Welcome to the Ranch!

This is not part of Cross Creek Cattle Company, but is an example of an over-grazed pasture. Notice the bare areas and absence of tall grass.

For retirees and young families alike, a common dream seems to be for city-dwellers to move out on acreage in the country.  They buy some land, buy some livestock, and enjoy living in the slow-paced rural environment.  Since we live relatively close to Houston, we are personally seeing a huge increase of ex-Houstonians move into our county.  However, some make a common mistake.  They over-graze their pastures.

Over-grazing your pasture is bad for your land and your livestock.  Without adequate grass on your soil, erosion can occur very easily with any rainfall.  A heavy rain and a subsequent flood can devastate your land.  Grass also resists wind erosion, too.

Livestock must have grass to thrive.  Without adequate grass, horses can get sand in their gut and make them sick.  Cows and other ruminants must have plenty of grass, too.  If there is not sufficient grass available, then you must feed hay.  The last thing you want to be doing is feeding hay to your cows in the summer.  Hay is expensive to buy and/or produce; therefore, you will feel the consequences of over-grazing in your pocketbook.

So how do you prevent over-grazing your pastures?  At Cross Creek Cattle Company, we rotate our pastures regularly.  We want our cattle to be on fresh, green grass daily.  We do not want them to lose their good condition simply because we let them crop the grass too low to the ground.

If the grass is left between 4-8″ long, the plant is able to recover more easily.  Under that point, the grass struggles to rebound.  Therefore, we allow our cattle to graze while we monitor the condition of the pasture grass.  We don’t like the grass getting under 6″.

Over-grazing can also occur if you have too many head on a certain amount of acreage.  There is no magic formula for figuring this out as it depends on where you live.  For example, a rancher in Southeast Texas can have more cattle on a less acreage than a West Texas rancher.  In the more arid areas of Texas a rancher has to have thousands of acres for the same amount of cattle elsewhere.

Let me show you some photographs.  These pictures were taken on the same day, September 2, 2010.  The photographs below are of the front pasture on Cross Creek Cattle Company.  Compare the condition of the pasture and grass to the picture at the top of this article, which is of a place down the road less than a mile away.  Therefore, we have received essentially the same amount of rainfall and the same high summer temperatures.  The differences lie in pasture rotation and the amount of livestock on the land.  We have much more livestock on our land.

In the photographs of Cross Creek Cattle Company, our entire herd of cattle and then our nine horses had been grazing for days.  On the other property, a couple of head of cattle and a few horses have been grazing in the same pasture all summer long.  You are just going to have to take my word on it.

One view of the front pasture. Beyond the fence and lake is a second pasture. You can see for yourself the length and condition of our grass.

The same pasture under the trees.

Another angle of the same pasture. There are no bare spots even though the grass has been baking in the sun day after day.

If you are new to ranching or have been doing this for generations like us, we all want what is best for our land, our cattle, and ourselves.  Monitoring the condition of your pasture is an easy place to start to protect all three.  Even with relatively few acres of land, you can implement an effective pasture rotation program.

Beef often gets a bad rap from doctors.  Patients have been told time and time again to cut back on their consumption of red meat.  People relate heart disease and cholesterol to beef as well.  Chicken farmers certainly appreciate this phenomena because chicken is then seen as one of the few healthy alternatives to beef.

My husband grew up in a home with three women.  His dad passed away when he was young; therefore, he was surrounded by his mother and two older sisters.  When I met him, he was relieved that I liked beef and knew how to prepare it.  He told me that all they ever ate at his home was chicken.  After all, chicken as everyone knows is much better for you or so his family thought.

This is just an example to illustrate the need to educate yourself.  It is difficult to question your doctor.  They have spent years learning about health and your body.  Who are you to question their expertise?

The cookbook that will change the way you eat.

Well, I question everything.  I read and research for myself.  I am certainly drawn to information in which there seems to be no incentive except for finding the truth.  This is one of the reasons that I appreciate Sally Fallon.  She is the President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and author of the cookbook, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.

I wrote a Review of Nourishing Traditions for Texas Homesteader.  If you are interested in learning more about her book, please check it out.  Ms. Fallon has written an interesting article entitled, “It’s the Beef.”  It is a lengthy article full of information, but I wanted to give you a taste by including a small section in this article.

Is Beef Good For You?

