 20’ wide, raking in everything in its path and reducing it all to chips.  Then they leave a 20’ swath for seed, and cut the next 20’ swath for product.

The esthetics of the resulting woods may leave something to be desired, but I am sure we can make the best of the situation, for example, always cut at right angles to the line of sight.

Here at LTR we have a park, which is what we want, but there are areas near us that virtually nobody sees.  These areas could be harvested as described above.  In many ways, ranchers would like this, because they want grass, not trees.

We all realize that harvesting destroys habitat for various creatures, but if we are careful, it will never be as devastating as a forest-fire.  Creatures are adaptable.  If they survive, they can find a place to live.

I am glad the ecologists want to save old-growth forests, and the creatures in them, but we must remember that old-growth forests are especially susceptible to fire – they are hard to protect.

Grasslands Management

I am also interested in grasslands management.

We have a pasture of about 20 acres, that is a pleasure to behold.  The reason is explained in Nature-tour guide.

Contented Cows

Why do men climb mountains?  Because they are there.  So also: Why do people identify plants and animals^[7][1]?  Because they are there.

I enjoy identifying plants and animals.  The many Nature Mags that I read tell me that countless other people do also.  We have identified close to 100 varieties of plants and animals in this pasture.  This endeavor is satisfying.

See Nature Tour

The Hay Field

Flood Irrigation

We have, below the pasture, a hayfield of about ten acres that is irrigated by means of the acequia.  It is a source of income for us, producing up to about 400 60-lb bails of prime hay per year (of which the cutter gets half and we get half).  In the course of irrigating this field, we flood out many GDMs, who attract many raptors (as well as local dogs).  We enjoy our hay field.

Turkey Mountain Vista

Boundary Fences

Originally, our intention was that the spacing on a 4-wire boundary fence was to be:  Top Wire (using a 36” stay + 4" clearance above the ground) 40" to Top Wire.  Spacing from the top was 40", 30", 20", 10".  This was more or less considered the standard.  There was considerable variation.  Many were as low as a 36” top wire.

Nobody cared that a horse could reach over the fence and graze 3' of pasture on the other side of the fence, mainly because everybody over­grazed and there was nothing on the other side to graze.

 

Our pasture was not overgrazed therefore we needed at least 42" to the Top Wire, with a spacing of about 10", so our wires were spaced 42", 32", 22", and 12". 

Personally, I like to see the top wire tied to the top notch on the post; if it is set 18” deep.  6’-1.5’=4.5’ or 54”.  This would put the wire spacing at 52, 42, 32, 22” – just a little too much clearance at the bottom.  Where there is little grass anyway, this would not matter, but if it is a grassy area, cows will reach under to get it, and tend to lift the fence out of the ground.  In many such cases, we will put on a fifth wire at 12”.  We have tried 12” spacing but it is just too far apart; cattle will put their heads through the fence and perhaps hurt themselves.

Fence Posts

This fence is between us and our neighbor (pictured) to the west.  We would prefer to have cedar posts here, but when working with someone else, we must make concessions.

In rocky ground, we use 6’ T-bar steel posts.  Sometimes we have to try about ten places before we can drive it in, but once a steel post is in it is secure.  (Well, not really.  We have had posts that can shake in the wind, break off.)

Most of the pasture area is stone-free, therefore we can set cedar posts here.  It is a lot more work, but we believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.  Cedar posts are traditional, and are still ecologically sound, plus they are attractive to us.  We set cedar posts 18” deep, in holes dug with a post-hole digger.  If the soil is too dry to dig, we will put about a quart of water in each hole and let it soak in.  Repeat as necessary.  This allows us to dig the hole, and it moistens the soil, so that it will tamp nicely when it is returned to the hole.

Stays

We set our posts 12’ apart, with a stay centered between them,

We have used twisted-steel stays, and always felt they worked fine.  We still use them where we have steel posts.  One of our neighbors told us that he preferred cedar stays, because “the cattle can see them”.  Since then, we have begun using cedar stays where we have cedar posts.  Originally, I used 4’ cedar trunks, perhaps 2” at the butt, and 1” at the top.  These were rested on the ground.  At the present time, we use larger stays – perhaps 4” at the base and 3” at the top.  These are pretty heavy, and would drag down the fence under their own weight, so we usually set then in the ground at least 1’.  This system makes a nice-looking fence, we feel.

