Not just 1,2 or 3 Herds to Rotate, But 4...OH MY!

With the Steer & Saved Heifer Herd in the background on Hamilton High Paddock, Eastenn Dutch caught me in an appropriate stance. Ever since the end of March, we have filled our days with cattle rotations and fencing. The four herds we are rotating include are our cow/calf herd, our steer/saved heifer herd, our heifer herd, and calf herd. With each herd moving every 2-3 days, moving is the name of the game, not just for them, but for us too!

Since the beginning of spring, I have wanted to send out a 2026 Spring Farm Post to all our readers and shareholders. Today, finally, on Sunday the 26th, I've set aside my afternoon for writing, business calculations, and website management. At Foothill Frolic Farm, our "head over hills" approach for our cattle always takes precedence, seemingly even over family, leaving us immersed in spring farm activities. The extensive list of projects has kept me from writing, but while farming tasks are endless, I've found a momentary break in the cacophony of all the working components to focus on customer relations and journaling.

I am thrilled to finally share some information, as I know many of you have been eagerly anticipating the announcement of our 2026-2027 season and are curious about how to officially secure your custom beef share. Many of you recall selecting an option when placing your 2025-2026 order, indicating your interest in maintaining at least the same size share for the 2026-2027 season. Now, you're looking for all the details on how to confirm your live animal custom beef pre-order for this season.

Details will be shared soon, but here's the main point: we'll announce the opening date of the Custom Beef Online Shop, including pricing for the current season. Shareholders from the '25-'26 season who opted in will have priority for this season's orders, including those who missed out last season due to heifer pregnancies.

We will be harvesting 6 beefs per month, starting in July, just like our last season. Our first moon sign selected harvest date for this season is on Thursday July 2nd. On Farm Pick Ups always start about 2 1/2 weeks after harvest date, which would put our first possible on farm pickups starting in Late July. I hope many of you will remember the month you collected your custom beef share last year, so you can aim to maintain the same annual schedule. This will help ensure that preordering goes smoothly for all our shareholders.

Nonetheless, once the store is open orders will be on a first come first serve basis. For example, once the 6 beef preorders are filled for July, that month will no longer be available. The same goes for all other pick ups months forward till we hit March of 2027. We will also offer, just like last year, reoccurring custom beef share orders. This means you could choose to pick up an 1/8 share every month or a 1/4 share every 3 months.

At least this post will prompt you all into thinking what pick up month is looking best for you for this season, so you will be prepared to know what month you are aiming to place your order once the online beef shop is opened.

Click Here to View Harvest Dates by Signs of the Moon for our '26-'27 season

Foothill Frolic Farm's Spring of 2026 Photo Journal

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Allie here talking and showing off our main Cow Herd. Start of our Main Herd's rotational spring grazing on March 27th. Already starting to hope for rains. The continual hope for rain this spring has been very much a hope. Our heavy precipitation stopped on March 16th. So from about mid March through now in late April, we have only had 2 real rains of .75" and .45". Very Very Dry Spring Indeed. Despite the dryness, with quick rotation management, there has been enough growth for all our herds to keep rotating thus far. At this point though, we really really need some rains before each of our 4 herds make it back to the very start of their rotations. Without rains, growth is very slow after a herd leaves their past grazed paddocks.

Speaking more of the dry Spring and the lack of rains that I noted above under the video, two mentionable points of time and work come into play when we are dry. One being the speed in which herds move through their designated rotations. Two being, temporary pigtail fencing. I have never remembered a spring in which I have employed a big hammer in my pocket when I go to move each herd and that is because the grounds are hard enough that it is not comfortable with my foot to push in the temporary fence post we call pigtails. Since the video above, showing the start of the main herd's rotations, we have already moved this herd 14 times. So imaginably so, it takes a lot more time to hammer in a temporary post than to just push it into the ground with your foot.

Also I guess it doesn't really matter the season of dryness, dryness brings downtrodden spirits anytime, but spring is especially defeating because it normally is the time of growth and vibrant energy, kind of a replenishment after the long winter. In fact, winter is the only season that I would welcome a little dry spell if I got to order the weather, but as this is not the case and farmers are always having to come to terms with the weather, unfavorable is just unfavorable and this has been an unfavorable spring. Now if I was not working with the land or growing food or paying attention to the plants, trees, soils, or the grasses, then it has proven to be a beautiful spring filled with sunshine and warmth for all sorts of lovely outdoor activities.

Our garden is thriving, only because we can water with our filtered spring water, but planting and growing a spring garden would have proven to be difficult otherwise. Lots of the vegetable seeds we planted were planted back when we were still getting plenty of rain in late February and early March and we have just needed to water to continue the plants growth. Our organic matter, nutrient content, and hay mulch capability is more concentrated in our garden field as well, which helps for moister retention and health of soil.

Above...Eastenn Dutch working to prepare the strawberry patch. We planted 75 certified organic plants, 3 different varieties. Below...Of course Eastenn Dutch has his working construction site in the garden as well, right above the strawberry patch. In our spring garden we have 3 varieties of beets, Italian broccoli raab, 3 varieties of cabbage, two varieites of swiss chard, curly endive, lots of varieties of lettuce, danver carrots, heirloom bloomsdale spinach, chicory, and potatoes. We have started our corn mounds, and still have all our summer crops to start by seed.