What a shame we have demonized red meat because this is one modern food, enjoyed by almost everybody, that is rich in nutrients. Red meat provides complete protein, including sulphur-containing proteins like cysteine. Beef is a wonderful source of taurine and carnitine, needed for healthy eyes and a healthy heart. Beef also provides another key nutrient for the cardiovascular system—coenzyme Q10.

Beef is an excellent source of minerals like magnesium and zinc—you need zinc for clear thinking and a healthy sex life. The fuzzy-headedness that vegetarians mistake for heightened consciousness is really the fog of zinc deficiency. Vitamin B₆ is abundant in meat, especially rare meat. Red meat is one of the best sources of vitamin B₁₂, which is vital to a healthy nervous system and healthy blood. Vegetarians are especially prone to vitamin B₁₂ deficiency. One of the first signs of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is a tendency to irrational anger-—so much for vegetarian claims that we will have a more peaceful, harmonious world if we all just stop eating meat.

As much as I would like world peace, I do not want to give up the health benefits of grass fed beef.  How boring would that be at dinner time?

I try to post health and diet information on this site as it pertains to beef and/or grass fed beef.  If learning more about health and nutrition interests you, read more on the Weston A. Price Foundation, buy the book Nourishing Traditions, or enroll in the Real Food for Rookies cooking class.

The latter is a new course held by Kelli the Kitchen Kop.  For years she has studied Sally Fallon’s book and methods in addition to being a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation.  She is offering a 12-week cooking course about real food.  To see the class schedule, click here.  Class #4 is all about “Choosing the Right Meats.”

You can take the course on your own time and at your own convenience.  Registration is on-going until September 15th.  Then the first class begins on the 16th.

Whatever you decide to do, educate yourself about the real foods, especially about beef.  You don’t want to miss eating such a versatile and flavorful option for your dinner plate.  You can then say with confidence, “Beef, It’s what’s for dinner.”

I field many emails and phone calls each week.  I am happy to receive them and work hard to answer the questions posed to me.  Many people are looking for other grass fed meats in addition to beef.  We get inquiries on chicken, pork, and lamb, too.  Some people also want to know what produce is available.  We also get questions about our goat milk.

Both my dad and my immediate family raise our own vegetable garden.  We enjoy seasonal produce throughout the year.  I am currently preparing my soil for our fall garden.  A long growing season is one of the great things about living in this temperate climate.

Our gardens are good producers.  We eat all we can, put up some more, and give the rest away.  But, we do not sell it to the public.  We farm the land for ourselves.

My family raises hogs once a year.  We milk dairy goats.  We raise chickens and enjoy fresh free-range eggs.  We also raise rabbits and we had a sheep until it recently grew old and died.  We also raise ducks.

All of our animals are for our own consumption.  My husband might make sausage and give it away to family and friends, but it is not for sale.  We might give away a surplus of eggs and occasionally we accept a tip for the eggs, but we do not have enough to go into the egg business.

Twice a day we milk our goat.  She gives more than we can consume in a day.  We freeze some for future use.  We make ice cream and yogurt.  I make and do sell goat milk soap.  But, we are not licensed by the state of Texas to sell raw goat milk nor do we want to seek that route.

If goat milk is what you are interested, I can refer you to a great dairy in the area.  Swede Farm is a family-owned and operated goat dairy that sells pasteurized and raw goat milk and related products.  Tell Tim and Leeanne Carlson that I sent you.

Currently Cross Creek Cattle Company is only in the grass fed beef business.  We are working towards opening a store here on the ranch in which customers can purchase cuts of beef in addition to ordering 1/4, 1/2, and whole portions.  This is our next step.

From there we will see what the needs of our customers are.  We are not ruling out the expansion of our ranch into other meats.  If and when we decide to expand in the future, you will be the first to know.  Until then, let us supply your family with flavorful, healthy grass fed beef.  Call or write today to get on our waiting list.

If you are a seasoned rancher or just beginning your ranching adventure, Texas A&M University holds a three-day short course for you.  It is almost always the first week of August, which I realize is late for you this year, but mark your calendars for next August.  This event is held on campus in College Station, Texas.

It is a great event in the ranching community that draws people from all over the world.  Dr. Jason Cleere, who grew up in the same area as we live, heads the whole course.  TAMU is known world-wide for its premiere agriculture and animal science programs and research.  At this short course, the university combines its knowledge and discoveries in various seminars with a trade show and social events.

