Processing blue corn for atole
This is blue corn we harvested at the end of the growing season in 2013. It came from 7 rows that were approximately 80 feet long. After desgrando el maiz, or shelling the corn, we poured it in front of … Continued
New irrigation diversion structure for Acequia
Today we saw the completion of a project for the parciantes (irrigators) of Acequia Madre del Sur del Río de Don Fernando de Taos. The process was initiated by a previous Commission through a program offered by the Taos Soil … Continued
Learning to slaughter lambs
Today we facilitated a learning experience in slaughtering lambs. These aren’t just any lambs, these are high quality, grass fed, pasture raised, churro sheep. We had three educators learn the process from a local slaughtering expert, Edward Gonzales. All of … Continued
Planting garlic at Sol Feliz
Better late than never! We would have liked to get the garlic in the ground last October or November. We were on track for planting in late November but then a snow storm came and first made the field frozen … Continued
Snowy days in the Taos Valley
Today we received some much needed snow. Unfortunately our garlic is not in the ground yet, but this is still much needed moisture. I don’t remember this much snow this early, so hopefully this means a good winter with much … Continued
Desgranando (shelling) chicos
Today we brought down about half of our chicos hanging from the rafters in the porch. We untied the strings holding them together and put the loose cobs in the cajete above. We then use one cob against the other … Continued
Cleaning seed at Chrysalis
Here is Marissa demonstrating the method to clean seed using two bins, unprocessed seed, a tarp, and the wind. In the picture above, we had already harvested the amaranth plants by cutting the plants at the base of the stem … Continued
Sorting the garlic harvest
This is our second year of going through our garlic harvest and separating it into different size classes. This is useful to know how our garlic is doing and allows us to better answer questions around the effects of soils, … Continued