Ranch Time
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On Steele Creek, north of the Bosque. Hay, oats, and improved grasses in the fields, Charolais on the ridge, bass in the lakes, hives in the brush, and a sky big enough to lose track of an evening in.
The Almanac
Computed for 31.99° N, 97.60° W — the gate at Steele Creek, give or take a fence post. The numbers move in real time; come back tomorrow and they’ll have moved on without you.
The Land
Bosque County sits where the cross-timbers thin out and the Hill Country starts to lift. Live oak and post oak in the bottoms, cedar on the rises, prickly pear where the soil ran out. The wind carries mesquite smoke in fall and bluebonnets in spring. The work is whatever the land is asking for that week.
The Tenants
Some are ours. Most aren’t. We just keep the gates and try not to crowd.
Big, calm, the color of a fence post in winter sun. They handle the heat better than they look like they should.
The hives hum every spring. Our raw wildflower honey is for sale by local merchants in Clifton and Walnut Springs — the wildflowers say thank you in April, and so do the jars.
Run of the yard, run of the porch, run of pretty much wherever they decide. Eggs whenever they feel generous about it.
Show themselves at last light along the creek bottom. The big ones know exactly where the property line is.
September brings them in from everywhere. The whole county knows the date without checking.
Roost in the big oaks above the creek. Spring mornings sound like a tin roof and a pep band having an argument.
The Water
The creek runs all but the driest summers, low and clear over the limestone. Two stocked lakes hold largemouth that have heard every lure ever made and decided not to be impressed. Bring a hat.
From the Journal
A new line every day, drawn from a long list of small Hill Country observations. Bookmark the page and check tomorrow.
Get In Touch
Wildflower honey from our hives is for sale by local merchants in Clifton and Walnut Springs — ask for it by name. If you want to talk land, swap stories, or compare notes on what the does are doing this week, the door is open.