The Beef Cattle Short Course is not only informative, but it is fun.  It is a way to meet and mingle with fellow ranchers and make contacts.  The trade show provides an opportunity to see and hear what is new in the cattle industry.

Last year, the short course actually told ranchers to not get involved with grass fed beef.  They claimed that it was a fad and was hurting the cattle industry.  My husband just rolled his eyes.  Sometimes it takes people a long time to accept change.

This year they put on an entire seminar explaining the differences between organic, all-natural, and grass fed beef.  A woman rancher spoke about her grass fed operation in Texas.  I think the tide has turned.  Perhaps, TAMU is seeing that consumers want an opportunity to purchase beef that is raised naturally on the range.  They want a healthier alternative to traditionally raised beef.  Maybe they realize that grass fed beef is not a fad, but here to stay.

Regardless of TAMU’s stance on grass fed beef, the Beef Cattle Short Course is a valuable tool for the modern-day rancher.  You learn a vast amount of information.  You take home an immense volume that includes all the slides and information from each seminar.  This way you get all the information and do not worry about missing something or choosing the wrong seminar to attend.

My husband said there were about 1300 ranchers in attendance.  If you are interested in attending the 2011 Beef Cattle Short Course, check out course’s website for all the information and the dates.  I will try my best to remind you in an article here on “Welcome to the Ranch.”

For years someone from Cross Creek Cattle Company has attended the short course.  We feel it is a small investment in our future.  We have been ranching for so long in our family, but there is always something new to learn.  The cattle market and industry change, and we like to keep abreast of the climate to better serve our ranch and, of course, our grass fed customers.  We highly recommend the three-day course for anyone interested in ranching.

Today I thought I would let you hear from one of our customers.  They are Jason and Bobbi Brooks from College Station.  They ordered a quarter of grass fed beef from us.

Before ordering from Cross Creek Cattle Company, they had never eaten grass fed beef before.  They found our website by a link on the website, Mark’s Daily Apple: Primal Living in the Modern World.  And, they are happy with their purchase.

They really like grass fed beef, especially the t-bones.  This cut is their favorite.  The Brooks family said, they “love the flavor and tenderness” of our beef.  The only criticism the family had was that our roasts were too small; however, the “Pike’s Peak Roast was perfect.”

This is the nature of raising grass fed beef.  We cannot guarantee the size of the cuts nor the amount of beef you will receive, which is why we sell the beef at $3.50 a pound instead of a base price.  Each animal is built a little differently from another, just like people.  We cannot make uniform and identical sides of beef.

It is one way to know that we are raising beef the natural way.  We do not feed our cattle grain to make them gain weight rapidly.  We do not give them growth hormones in order to achieve a certain size.  Instead we do things differently from traditionally raised beef.  We give the herd fresh, green grass and plenty of fresh water.  We give them pastures in which to roam.  In turn, our cattle produce lean, flavorful beef.

The Brooks family said they would definitely order grass fed beef from us again.  They only thing they would do differently is “order more.”

We could not be more thrilled with this feedback from one of our beef customers.  Thank you, Brooks family!  We look forward to doing more business with you.

First of all, I want to thank the people who send me information or let me know about articles in other publications pertaining to grass fed beef.  I cannot possibly know each time a television show, news report, or printed publication does a story on grass fed beef; therefore, I am sincerely appreciative of the help.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by Peter King entitled, “Ordering Up Beef that Roamed the Range.”  Mr. King wanted to find out if grass fed beef was really tastier than traditionally raised beef.  First, he explains what grass fed beef is.  Then he gives an interesting statistic.  He writes that “3 % of  beef sold in the U. S. is from grass fed cattle. ”

He looks online for mail-order grass fed beef.  Cross Creek Cattle Company is not one of the ranches.  We do not sell our beef this way yet.  Mr. King finds and orders from five different ranches.  He purchases comparable cuts of steak from each ranch .  Then he rounds up a group of people to be his taste testers.

He gives a very fair and honest critique of each ranch.  From the ease in which you order online to the taste of the steak, he was interested in the whole grass fed beef experience.  The taste of course was what prompted the entire article.

I believe that Mr. King and his taste tasters were pleasantly surprised at the quality and flavor of the grass fed steaks.  He writes, ” our tasters agreed that all the grass-fed beef tasted fresher and less greasy than supermarket beef.”

He is absolutely correct.  You can tell a difference between traditionally raised beef and grass fed beef.  At the end of the article, he inserts a chart with a row for each of the five ranches from which he bought.  You will notice the price per steak and the shipping charges.

