Author Archives: Martin
FREE RANGE: FOOD, NATURE, PLACE, AND MORE
Bloody hands: bison harvest at Madroño Ranch
The very first fruits (though “fruits” hardly seems the right word) of our very first bison harvest are ready to sell, but getting to this point has been a long and sometimes frustrating process. The last stages of that process … Continue reading
South Texas: a fierce and unexpected beauty
Yum! This week has afforded me yet another in a long—seemingly infinite, in fact—series of opportunities to eat crow. Heather and I returned yesterday from a visit to our friends Hugh and Sarah Fitzsimons’ Shape Ranch, outside Carrizo Springs. As … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged birds, bison, eating crow, South Texas, Texas Hill Country, Thunder Heart Bison
1 Comment
A new year at Madroño Ranch: bison harvests, chicken tractors, hog schools, and more
Happy new year! The beginning of the year is always a good time to take stock, so we thought it might be appropriate to look back at what we accomplished—and, erm, failed to accomplish—during the last twelve months. Much remains … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged bison, Boggy Creek Farm, chickens, Dai Due, deer, hunting, Madroño Ranch, visual arts, writing
3 Comments
Meat and unmediated experience: Deer School at Madroño Ranch
At lunch the other day, a friend opined that too much of what we all think and see and hear—and, yes, eat—passes through various filters (the media, agribusiness) before it reaches us; even our air is conditioned, he added, though … Continue reading
Posted in Food
Tagged Dai Due, deer, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, hunting, Madroño Ranch, meat
7 Comments
Most memorable meals, take three: giving thanks
“There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk.” (M. F. K. Fisher) The day after Thanksgiving, when we’re all still riding that tryptophan high, seems like an appropriate time to resume our … Continue reading
A holy fool in “the land of the Philistines”
Greeks and Trojans, Christians and Muslims, Jews and Arabs, Serbs and Croats, Tutsis and Hutus—the collision of cultures is rarely, if ever, a pleasant sight. The protracted and bloody war between the Plains Indians, especially the Comanches, and the white … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged Comanches, Jefferson Davis, John R. Baylor, nineteenth century, Robert S. Neighbors, Texas Rangers, violence
2 Comments
"The Blackest Crime in Texas Warfare"
Our usual route from Austin to Madroño Ranch takes us through Johnson City to Fredericksburg via Highway 290, and then down Highway 16 through Kerrville to the turnoff opposite the Medina Children’s Home. Every time I pass the sign for … Continue reading
How not to write a book
Some of you may not know that I am officially a Published Author and therefore—let’s face it—kind of a big deal, but it’s true. And I have to confess that I’ve never really gotten over the thrill of seeing my … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged baseball, Black Sox, books, Hal Chase, Pete Rose, Texas Book Festival, writing
3 Comments
Lessons from Phoebe
It’s impossible to think about Madroño Ranch without thinking about its critters, both wild and domestic: bison, feral hogs, chickens, wild turkeys, aoudad, deer, geese, snakes, raccoons, porcupines, fish, and dogs. On some days at Madroño, when the wind is … Continue reading
Posted in More
Tagged aoudad, dogs, Julia Child, Kinky Friedman, Madroño Ranch, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch
3 Comments