A Summer Cookout
in Cow Camp

If you look at a map of Idaho at night and pick the darkest patch on the map, chances are you’ll end up at Alderspring Ranch. Our ranch is surrounded on all sides by mountains and borders the largest contiguous Federal wilderness area in the lower 48. And in this rugged landscape, we raise grass fed, certified organic beef and ship it direct to our customers across the United States.

Each May, my parents Glenn and Caryl Elzinga, and us, their seven daughters and a handpicked crew, saddle up for a summer herding cattle on our rangeland. We’ll spend the next several months living with our cattle in remote cow camps, herding them each day to good grass and bedding them down at night. This intensive form of rangeland management allows us to protect our cattle from wolves, and gives us a unique ability to control exactly where our cattle graze.

Though we are passionate about ecosystems, what we do ultimately comes down to raising good food. It’s the culmination of months of invested labor, sweat, and heart. So naturally, a lot of the stories of life at Alderspring are stories about food. Food is community, just like land. With these recipes and stories, we invite you to join us in those communities.