As I stated earlier, Cross Creek Cattle Company does not sell by the cut nor does it ship our meat yet.  However, we are working to accomplish that goal.  We sell 1/4, 1/2, or whole orders for $3.50 a pound based on the hanging carcass weight.  You get the most bang for your buck this way.

I am excited anytime grass fed beef is the topic of conversation in the public arena.  It just means that interest and awareness is growing about the alternative to grain fed cattle on a national scale.  To read more about our grass fed beef and its health benefits, click here.

From time to time, I like to post a grass fed beef recipe.  One of my favorite cuts of meat is ground beef.  I know that it is not the most sought after nor the most sophisticated cut, but it is probably the most versatile.

I love to make hamburger patties, spaghetti, tacos, lasagna, meatloaf, etc. with ground beef.  Have you ever made hamburger patties with store-bought ground beef and were disappointed when the finished product was half the size of the original patty?  The fat shrinks.

Grass fed beef is naturally lean.  You will notice that your ground beef, especially in patty form, does not shrink much if at all.  Therefore, you are not spending much money on fat.  You are mainly paying for beef.

But what about flavor?  Does grass fed beef then not have much flavor without so much added fat?  It is quite the contrary.  The beef has more flavor than store-bought or traditionally raised beef.  The difference is hard to describe, but noticeable on the very first bite.  Trust me, grass fed beef is delicious and full of flavor.

Today I wanted to give you a recipe for something that is not typical.  In fact it would be considered a seasonal recipe if you eat from your family garden.  However, you can almost always find summer squash in your grocery store.

Right now in Texas, we are in the midst of summer squash season.  At Cross Creek Cattle Company, we have squash coming out of our ears.  We are always looking for different ways to use it.  Boiled, steamed, grilled, fried, roasted, in casseroles, raw, etc. are all ways that we use summer squash.

The following is a delicious recipe that incorporates seasonal ingredients and of course our grass fed beef.

Stuffed Squash

6 lg. squash
1 pound of grass fed ground beef
1/2 cup of rice
1 egg
1 med. bell pepper, chopped
1 sm. onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 can of tomato sauce or a fresh tomato chopped finely

First you must prepare the squash.  Cut off the bottoms of the squash so that they will stand up.  Cut off the crook-neck, too.  Chop up the neck except for the very end in slices and set aside.  With a vegetable peeler core the squash and clean out all the seeds.

In a bowl, mix together the raw grass fed beef, uncooked rice, egg, bell pepper, and onion.  Add salt and pepper to your liking.  Mix it well.

Fill the bottom of a large pot with about 1″ of  water.  Stuff the squash with the ground beef mixture.  Place standing up in the pot.  If you have extra meat, then make meatballs and add to the pan.  When all the squash are filled and standing in the pot, add the extra slice of squash from the neck to the pot.

Now spoon the tomato sauce on top of each stuffed squash.  This adds moisture and flavor to your dish.

Cover the pan and cook for 1 1/2 hours.  Check periodically to ensure the water level is good.  You may have to add more water throughout the cooking process.  You are cooking the dish with steam.

The beef should be cooked, the rice cooked, and the squash tender when it is done.  Serve with a fresh salad or vegetable.

For added flavor, you can stuff a bell pepper with the same grass fed beef mixture and add it to your pot.  Not only is it delicious in its own right, but its presence flavors the squash, too.

Summer is in full swing here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  The daily temperatures are hitting in the mid-90s and staying above 70 degrees during the night.  This is prime grass growing time.

With the new growth of our grass, the herd is on a strict pasture rotation now.  We are in the midst of our time-intensive pasture management.  It is time-intensive in that we check the pastures two times a day.  We are interested in the condition of the grass.  We also look for worn areas in our pastures.  We want to move the cattle before they erode any of our pasture land.

We make sure that the herd has access to plenty of good water. Cows drink surprisingly amounts of water in one sitting.  In this heat, full-grown cows drink about 25 gallons of water a day.  Times that by the head that you are raising and that comes to a high number of gallons necessary to support your cattle.

We use natural ponds as reliable sources of water.  We also utilize well water in one of our pastures.  In another, we pump water out of our largest watering hole into a large water trough using solar energy.  To read how my husband set that system up, read my article, “Watering Your Herd on a Dry Pasture.”

