WWOOF USA recently sent me a link to this video which was the top award winning entry in a contest they gave.  We need paying guests to pay the bills but we also need wwoofers to come and help us build the vision that is Lifewater Ranch!  If you can’t afford our reasonable rates or you just like getting your hands dirty and working outside on a beautiful ranch, fill out our reservation form and lets get together and

cut some dead trees,

make some burn piles,

plant a garden,

harvest a garden,

make apple cider,

make some chips,

take out invasive species of rose bushes,

feed the chickens, the pigs or the cows,

fix broken machinery,

build a 1000 hole disc golf course,

upgrade our terraced garden,

add a zip line, ….

There’s TONS to do and it all makes for a better place for people to visit, rest, heal and chill – and in your off time you can do that too!

Alex and Emily celebrating the end of a hard work week with campaign in the hot tub.

One way or another, you’ve got to experience Lifewater Ranch!

This was the third harvest this year of apples.  All were about the same size…. 30 gallons of apples or more!  I am using my cider press to turn these all into delicious raw apple cider for guests (and myself of course!)

Today I was literally shaking a stick at the apples to get the last of the high ones down.  Some are still left, too high or too protected by other branches to get to.  Well I guess the deer and my cattle can have a few for themselves.

It’s been an incredible year for apples and for black-berries.  I have picked several gallons of black berries this year but its much more tedious and slow than are apples.  I’ll keep working at it and see how much I end up with before the season is over.

Here are some shots from harvest time in the past…

The Apple of DEATH

No Problem!

Frost hides the hidden life beneath

Ever think of doing something special with the family on Christmas or Thanksgiving?

Lifewater Ranch gets some snow in the winter but with a nice big Hot Tub and a pool table downstairs and a closet full of games and puzzles, it’s not a bad place to enjoy great times inside with the family.

If we do have a heavy snow, just next to the house is a nice hill you can inner-tube on (and we do have tubes you can use!) and if you’re ambitious, (and have a snowmobile) you can go clear up to Tobogon run where you can do some very serious tubing or even downhill or cross country skiing – all in my own back yard.

The ponds and pool freeze over so ice skating isn’t out of the question either – but please be safe!

And here’s the kicker… we have TONS of beautiful white-fur trees perfect for our tall living room you can cut down and mount inside the house and decorate together!  Yup, we even have a tree stand (and a chain saw) you can use, just bring your own ornaments and decorations.

Christmas at Lifewater Ranch might be one of the most memorable events you can do with your family.

It’s never a bad time to visit Lifewater Ranch!

I decided to let my cattle graze around the houses as a last nice snack before fall hits.  Unfortunately I was in the process of repairing my gate to the garden area and so naturally this is where I found them this morning.  They were enjoying my apples and doing a touch-up job on my mowing of the lawn.

These animals are so gentle they almost seem to belong in my back-yard.

Scottie is owned by the Kindreds and will be harvested this fall for beef.

Traeger is my newest calf who will go to the butcher next fall.

Dunnis and Ernie are my bulls and are both beautiful Scottish Highlander specimens.

Taffy is the mother of all but Dunnis and Scottie and I am hoping next spring she will give me some females to help us breed them faster.

I have no plans to make the herd larger than about 10 animals.  They serve to help keep the forest clean, to fertilize my soil, to provide me food, and most of all, to provide my guests entertainment and a sense of peace.

Emily builds a burn pile

Alex begins the tedius work of plucking the feathers from a Grouse he shot on the property.

Alex and Emily working hard to finish pouring concrete into the new cinder-block retaining wall.

Emily cutting a dead willow branch (1)

Emily gathers cuttings from the willows around Island Pond to build a burn pile.

Alex gets some tips from Brook and Sabrina Kindred on how to pluck and clean a grouse.

Alex pouring concrete into the cinder blocks.

Alex learning the joys of concrete

The retaining wall after the pour.

Emily cutting a dead willow branch (2)

Emily sharpens our tree trimming tool.

Alex begins the project with much enthusiasm.

Alex upgrades our garden among many other projects.

Emily cutting a dead willow branch (1)

Alex and Emily working hard to finish pouring concrete into the new cinder-block retaining wall.

The retaining wall after the pour.

Emily sharpens our tree trimming tool.

Alex learning the joys of concrete

Emily gathers cuttings from the willows around Island Pond to build a burn pile.

Emily cutting a dead willow branch (2)

Emily builds a burn pile

Alex gets some tips from Brook and Sabrina Kindred on how to pluck and clean a grouse.

Alex begins the tedius work of plucking the feathers from a Grouse he shot on the property.

This September we got a couple of great wwoofers helping at the ranch.

Wwoofusa.org is an organization that a friend of mine turned me on to.  A Wwoofer is a person that exchanges labor for room and board.  It’s a great way for someone to enjoy Lifewater Ranch for free in our off season.  You can book with us directly or via the Wwoofusa organization.  See our wwoofer contract for all the details.

Our Wwoofers get to learn skills like logging, fence repair, wild crafted harvesting, gardening, tree trimming and how we apply sustained agriculture to our ranch.  In addition to fun work, in your off time you get to enjoy all the features that our paying guests enjoy.

Here we have Alex and Emily, a couple fresh from Iraq, enjoying some travel before settling down in Arizona.  Alex decided to take on the garden retaining wall project which he initially thought would only take a day or so but ended up taking the whole week.  This is not to say that Alex didn’t work hard – he worked VERY hard and long!  The difficult part was getting the cinder-block placed correctly before pouring the concrete.

Emily did lots of great cooking and took on a large trimming job up at Island Pond.  The willows had grown gangly over the years and badly needed a hair-cut.  She did a wonderful job!

Later, Alex found some Grouse on the property and shot one for dinner.  As he was cleaning the bird, Sabrina and Brook Kindred stopped by to give them some homemade pickled peppers from their garden.  While there, the girls helped Alex a bit by sharing some tips from some of their great experience in cleaning chickens.

The Kindreds live next to the main house and do most of the farming on the property.  They run their own farm website here.  They specialize in organic fed Chicken, eggs, pork and feed which guests are certainly welcome to buy.

Alex and Emily celebrating a good week of wwoofing with champagne in the hot tub.

Alex and I play a game of chess on my floating chessboard.

Emily, Alex and I enjoy a game of risk.

Alex feeds the cat come stewed Grouse

Emily and Alex enjoy the stewed bird for dinner.

On their last day they took the day off and enjoyed the amenities of Lifewater Ranch.  I give wwoofers one day off a week or more if they have exceeded their minimum hours and done a good job.  Alex and Emily were model wwoofers and I need about 100 more of them here helping me turn Lifewater Ranch into a really great place to visit.

Yes it is August and the time of festivals all over the Palouse.  Here’s a cool video I found on the Kamiah Chamber of Commerce website.

You will note that Lifewater Ranch isn’t mentioned in this promotional video.  That’s because I would rather it be discovered by people that look beyond the surface – for now.

Enjoy!

I thought I’d post pix I took of this year’s Kooskia Days so you could enjoy the parade “virtually”!