A Special Ending to an Extraordinary Experience

Taos is the "land of enchantment," or so says the Taos Tourist Bureau.  They aren't so far from the truth, we believe. We ended our week in New Mexico by spending most of the day at and around Taos Pueblo, the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark.

We were fortunate to meet Bob Pederson, who has worked closely with Red Willow Farms, located on Taos Pueblo.  He first showed us the educational organic farm he is developing outside of the pueblo. Though still in developmental stages, the farm is producing beautiful crops, and Bob has a vision to create alternative energy and food year-round.

 

We couldn't resist getting our hands on the farm to pick vegetables that needed to be picked as the growing season was coming to an end. We also picked beans that we cooked up to take to our potluck later in the day. Talk about fresh food!

After Bob's farm, we went to Red Willow farm, an organic farm that is also used to educate local youth about agriculture and the Tewa culture.  Taos means red willow in the Tewa language. There, we met Shirley Trujillo, manager of the farm and resident of the pueblo.

Shirley graciously invited us to her home to have a special lunch with her extended family, for it was San Geronimo Feast Day, a day to celebrate the end of the harvest. We were able to watch a portion of the pole climbing ceremony at the pueblo (no pictures allowed), a harrowing feat carried out by young men dressed in costume. It was fascinating to say the least!

A beautiful trip could not end without a sunset at the "gorge" over the Rio Grande. As the sun set and as we peered over the railings of the bridge hundreds of feet above ground, we reflected on the past two weeks and how fortunate we were to spend the time together learning about and appreciating agriculture and its connection to building a strong community. Certainly these experiences built our resolve to work hard back home to ensure that agriculture remains an integral part of our own communities.

Fish, Beef, and Veggies!

At the Mora National Fish Hatchery, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in the small town of Mora, we met Jeff Powell, a wildlife biologist in charge of running the operations at the state-of-the-art facility. While the hatchery can grow a number of different species, it is currently focused on growing endangered trout species. After the trout are grown, they are released into streams where fishers can catch them legally. It was an interesting concept!

The fish hatchery is intended to grow and bring much needed jobs to this rural community. Some of us wished a facility like this would be built back home to restore our fisheries.

A long drive and a day later, in the land of Taos, we visited the Taos County Economic Development Corporation. That is the home of the Taos Food Center run by the indomitable duo, Terri Bad Hand and Pati Mortenson. 

We were soon put to work in the organic garden, picking vegetables to be donated to a homeless shelter.

 

Of course it wasn't all work and no play. In fact, we feasted on a home-made Mexican meal prepared in the certified kitchen by a chef that has trained in one of the programs run at the food center.

 And we were treated to live music by a student, Ariel Bui, in the food safety course. She had the sweetest and most mesmerizing voice!

Finally, we saw what we were waiting for, the Mobile Matanza (slaughterhouse). Although we did not witness a live slaughter, we got to see inside of it (it's super clean!) and talk to the employees who process the meats for pick up by customers.  The Mobile Matanza does, as its name suggests, move to different locations to provide slaughterhouse services. It's a great concept!  (Again, something Hawai`i could use!)

Canon Bonito, a Beautiful Canyon it is!

Prepared for a long journey, we embarked north in our two packed to the rim vans to the town of Wagon Mound to meet our guides, Kirk and Tamara Gadzia of the Quivira Coalition and rancher Mike Reardon. Interestingly, we noted that the rock formations of the region (including the "wagon mound") was made of basalt, just like in Hawai`i!

Quivira Coalition is a non-profit organization that works to improve the health of lands and restore natural systems. At Canon Bonito, a ranch owned by Mike Reardon, the process of restoration is gradually taking place. Over the past 15 years, steps have been taking to re-route the water to restore creeks and allow more than a 100 species of groundcover plants and trees to take root again.

Here is Mike, a visionary rancher who is in it for the long-term, a perspective that is important to have when involved in restoration. He still ranches but in a non-conventional way.

Kirk described how fire, a natural process in this region, is necessary for restoration to take place.  Without it, trees can become too crowded and grow to be unhealthy and vulnerable to big, uncontrollable fires that are detrimental.

The trees behind Tamara have come up naturally along a creek. This creates shade and a corridor for wildlife.

 

Tamara showed us "before and after" photos of the restoration process just by moving rocks around. They were impressive!  Education and outreach is a big part of their work.

Once the habitat comes back, then more animals will follow. Elk are beginning to return. As are the people who appreciate biodiversity and the health of our natural systems.

A Farmers' Market, Coop, and Pueblo . . . in one day!

It was a treat to visit the well-known Santa Fe Farmers' Market. Many of us did our omiyage shopping there and wished we had more time and money to spend!

One of the unique treats was watching the process to roast fresh peppers. It's actually quite simple, but it certainly helps to have the right equipment. We met the charismatic Matt Romero who talked about his booming business and demonstrated the roasting process before our eyes.

We then drove a few minutes away to La Montanita Coop, which is much more than a grocery store. As membership director Robin Seydel explained, it's a community-owned and -building venture that supports local farmers and ranchers by buying their products as well as provides low interest loans to new ventures. With more than 20 years under its belt, the coop has developed a number of innovative practices that would be great to try in Hawai`i.

And after doing a bit more food shopping, we drove to Tesuque Pueblo to meet the staff and volunteers working hard to provide resources to the community and to build an underground seed bank to preserve important seeds from useful crops. Donna dove right into the work!

Some of the women took on the hard work of thrashing the wheat in a traditional way. They called it some sort of dancing. (Wish we had a video to show!)

Here's Matt trying something again . . . this time tobacco!

Another group worked on the seed bank made out of adobe. The project started earlier in the year and was getting close to completion by the time we got there. It felt really good to put our hands onto the cold adobe and make it smooth and solid. We all left part of ourselves there with good wishes for successful  harvests for generations to come.