As long as the rain continues to fall, we will be sitting pretty on lush green fields.  I hope that we do not suffer from another drought.  Two consecutive years of drought would be devastating to Texas ranchers.  We did better than could be expected last year.  In fact, Cross Creek Cattle Company was blessed with fat cows and green grass.

While other ranchers in our area were feeding hay to their herds during the summer months, we did not.  I attribute it to many things.  First, we prayed specifically for fat cows and green grass.  To understand this statement better, read my article from Texas Homesteader called, “Pray More Effectively.“  Additionally, we adhere to strict pasture rotation.  These are the two things that we credit our success last year.  God-willing, we will be blessed with plenty of good rain, fat cows, and green grass this summer.

Our new barn.

Horses play a big role here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  First and foremost, we enjoy riding horses.  All of us ride even the smallest members of our family.

Isaac and Andrew, aged 3 and 2 respectively, ride in tandem saddles.  If you have not seen a tandem saddle, they are great.  The saddles are made out of a canvas material.  It is like a saddle and blanket in one.  They connect to a regular saddle and sit behind it.  It has a handle on which to hold much like a saddle horn.  You need great horses to ride in tandem as most horses will not like the feel of the second saddle.

My older children are all members of the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff Mounted Posse.  They each need their own horse.  They also enjoy riding on the ranch for pleasure.  My sons, Jake and Clayton, ride with a neighbor on our ranch almost every day.  They ride for hours.

Horses also help us work our cattle.  We believe that low-stress handling directly affects the quality of our grass fed beef; therefore, we use a sing-song cattle call to move the cattle from pasture to pasture.  A horse or two following behind the herd ensures that all the calves and stragglers move into the next pasture.

Utilizing horses as part of a low-stress management program works well for us.  It is also good for the horses.  They are allowed to work for us and they enjoy it.  Our horses are not just put out to pasture.  They have a purpose on our working ranch.

A horse stall.

For months we have been planning and preparing for our new barn to be built.  The task is complete.  We have a new barn on the ranch.  Its main purpose is to facilitate the needs of our horses.  We have a stall for each of our horses.  The stalls are custom built for each horse.  As some of our horses are larger than the average horse, we enlarged their stalls to give them a more comfortable place.

Our barn has a tack room and a feed room.  It has plenty of room for square bales of hay and some equipment.  One of the most exciting aspects of our barn pertains to our grass fed business.  At this time we only sell beef by the whole, half or quarter section.  We do not have the facilities to store beef and sell it by the cut here at the ranch.

Well, now that our barn is finished, we have the room.  With the addition of some deep freezers, we will in the near future have a store in which you can purchase beef by the cut.  It is exciting!

I will announce when we are open for business, but it will be months so don’t make plans this weekend to make the drive to the ranch for steaks.

We are proud of our new barn and the direction that our grass fed business is taking.  Our horses like it too.  Hopefully our grass fed beef customers will also share in our excitement.

This weekend is fast approaching.  From everyone at Cross Creek Cattle Company, “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Due to a death in the family two weeks ago and an unrelated illness the following week, I have not been posting any articles.  I hope that you understand.

Exciting things are happening here at Cross Creek Cattle Company.  We have just harvested more grass fed beef for a new group of customers.  We are excited by our growing customer base.  We also want to thank people for spreading the good news about our grass fed beef for us.

Cross Creek Cattle Company was invited to be in The Homestead Magazine for the April issue.  It is a magazine that “is about families that are innovative , creative, and ambitious in their pursuit of getting back to the basics.   Passionate about making simple living a priority for themselves and their family.”

We are happy to be apart of that description.  To see the publication, go to “The Homestead” magazine.  You can download the current issue and read it online.  We are on page 17.

On Monday morning, the owners and managers of Cross Creek Cattle Company were interviewed by a journalist, Clay Copperidge, from “Country World” magazine.  He was very interested in the grass fed beef aspect of our family owned and operated ranch.  I really look forward to reading the article featuring Cross Creek Cattle Company.

We are excited about all the interest in our ranch and grass fed beef operation.  I field calls and emails daily.  If you are interested in placing an order or asking a question, contact me directly at lndehaven@aol.com.  I am more than happy to respond.

In addition, the grass is growing in the pastures.  We are getting good soaking rains.  Calves are being born almost daily at this point.  Our herd is growing in number and in size.  The countryside is beautiful and green.  It is great to be here on the ranch.  Come by and visit sometime.

Just call beforehand so that we can make ourselves available.  You never know, we might just put you to work.