On the other hand, the overseeding of pastures we did in mid March, have been greatly effected as growth and germination rates of clover and grasses probably has been slowed and lowered. Again, it is always a gamble, both in time and money and there is not any form of intelligence that could have better managed our spring overseeding for the better. It just has not rained enough, and that is the fact of the matter.

Our strength in farming though comes in long term management. So despite the dry spring, we still have been rotating and we were able to do this because of our rotating feeding management over the winter and all the prior years leading up to this year that has helped improve our pastures because of our beautiful cows and their rotations. If it was a dry spring along with non regenerative practices, the overall picture would be worse.

The photos here below that I will show, highlight the beauty of the pastures despite the lack of rain. I am just downtrodden because it could be better with a little cooperation with the rains and that is the frustrating aspect for me, but it is what it is. It seems like there is never a farming year in which the weather acts like a model child, perfect to each season right?!

The Slider above is from about March 16th till current. We had that rainy, snowy day on March 16th. Our Main cow herd then, still in their last winter paddock eating hay.

Our first spring calf, Palmer Tohee, was born on March 29th and as of April 26th our Mamma Cows are up to 33. Dot Spot finally had a baldy heifer calf, as her first two heifer calves came out all black. All her line has to either have Dot or Spot in their name, so she will be Halo Spot! All Mamma's are doing really well this calving season. Our best Hereford G3, birthed a very symmetrical, stunningly marked baldy. Our only one sad loss thus far in our spring calving season has been from Dark Brown G2 Mamma and for some unforetold reason her very large heifer calf came out without the calves sac ripping open and off from the face and she did not get it licked off in time for the calf to come to and breath and stay alive. We felt terrible for the pair. She is a powerhouse of a Mamma, as she has had very nice calves every consecutive year for the last eight years, so this is her first loss. She was longing and mournful for a while. The other Mamma's have given her good attention by coming up and licking her and spending time with her while she was healing.

Above...Here we are out on a very warm spring day doing fencing work, in an all smiles and a thumbs up selfie!! We have been working very hard to fence off all of our homeplace creeks, with future plans of accessible water drinking stations for the rotating cattle, but for now we are just manually mobilizing pump and trough array. If calculating both sides of the creeks running through the farm, we probaably have about 11,600 linear feet of fencing to accomplish. Eastenn Dutch has most recently become fascinated with the old water wheel on Maple View that was put in by Sullivan County in the early 1900's to provide water to the Old Holston School and the Old Wagner Dairy. Eastenn Dutch and our beloved steer, Quick Whitt. We always are giving him plenty of rubs and hugs, and Eastenn Dutch even tried to lead him with a carrot on a fishing pole for fun. When farm kids are unwell, they often rest against a tree and nap while the herd stays nearby, as the rest of the family continues working. Dad here doing the last of the winter hay feeding with the calf herd and loading them up from Gammondelle to head over to Maple View for their spring rotations. The calf herd was the last of our four herds to start their spring rotations. In celebration of wrapping up winter hay feeding, in which Eastenn Dutch does a tremendous amount of by the way, he got to go on a day adventure of Mt. Biking, which is one of his favorite sidelines he likes to do in which he is skilled and that we don't get to do enough of!

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Here is our 2025 spring calf group finishing out the last of their winter hay feeding rotations as Gammondelle in early April. While our herd rotations start peeling off from winter to spring rotations, Dad stays at feeding hay until this last of the four herds start their spring rotations.

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Here is a video of our beautiful Heifer Herd over on what we call Maple View. The Heifers were our second herd to start their spring rotations. They started on March 31st. They have already moved 9 times and are about to be in their 10th paddock.

Above...Showing off our wonderful steer herd. These turqouise tagged steers are this custom beefs season 2 year olds. They have been eating very very well, in what I would say is our best paddock we call Hamilton High. We got them full on rotating on April 3rd and they are on their 6th rotation for the season, so they have moved to different paddocks 6 times thus far. We are delivering their fresh pumped spring water to them this season in this particular paddock so they do not have to back walk a long distance through paddocks to get to their water source. They are very much appreciative, but it is more time on us. While we are gravity flow filling their troughs Eastenn Dutch and I try to get a reading session in and the steers have taken a liking to it as well.

Allie reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Eastenn Dutch and the Steers. They stand around in full audience and even come up to give me licks on the head while reading!

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Last, but not least. Here is our 2025 spring calf herd, at the start of their rotations on Maple View on April 10th.

The 2025 spring calves were weened at the first of 2026 from their Mamma's and have stayed a herd ever since. Moving here from our homeplace farm to Gammondelle, then on finally to Maple View to start their own herds spring rotations. It was just beautiful one evening over on Maple View Small Barn Paddock when I was putting out their next rotation's temporary fencing. Both them and the landscape looks brilliant!

Whew so there you have it, all of our spring flings.

Be on the lookout for more post, including one announcing an up and coming movie event put on by the ARC&D at the Jackson Theatre this coming Tuesday evening, that our farm is featured in and I will be there for the live on stage farmer panel.

Also there might be some Spring Green offerings this week for order and grab at our Self Serve Farm Stand. More Post Info to come.

Until Next Time, Eat Well and Be Well and Please Pass Along through your favorite media!,

(even though we have held off on having a social media presence, we are perfectly fine for our readers to share.)

Allison Mills Neal of Foothill Frolic Farm