We purchased our land in late 1996 and started our beef program in 1998 while continuing with our careers in town.  We made the decision to focus on the ranch full-time and since 2005 we have been building our ranch from the ground up - literally.  The only things that were here were land, various grasses, junipers, sagebrush and reservoirs; a road that George built in1998; an unfinished cabin that we brought in during 2001 and an outhouse.  No commercial power and no running water.

 

We have made a lot of progress during the 17 plus years we have lived on the ranch.  In late summer of 2014 we were able to move from our “ranch house starter kit” which is a really cute, really small cabin (368 square feet) into “the Big House” which we started building in 2010.  Because of the expense involved with bringing commercial power to the ranch, we decided to live off-grid.  We have a wind turbine and solar panels that provide our power as well as generators for "grey days" (when there isn't any sun or wind.)  We also collect, purify and store rain water for all of our domestic water needs while the livestock utilize the reservoirs on the ranch.  Along the way we built the shop, a horse barn, numerous outbuildings, 12-miles of new fence, an additional reservoir, and all the “other stuff” that go into an operating ranch.

 

During all the building going on at the ranch, we continued marketing and selling our beef.  Boredom has not been an issue!