I don’t want to compare the two in this article. I have already done it several times, including on our website. To look at that information again, please click here. What I have not done is just tell you the benefits that grass fed beef can offer your family.

I was reading an article by Scott Morefield on Natural News entitled, “Four Great Reasons to Eat Organic, Grass Fed Beef.” In his article, Mr. Morefield reminded me that beef has health benefits in and of itself. He created a short list of four reasons to consume grass fed beef.

Since the T-Factor Diet in the late 90s became popular, people have become obsessed with grams of fat. Food companies responded by making many products fat-free. However, fat is necessary in our diets. Grass fed beef offers fat in a healthy ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6s.

A healthy diet is filled with rich sources of protein. Our bodies need essential amino acids to function properly. I know that I personally feel better throughout the day when I rely on different sources of protein instead of the sugar blues that I get when I eat starchy foods. Grass fed beef is a delicious way to add healthy fats into your daily regimen.

Not only is grass fed beef a great source of protein, but it is also full of necessary vitamins and minerals. Scott Morefield writes, “Beef is a one-stop-shop, a rich source of B vitamins, zinc, iron, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, magnesium, etc.”

Grass fed beef can be a part of a healthy diet. The GAPS diet, Primal diet, and Paleo diets all promote grass fed meats, including beef. This delicious red meat has many benefits on its own, but compared to your alternative in the stores is much better for you.

After a wet winter, we had our hopes up for a wet spring, too. Unfortunately that has not been the case until now. The temperatures have been very high for April and May. Last week it felt like summer with temperatures in the mid-90s. As a result, the winter grasses have gone to seed and died while the summer grasses have not had enough moisture to grow well. We were honestly becoming concerned for our grass fed business again.

We repaired a broken dam on a pond on our new property this winter. In an attempt to prevent erosion, my husband and I spent a day planting bermuda and bahia grass on the dam. This rainy weather came at a perfect time. We could not be more thankful.

If you want to learn to grow in your dependence on God, try making a living in agriculture. You realize real quick that you are not in control, but instead have to adapt to the environment you are given with full reliance on your Heavenly Father. Out of gratitude for His faithful provision throughout last year’s drought as well as the rains this winter and spring, Cross Creek Cattle Company wants to give glory to whom it is due. Thank you, God, for the rain, glorious rain.

Stacking logs on the ranch.

A timber company was scheduled to come early spring; however, ironically they were unable to do their job because of our heavy winter rains. Now it is dry enough for them to come in, take the timber, and get out without destroying the land.

As a mother of four boys, I have learned how excited a male can get over machinery. My sons get excited about a tractor or a bulldozer. Timber companies bring very cool machines onto the property. My husband is completely interested in watching the big machine stack the logs. His attention is pulled away only if the skid steer arrives dragging large logs behind.

We have yet to see the feller buncher at work, but I am sure that would be a safety concern. What your eyes cannot see, your ears can hear. The sound of saws slicing through wood followed by the loud crack and sound of splintering wood fills the air.

Even though they have only been here a few days, there is a noticeable difference in the landscape. Looking as deep as the eye can see, the woods are green again. The bare, brown sticks standing amongst the foliage have been removed. The timber company will continue to press into the heart of the woods until all the dead timber is removed.

Since my husband just finished repairing and building the perimeter and cross fences on the new ranch, he is especially pleased to know that the dead trees will not be falling onto them as they begin to rot. Removing the trees professionally will save our fences, but more importantly will be safer for human and animal alike.

Even though it is a blessing that the timber company can do their job based on our dry conditions, we are still praying for rain. We don’t want a repeat of the last few years. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, our area is no longer in a drought per se. Instead, we are categorized “Abnormally Dry.” At the same time climatologists are announcing the end of the La Nina cycle, which they blame for the drought conditions of the past two years.

Not being a climatologist, I cannot well explain the differences between La Nina or El Nino weather cycles. If they foresee more rain in our future, then I will rejoice in that news. Until more rain falls and we are completely off of the Drought Monitor, we will continue to pray for rain. While we wait for the rain, the sound we will hear for awhile is “Timber!”

Ripe dewberries ready for the picking on the ranch.