Boundary Trees

Originally, boundaries were set by stapling, or tying, barbed-wire to trees.  (This was when a rancher was cutting out a piece to be purchased from the original land-grant.)  Eventually, they would have this cut-out piece surveyed and reported to the authorities so that the official records would show that he had title to it.

Therefore, boundaries in the woods are always determined by boundary trees.  In time the barbed wire would become embedded in the tree, so that we had a measure of how long the boundary had been there.  I have never seen evidence that this hurts the tree.  It might hurt the saw-blade that tries to saw through it, but theoretically no one would ever saw through that tree. 

Local people use a lot of bailing wire to fix things – in fact, bailing wire has been called ‘Mexican nails’^[8][1].  Therefore, they use a lot of bailing wire on their fences.  This works fine most of the time, but when it is used to tie a wire to a living tree, it is a disaster.  The bailing wire will strangle the tree, usually killing it.  We pull these embedded wires out if we can, and replace them with regular staples.  If they can’t be pulled out, we try to cut through them with an old hatchet.  We use Galvanized wire for tie wire.

We see some fences on trees where a 2×4 nailing block is attached to the tree first, perhaps with two 16-penny nails.  Where the tree is not a boundary tree, this will protect it from embedded wire or staples.  (As the tree grows it will pull the nails out as necessary to push the 2×4 out.)

(Ordinarily, a nail in a tree becomes embedded as the tree grows.)

 

The Chicken Venture

For some reason, I felt that this type of ranch should have chickens running around, eating insects and weed seeds, and furnishing us with eggs and meat and something to look at.

So! Jack told me that they were selling chicks at the farmers market in Santa Fe, and that a friend of his was over there frequently.  Sure! I said, let’s get some, so he ordered a box.  I didn’t know then that that was 25 chicks.  And that they cost ca $50.  This was in the dead of winter, and we had no place for them.

About four of the twenty-five survived.  They were a black variety – at first we thought that they might be Bantams, but time proved otherwise.  They were huge, and beautiful.  Having no coop, they roosted in the trees; fortunately, we had enough.

What we did see was that we needed a coop.  Jack designed and built a coop behind the barn.  It was our intention to let the chickens run loose in the yard.  This we did for a few days.  Then we discovered that we were losing a hen each day.  Momo saw them on the back porch one day, with a big cat that she went out to chase away.  On closer inspection she saw that the ‘cat’ was a Bobcat.  She chased it away by her presence, but she beat a hasty retreat anyway.  In the meantime we had lost four hens.  That told us that the idea of chickens running loose was a hippy dream; it wasn’t going to happen easily.

From Wikipedia

So! We had to build a pen for the chickens.  Jack designed a pen and with whatever help he could round-up he got it built.  At the present time, that is where the chickens are.  It is our intention to build a Bobcat-proof fence around the yard so that the original dream might become a reality.

Jack told me this morning that Adolpho had rolls of horse-wire in his yard.  I said, call Orlando (his son) rat now.  We will keep you posted on future developments.

Phoebe with Gopher and the Pen.

 

We are now getting (in Feb) 4-5 eggs a day, more than enough for us and Jack.

We also supply eggs to Nell and Brian – to Brittany and Desi, and to many passers by.

We are running out of egg cartons.  Do you have any to spare?        

The River

We enjoy our river front.  We own both sides of the river, therefore we can plan whatever conservation measures seem good to us.  There are four beaver dams in our section of the river.  So far, no one has disturbed them.  (All of the beaver-dams were washed away in the 2004 flood.)  In the old days, people were always after such creatures with leg-hold traps (a particularly cruel device).  Thank Heaven, this is not a major problem these days.  People do not need the money that skins provided.  I wish I could say that people are kinder than they used to be. 

