Following his Russian naval service, young dreamer Asa returns to his sister's nomadic brood on the desolate Hunger Steppe to begin a hardscrabble career as a shepherd. But before he can tend a flock of his own, Asa must win the hand of the only eligible bachelorette for miles, his alluringly mysterious neighbor Tulpan. Accompanied by his girlie magazine-reading sidekick (and a menagerie of adorable lambs, stampeding camels, mewling kittens, and mischievous children), Asa will stop at nothing to prove he is a worthy husband and herder.