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Category ArchiveMeet the Sabos



Intern Diaries & Meet the Sabos & Sustainable Agriculture saboranch on 02 Feb 2010

Sabo Ranch Internship Blog- Jules Feeney 2/1/10

Kiril Sabo and Jules Feeney start a snow fort on a winter afternoon

Kiril Sabo and Jules Feeney start a snow fort on a winter afternoon

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my first day on the Sabo Ranch and these are a few of my first impressions. Only some things are consistent. The cows and chickens need to be watched on a daily basis. The way in which the runts interact with the other animals effects the way the feeding is done. The overall rhythm of things is considerably consistent, every morning the cows and chickens are fed and checked on.

            The family is very much just a family with a significant amount of chores that need to be done. Kiril (age six) and Riley (age nine) help, play or work all the time. Riley seems to know everything there is to know about his ranch. Kiril is still learning the way things work from his brother. Both boys have their own set of things to do around the house. Every evening someone goes out to the chicken coup to collect the eggs.

The family could not have been more welcoming or better teachers. I look forward to more days of work and learning with this kind family.

Beef Cattle & Dairy Cattle & Intern Diaries & Meet the Sabos saboranch on 26 Jan 2010

Jules Feeney- Sabo Ranch Feb. 2010 Intern

Jules Feeney, age 15, calls the Washington D.C. area home.  Jules will be spending two weeks with us for his Winter Special Session from the Field School.

Jules Feeney, age 15, calls the Washington D.C. area home. Jules will be spending two weeks with us for his Winter Special Session from the Field School.

Sabo Ranch remains fully committed to helping high school and college students experience life on a Montana cattle ranch. 

Jules Feeney will try his hand at driving the ranch pickup for feeding cattle, loading bales, milking cows, tending chickens and ducks, living off-the-grid, and eating in season in a Montana winter.  He will also attend a Bozeman Winter Farmers Market (as a farmer!), and watch a grassfed beef getting butchered, and cut up, at our local butcher “Montana’s Best Meats” for steaks and burger.

 

Before leaving- Jan. 26, 2010

Blog 1

by Jules Feeney

 

 

When I first decided I wanted to spend my winter internship in Montana at Sabo ranch I was expecting to do a few thing around and help out. But as the weeks went on and the time for me to leave came closer I realized I would be a real ranch hand doing everything and anything. So out of everything I want to learn to ride a horse because I’ve never actually ridden one before.

What I remember from the last time I was out on the ranch was the horse pulled sled riding. This a fond memory but not the driving force that has me returning as an intern. My dad has been encouraging me to get out in the world and work. We had talked about doing this in the summer but the time was never right. But when I had this opportunity with my school I decided this was my chance.

It’s had to say what I want to bring home with me before I’ve even seen what’s up for me to take home. However a sense of accomplishment and support that I can then provide for my family back home in the city life is something that sounds appealing.

The preparations were mainly thinking about my trip and preparing for the cold but also making sure I had the right clothes for the weather was another big part. But from what I’ve done in the way of packing and preparing I feel safe and ready for another learning experience.

Sabo Ranch has space for one Intern Sept-Dec. 2010.  Questions?  Contact us at saboranch@gmail.com, or 406-685-3248.

Beef Cattle & Meet the Sabos saboranch on 26 Jan 2010

Kiril’s Ranch Artwork

Kiril Sabo, age 6 (photographed by his mother who faced him straight into the winter sun) with his Ranch Artwork.  Kiril has carefully drawn cows eating hay, calves lying down, and even busy bulls with their mates!

Kiril Sabo, age 6 (photographed by his mother who faced him straight into the winter sun) with his Ranch Artwork. Kiril has carefully drawn cows eating hay, calves lying down, and even busy bulls with their mates!

Articles & Meet the Sabos saboranch on 18 Jan 2010

Rolfing for Ranchers

Ben Hanawalt, of Montana’s Boulder River Valley which runs through McLeod, MT, recently completed the 10 sessions of the Rolf Method of Structural Integration for our entire family, Jenny age 50, Mark age 48, Riley age 9 and Kiril age 7.   Mark and I realized that this lifestyle, which we love, can only be accomplished with bodies that are in terrific working order.  Little things, like very sore knees and backs, hips, shoulders, elbows, and ankles can stop our whole ranching career.  So, part of our Sustainability Plan for Sabo Ranch is to keep ourselves healthy and fit!

We eat grassfed meats, probiotic drinks like Kombucha and kefir, fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi (made quickly and easily in Autumn from our own and neighbors’ produce), lacto-fermented whole grain breads, take a full complement of vitamins and minerals (especially vitamin D in winter), and make sure we all sleep well and soundly.

The result has been children that rarely get sick, and good health and smoothly working bodies for Mark and myself.  It’s worth it, as without Good Health, the rest of life is difficult at best.

Jenny Sabo, saboranch@gmail.com  

You can contact Ben at A Life of Grace.

Beef Cattle & Dairy Cattle & Events & Grass Fed Beef Sales & Intern Diaries & Meet the Sabos & Off Grid Lliving & Sustainable Agriculture saboranch on 28 Dec 2009

Internships available

Rebecca Kurnick milking Cupcake on a December morning, 2009.

 

Rebecca Kurnick milking Cupcake on a December morning, 2009.