One of the reasons we love the springtime at Cross Creek Cattle Company is the enjoyment we receive picking berries. The kids love the hunt and their love for the berries is evident all over their faces and hands. Purple lips and purple hands signal a successful outing.

Some years we have bumper crops while other years are lighter than normal. Last year was different. Due to the drought there were no berries to pick at all. The blooms shriveled up into nothing. I would not quite call this year’s season a bumper crop, but there are plenty of juicy berries ripening all over the place. Fortunately we had so much rain over the winter that the berries certainly benefited from the precipitation.

Dewberries ripen sooner than the more well-known blackberry. The plants lay closer to the ground or love to grow up a fence row. The berry itself is smaller and more tart than a blackberry, too. If you don’t mind teeny tiny seeds characteristic of most berries, then you will love dewberries.

Cooked they make beautiful deep purple dishes from dewberry jam to dewberry cobbler. For instructions on making dewberry jam, please read my article at Texas Homesteader. Eating them straight from the vine washed only with the morning dew is my children’s favorite way to eat them. Like other berries, you only want to wash them when you are ready to use them. Otherwise, they mold easily.

Dewberries freeze well, too, so that you can enjoy them year round. Simply wash them and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Lay flat in a freezer for an hour or two. When frozen, transfer the berries into a freezer bag. This method allows the berries to remain separate instead of being frozen into one big blob.

This season does not last long so you have to take advantage of it while it lasts. Freezing, canning, and eating them by the handfuls is our family’s method. What is yours?

Our primary concern is fencing. Without proper fencing, you cannot contain your cattle nor can you keep out neighboring herds. After years of neglect, the perimeter fencing was in bad repair. Trees had fallen in some places like a game of pick up sticks. My husband and some hired men worked long, hard days removing the trees and limbs, clearing the fence lines, and repairing the fences. In many places, it was easier to completely rebuild the fence from scratch.

I am pleased to announce that the perimeter fencing is complete. Our borders are secure. Now my husband’s focus has been the cross-fencing. Pasture rotation requires good cross-fencing whether it is a sturdy 5 string barbed wire fence or a fence made with hot-wire. My husband reports that the cross-fencing is now 95% done.

Unfortunately, this new property has a infestation of feral hogs. We have them on our home ranch, but not near to the extent of the new ranch. In some places, the hogs have disked up the earth. Weeds then come up instead of grass; therefore, the wild hogs are posing a threat to our livelihood in the grass fed beef business. Cattle have to have grass in order to survive without grain.

I have written before about this problem and how my husband built a hog trap. The trap has been very effective. In the last three weeks, we have killed 37 hogs. Monday alone we trapped and killed 21 wild hogs. Not only are we feeding the local community and filling our own freezers with wild pork, but we are making a small dent in the feral hog population.

Now that the pastures are being taken care of with the removal of wild hogs and with the sturdy fencing, our next concern is water. There are many lakes and ponds on the property. One pond’s dam had broken. It has since been repaired with a bulldozer. Now all the waterways are accessible and full to the brim thanks to all the rain we have been receiving.

The next project that my husband must tackle is repairing the existing cattle pens. Once we take our herd of mama cows and the bulls to the new ranch, we will have to have a way to work and pen them up. Our plan is to use our home ranch for the sole purpose of finishing out our grass fed beef.

We are not quite ready to move our main herd just yet, but we are laying the groundwork. When we do eventually move the herd, this will not affect our customers at all. The grass fed animals will still be at the home ranch and you will still pick up your orders from the home ranch as well.

We are so excited about the expansion of our ranch and of our business. As the demand for grass fed beef increases, we are trying to keep up with the demand. We thank our customers for making this possible.

First we selected a perfect setting for a picnic lunch. We sat in the shade of a tree in a meadow that was once a hay field. The grass is just beginning to grow to the point were it slumps over by the weight of its head. The gentle breeze stirred the grasses into a swaying dance. Butterflies fluttered around, checking out the wildflowers and even landed briefly on Cathey’s arm. We sat overlooking a tree-rimmed duck pond with still water. Picturesque is the only word to describe it.

After eating a light lunch of apple slices, grapes, nuts, and cheese, we each mounted our horse. Isaac and Andrew, our youngest boys, rode in tandem saddles behind my husband and myself. We began our ride through wooded pastures, across mud, through standing water, by a large lake, down creeks, and through pastures painted with tons of wildflowers.