 

Beaver Dam

 

Another view of the beaver dam

 

Conservation

Has been a major theme with us since we bought this place.  Our ideas have changed over the years, but we always wanted to do what was best for the land.  I remember thanking the Daisy Flea-bane for holding the top-soil in place until the grass could get established.

I remember fighting the thistles, which my neighbor called a ‘yierva mala’, ‘bad plant’.  I remember fighting the ants, by putting rocks on their hills (they just moved to another place.)

Jack summarizes: “I can live with the creatures.”  So can I.

But, those thistles will really take over.

Ecology

We practice Conservation, because of what we learn from Ecology – the study of the way living things and their habitat interact.  We finally realized that we weren’t losing that many calves to the coyotes, yet the coyotes were thriving.  What were they living on?  One day Jack saw them in the pasture catching gophers or other GDMs.  Coyotes don’t need calves to survive: We let them alone.

World Ecology

We have never had tunnel vision as to the Big Picture.  ‘No man is an island.’  ‘No ranch is an island.’  The Rain-forests, AIDS, Top-soil, war – all affect you and me.  The Ozone layer, the Green-house Effect, Global Warming – all about us.  But mainly: The Population Explosion!  It will kill us first.  There is nothing we can do about it, as Jack says, but that doesn’t keep me from being concerned about it.

Consumerism

A new field, but one of prime importance to the US.  America seems to be the most gullible of the nations; so sad to see us committing national suicide.  It needs to be stopped.  Can it be stopped? 

My slogan is :  Crush the Corporations Before They Crush Us.

The Christian Faith

 Like most of my areas of interest, this one is losing ground.  It doesn’t seem to have a future.  The Evangelicals are gaining – we are losing.  Even so, in my own little corner, I still think it has promise.

The Nature of Reality

I am currently reading The Elegant Universe by Brian Green, and When Machines Think by Neil Gershenfeld.  Both have to do with the physical world, but both challenge the rational mind.  I am reaching out as far as my tether will let me.

Daddo watching one form of space become another form.

 

[Somewhere in this mess, I explore the nature of the Real World.  I find that it is no more ‘real’ than the spiritual world.  All matter seems to be composed of crumpled space.  I am not even sure that space is ‘real’.  They say that the known universe is finite.  So the next logical question is. “What’s beyond the universe?”]

 

Field of Diamonds

Yesterday morning I was privileged to view a natural phenomenon that gives great pleasure to some of us.  It all depends on what turns you on.

With a lot of moisture in the air – it had rained a day or two before – we usually get frost of some sort this time of year.  Occasionally, when the temp drops very slowly, and when other conditions are exactly right, our frost consists of huge crystals, perhaps 1/4" in dia.  The biggest crystals usually grow on grass stems, the shorter the grass, the closer the crystals are together.

With these frost crystals on the grass, and the brilliant NM sun peeping over the Creston, we get a display that you won't soon forget.  You see not only the sparkle and glitter that you get with any kind of frost; with these crystals, you get a multi-colored display, constantly changing with your own movement.  A non-scientist would probably say, 'every color of the rainbow'; a scientist would say, 'every color of the spectrum'; they are the same colors.  This is the show I describe as, Field of Diamonds.  Not everyone gets to see it, and not everyone who sees it, sees it.

 

Here ends the reading from the holy scripture.  (This is what I say at the end of the scripture reading while I am in the pulpit.)  These writings are a far cry from holy.  They are a record, of sorts, of one person's experiences.  Each of us has his own experiences.  Yours are different from mine.  I say that an experience is a learning opportunity.  I hope that I have learned something over the years.  If what I have learned benefits you, I am glad.  That's all I could ask for.

'So long.  It's been good to know ya.'

 

 

I want some meaningful photos in this book.  Something better than those above.  What I will do for starters is to show some of the existing photos here and try to pick out the best.

Document Map

I have discovered how to put headings into the Document Map:

Highlight heading.  Pull-down Font Style.  Click on Document Map.

Pull-down Font Style again.  Click on Heading 1.

Heading should appear in Doc Map.

 

Contents of Ranch Management

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^[9][1] The Animal Kingdom – includes insects, etc.

 

Contents of Ranch Management