 

 

 

SABO RANCH INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE   

 

Contact us at (406)685-3248, saboranch@gmail.com

March-June 2010, and Sept-Dec 2010. 

 

 

 

 

Same or different people possible. 

Summer work here might also be possible, as work can expand here depending on help.
 
The program can be formal, or informal, hooked to the university or not, as the student needs.
 
2-7 days per week possible.
Food and Lodging provided.
 
We would like to be paid $100.00/week for the first three months, recognizing the extra time that goes into training and teaching someone the “ins and outs” of a sustainable beef/dairy ranch. 
Once a student is competent enough, we might choose to leave for an overnight trip, at which point we will pay the intern to cover the ranch in our absence. 
If a student is also competent enough, there is the option of staffing a Farmers Market booth for Sabo Ranch, which is also a paid position.
 
Benefits:
Daily delicious food, much of it raised on our ranch or by our direct friends.  Eating LOCAL every day of the year!
Experience living in an off-the-grid home
Heritage breed beef cattle management
    August & Sept will include embryo transfer work within our herd
Grassfed Jersey dairy cattle management (milking, breeding with AI techniques, caring for milk)
Management Intensive Grazing with livestock
Pastured Poultry
Pastured Pork
Farmers Markets, including fresh food and frozen meat sales
Field to Table management training in our Grassfed Beef program, participating in our family discussions about finances and future planning for the ranch
Publish your thoughts as you learn on our Intern Blog
 
Questions about our internship, or reference needed for us?
Contact Rebecca Kurnick, rakurn@gmail.com, who interned with us May-Dec 2009.
 

Meet the Sabos saboranch on 18 Dec 2009

Kiril farm photo

Kiril's Farm at Home
Kiril’s Snowy Day farm game

When a farm kid plays at home, he knows what he’s doing when he reaches into the box of toys and animals!  Kiril, age 6-3/4, built and photographed this, and wanted to add it to our website, so here it is. 

Beef Cattle & Dairy Cattle & Devon Cattle for Sale & Events & Grass Fed Beef Sales & Meet the Sabos & Off Grid Lliving & Sustainable Agriculture saboranch on 15 Dec 2009

Field Day- Sabo Ranch- June 19, 2010- 11:00 to 4:00

Jenny and Mark Sabo

Jenny and Mark Sabo

Sabo Ranch Field Day 2009
Sabo Ranch Field Day 2009

Come Meet the Sabos and Tour the Sabo Ranch & Field Day Farms Market Garden- Saturday, June 19, 2010, 11:00am-4:00pm.  Tent Provided this year for dry/shaded eating!!!

100% Grassfed DEVON and JERSEY Cattle, Management Intensive Grazing, Off Grid Living, Large MARKET GARDEN, Eating Local Foods, Grassfed Beef, Pastured Pork, Pastured Poultry.  Only 150 Spaces available, Local Food Lunch served.

After Lunch SEMINARS: 2:00-4:00pm

1. GOOD FOOD/GOOD FUTURES- How to Source Great Local Food HERE!, and Why Your Purchases will Change our LOCAL ECONOMY for all of us.

2. FAMILY DAIRY ANIMALS- How to Choose the Best Genetics for Family and Friends, How to Keep Animals and Milk CLEAN AND HEALTHY.

Tour with Jenny and Mark Sabo will discuss:

– Breeding Jersey cattle to A2/A2 New Zealand bulls, tightening breeding season towards seasonal milking.

Rotokawa Devon cattle:  Harvesting embryos from “Sabo Abby”, our first Rotokawa Devon, implanting in other Sabo Red Angus previous recipient cows, using seasonal fertility patterns in cattle. Testing for A2/A2 status in Devon Herd.

– More Management Intensive Grazing (MIG)practices with beef cattle

Soil testing and Foliar Feeding for hay fields

– MIG with laying hens
– Sabo Ranch Interns- the importance of training future Sustainable Farmers/Ranchers
– Devon Burgers for fresh food sales added to Bogert Farmers Market activities Summer 2010.
ALL LOCAL FOOD booth! 
 
1/4 Carcass Beef Harvest, single week harvest, for compacted beef sales, premium Omega 3 levels in the grassfed beef
  

Tour and Meal:  $15/Adult, Children 12& under FREE. 

**$7.50/Young Farmers 12-21(free with reservation before 5/1/10)**.

Meet the Sabos & Off Grid Lliving saboranch on 03 Jul 2009

Sabo working kitchen

 
 
looking east in our working kitchen

looking east
 
This is a view looking east into our kitchen, flooded with light on an October morning.  We have lots of space for canning, preserving foods for winter, entertaining guests, and housing baby animals in cold spring weather (note the tile floors!). 
Photo: Steve Simpson

Meet the Sabos saboranch on 15 Nov 2008

Riley and Earthworms

Riley, ever the pragmatist, digs for earthworms to feed the baby chicks we raise each spring in our solar heated greenhouse.

The earthworms love the compost, kelp meal, and minerals we add to the soils for the newly planted peppers here.

The chicks love the extra protein, and it teaches them the flavor, and the foraging techniques they will need once they head outside at three weeks of age.

Meet the Sabos saboranch on 14 Nov 2008

Kiril and Chick

We raise our baby chicks for three weeks in our solar heated greenhouse before they head outdoors to forage on pasture for the rest of their lives.

Kiril, age 5, loves to play with them in the extra spring warmth of the greenhouse.

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