I personally could not get over the latter. Even so close to our home ranch, the new property held different flora than we are familiar with like red honeysuckle, Indian grass, and Texas stars. There were a few more flowers I did not recognize, but will need to consult my Texas wildflower book in order to properly identify them. The open pastures were filled with a mixture of different wildflowers. I have never in my life seen so many wine cups or such big butter cups. It was like walking through a sea of purple and pink.

We also ate our first wild dewberries of the season. Sweet and tart, the juice bursts in your mouth between your teeth. Cathey dismounted her horse, Shania, and began picking them for all of us to eat. We have one horse in particular, Cheyenne, who loves a berry or two for herself.

In addition to the flowers and berries, as we walked through the woods, wild ferns skirted the path filling the empty spaces between the trees along the ground. The bright green foliage was a beautiful contrast against the orange pine needles littering the ground.

Isaac, who rode behind me, asked me, “How does PawPaw know what everything is?” His question was sparked because my dad was a walking flower and plant guide on our ride. He easily identified most of the flora we came across. I explained to Isaac that it comes from being observant and inquisitive and that he too can learn the names of the plants and animals, too.

In fact I began pointing out plants, flowers, and trees and asking him what they were. He surprised himself when he realized that he knew a bunch of the names of the flora already. Names like pine trees, bluebonnets, wild onions, butter cups, etc.

As we finished up our ride, we climbed a high hill to survey the view. The view was breath-taking as your eyes scanned the treeline, the pastures, and the waterways from on top of the hill. You felt like you were on top of the world. My only regret of the day was not bringing along my camera, but the images I saw are forever etched in my memory. What a beautiful day!

Wild Boar and my husband, Lane.

A few weeks ago, my husband and son, Jake, set up a hog trap for wild hogs. Feral hogs have been destroying pastureland on Cross Creek Cattle Company. Since our livelihood depends on grass for our herd, we cannot sit back and watch as these wild nuisances wreak havoc.

Jake and Lane building the hog trap.

We have driven up on numerous hogs, but never seem to have a gun when we do. We have named one boar, The Bear, because he is so big that he looks like a black bear. He is the largest wild boar we have seen in these parts.

We have some men working for the ranch in fence repair. My husband sent them ahead early this morning to get started while he finished checking the cows, feeding the horses, etc. A few minutes later, Lane received a phone call from the employees informing him that a huge pig is trapped and trying its hardest to escape. They went on to say that its back is as high as the panels, which are 4′ tall. Lane let me know so that I could finish his chores as he sped away. We just knew it was “The Bear.”

Well since there are fish stories, I should not be surprised that there are hog stories, too. And in defense of the men who called, they were situated on top of the hill looking down into the trap. Maybe the pig’s back did in fact look that tall. It quickly became very obvious to Lane that the hog was certainly not “The Bear.”

My husband is not a huge man. He stands at 5′9″ and weighs 145 pounds. In comparison the hog is really a big boar. It outweighed my husband by twenty pounds. Wild hogs are mean and have sharp teeth and tusks. I am glad that the hog was trapped when my husband saw it.

So Lane ended up spending a good part of his morning cleaning a large wild boar for the sole purpose of making sausage. It just goes to show that as a Ranch Manager you never know what your day will bring. Never a dull moment at Cross Creek Cattle Company, and we are still on the hunt for “The Bear.”

Andrew riding a very low pine bough like a horse with Isaac's help.

Acres and acres of open pasture, wooded pastures, dry creek beds, and many ponds all offer different venues for fun. My children love to hike. They love to observe the flora and fauna, especially now in the spring time. Wildflowers are in bloom, dewberries are beginning to form on their thorny vines, and baby animals are emerging from their hiding places. The woods offer cool, shady place, including trees to climb and places to play hide and seek.

A string of bass.

The ranch with its horses and cows also offer a different kind of entertainment. My older children are great riders. They are allowed to ride on the ranch whenever they get the notion. The cows are not near as fun as the horses. However, Jake, especially, loves to stand in the middle of the herd watching the calves play. They are curious creatures and will soon come up to him. If he moves slowly, he can usually scratch their foreheads and/or touch their moist noses.

