The purple Elderberries are made into pastries and puddings, sauces and Elderberry wine. There is hot or spiced sarsaparilla tea, wild lettuce, and watercress. In the fall, there are sweet and filling pine nuts, and in winter, large mushrooms are served with hot Yerba Buena tea. And, although not rechewable, pine pitch gum is far better than the store bought variety. Public electricity never did reach the cattle ranches in the Pine Ridge area.
Light is provided by kerosene lamps, and the large brick fireplace is the only source of heat.
The ranch uses a tremendous amount of fuel, and it takes two men working with a cross cut saw many days before the 20 cords needed to last the winter are cut and stacked. The cooking, in the large kitchen building, which sits south of the house, is also done with wood. Different types of wood are used, depending on the meal. In the morning, Manzanita is used, and breakfast is usually ready in five minutes or so. With pine chips, lunch takes about ten minutes to cook.