Sheltered by the safety of the ranch, we have no “stranger danger” to concern us. My children are like the children of old, playing outside limited only by a few rules and their imaginations. Their faces are lightly freckled and tanned in the summer. Their bodies healthy and rarely ill. The bottoms of their feet are callused and never notice the sharp points of the rocks on the road. They have great imaginations and play well with one another.

They also know this ranch like the back of their hand. Therefore, their heart strings have rooted deeply in this land just like my brother and myself, and like our father before us. Cross Creek Cattle Company is more than a family-owned and operated ranch; it is where our heart calls home. It is where members of our family bring their children to enjoy a free-range childhood; regardless of where they live the other days of the week. It is where my husband and I choose to live while raising our family, knowing full well that we wanted to have “free range kids.”

About ten years ago, we did have a calf born that could have succumbed to this type of death. The birth was a hard one, and both the mother and calf were weak and tired. The mama cow delivered her calf in the wide open, situated between a creek and a slough. Usually cows like to go off and deliver in privacy, but here she was for all the world to see.

As dusk began to fall, the calf had been cleaned up, and had nursed a little, but it was still too weak to travel far. The mama cow kept trying to coax it to follow her despite the fact she needed to rest badly herself. He would try but his unsturdy legs would fail him after a few steps. She gave up for the time being and laid beside him, snuggling up to his body to keep him warm. She too was exhausted.

The rest of the herd sensing the precarious situation came to her rescue. Cows began bedding down around the new calf and mother, forming a literal circle of protection. They lay in the center completely surrounded by the herd. It was such a beautiful thing to witness. The herd working together as a team.

A small pack of coyotes came out just as the last rays of light began to fade. They circled the herd snarling with their noses in the air. Somehow they sense weakness. The mama cow rose and stood over her calf. She was understandably alarmed. Sometimes mama cows end up trampling their own calves while trying to protect them. The other cows stood up too. All of them stood facing their adversaries, heads down, adrenaline pumping. Slowly the circle tightened around the weak calf and its mama as the coyotes spread out around the perimeter.

Luckily for the herd and ourselves, the coyotes decided collectively that the fight was not worth their time. They ran off into the darkness of the woods leaving our herd safe and sound.

You might be wondering how I know this or why I did not intervene. The herd was just below our home and from my window I could see what was happening. If we had had enough time, we would have loaded a gun and fought for our herd; however, this entire event occurred in just a few minutes. We simply did not have time.

Keeping your cattle together in a multi-generational herd is predator protection. They literally get herd mentality, meaning that they think and act as one. They are a force to be reckoned with against predators; however, we don’t just have coyotes.

We also have a few cougars roaming in this territory. Three years ago, we lost a large calf to one. The only reason we know for sure is because his body got tangled in a barbed wire fence and the cat was unable to carry it off. I won’t go into the gory details, but needless to say we were upset.

We have a neighbor who has lost almost thirty goats. Their bodies are completely gone. It is like they vanished. Other neighbors have sighted the cats or heard them in the woods. Obviously Cross Creek Cattle Company cannot afford to lose any of our animals. When presented the opportunity to get two free donkeys, we accepted.

Donkeys are known for fighting off predators. They use their powerful hind legs to fight off dogs, coyotes, and other predators. Since we run two herds of cattle, we split the donkeys up in order to protect both. We hope that they will never be called to duty, but you can never be too careful.

Isaac and his big fish

A bouquet of wildflowers.

It was like being in a movie. We laughed and wondered what we would see next. After making camp, we hiked to one of our lakes to go fishing. We were very successful fishing. We quickly caught four big bass. My children enjoyed paddling out in a little rowboat. At the lake, we kept catching a whiff of something rank, and found the body of a dead beaver on the bank.

Campfire Biscuits.

In the morning, we baked biscuits in a cast-iron Dutch oven. My husband made his famous “camping eggs” and bacon on a Coleman stove. Later we went on another hike and 4-wheeler ride. We were slightly sad to tear down our camp and load up the car. We had had such a wonderful time, but all good things must come to an end.

We consider ourselves very lucky to live and work on Cross Creek Cattle Company. Raising your family in the country and on a ranch is a dream of ours. Deciding to go on a stay-cation was a great idea, as we enjoyed time together as a family, but also communed with nature in most unexpected ways. Life is definitely an adventure.