Volume Number 5 Issue Number 5 October 2010

The FirstHarvest Festival & Ancient Way Fall Festival Event

Co-managers and a host of volunteers tried something new this year, and transported the Ramah Farmers Market 5th Annual Harvest Festival eleven miles down the road. On October 2nd, the Festival, along with the last market of the season, was held under the 90 foot tent put up by the Ancient Way Café for the Ancient Way Fall Festival activities. Often the weather is unsettled during the first weekend of October when the annual event is held. Predictably, it didn’t rain this year during the festival. Bright, breezy weather was the rule of the day. The Ramah Market had a record vendor turnout, which made it a little crowded under the tent. Vendors shared space with the Ancient Way Café dinner tables, the pie contest, the Homestead Harvest displays, and the produce competitions. Adjacent to the tent the 3rd Annual Most Beautiful Chicken Contest took place. A stage was set up at one end for the music performances, pie auction and award ceremonies. Turnout for the festivities was excellent: over 450 visitors turned out to purchase market produce, crafts, and baked goods. The Ancient Way Café served up their celebrated barbecued beef. Visitors fanned out from the tent to check out local craft and food vendors from Pine Hill and Zuni. Inscription Rock Trading and Coffee Company sponsored a black smithing demonstration at the Barn Swallow Forge, featuring blacksmiths Jon Pickens and Wade Kaiser of Hercules Horseshoing. Jean Proper of Free Spirit Therapeutic Riding, brought two horses for a kid’s horse back riding event. The Black Eagle Gourd Dancers set up a Bingo Tent for a their fund-raiser. Across the highway, at El Morro Feed and Seed, StarCloud Farm displayed their Friesian-Churro Sheep. The El Morro Area Arts Council (EMAAC) sponsored both the first annual EMAAC Quilt Contest and Display at the Old School Gallery, and the first annual EMAAC Photo Contest, displayed at the yurt at the Ancient Way RV park (see p. 10).

The morning musical events kicked off with Sandy Rupnow and Kelsey Neher performing madrigal music on guitar, recorder and clarinet on the stage under the big tent. Later on in the afternoon, dance performances by the Zuni Olla Maidens were featured. Bluegrass performances by Don Grieser and Gregg Kelly were followed by Don Grieser and the Pickens Boys. One of the concerns about moving the Harvest Festival was whether regular Market patrons would drive the extra 11 miles to buy their weekly produce. Flyers were handed out over the weeks preceding the Festival explaining where the Market would be taking place. The August issue of the Beet focused on both the location change and the planned events. Apparently all the advertising paid off, because both produce and craft vendors did better than average by the time the day ended.

The 5th Annual Harvest Festival Pie Contest A record number of pie makers turned out for the 5th Annual Harvest Festival Pie Contest. Fourteen entries were received from Ramah, Candy Kitchen, El Morro Ranches, Zuni and Timberlake. Again, local pie makers easily rose to the challenge of using at least one local ingredient in their pie entry. Cindy Blea’s dinner pie entry featured thirteen vegetables and herbs harvested solely from her own garden and farm. Many of the entries featured produce purchased at the Ramah Farmers Market. Local produce from the market and gardens included rhubarb, eggs, strawberries, raspberries, apples, jalapenos, patty pan squash, prickly pear fruit, carrots, potatoes, corn, peas, turnips, onions, thyme, oregano, garlic, cabbage, green chile, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, goat milk, and Hubbard squash. (Continued on p. 8)

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FREE FREE

5th Annual Harvest Festival - First Place Homestead Harvest Display(Small Division)

12th Annual Garden Tour

The El Morro Area Arts Council and the Ramah Farmers Market held its 12th Annual Garden tour on two consecutive Saturday afternoons in late August and early September. Four gardens were visited on August 28; the Milton Conrad family garden and orchard in Ramah; the Kate Wilson garden and orchard, the Pat Wolford garden, and the Harry Hutton and Harriet Lawrence garden, all in the Timberlake subdivision area. Four more gardens were visited on September 4; the Johnston Family garden and the Cindy Blea garden, both in Ramah; the Will Stripp chile garden, located on Highway 53 across from the entrance of Canyon Road, and the Pam Davis (and Will Stripp) Family garden across from El Morro National Monument. This was the second year the tour was held on consecutive Saturday afternoons. The visits, scheduled after the Ramah Farmers’ Market held every Saturday morning, was arranged so that the tour did not interfere with Church services in Ramah. Formally the tour took place on Sunday. A total of 24 people attended both tours (many of them repeats) led by Jackie Rossignol, Ramah Farmers Market co-manager The first day of the tour was covered by Cibola Beacon reporter Sophia Tripodi. The Tuesday, August 31, article can be viewed at the Farmers market web site, ramahfarmersmarket.org. Tour goers came from Ramah, Grants and Gallup. One of the goals of the garden tour is to demonstrate to the wider community how much can be grown in a high elevation garden as well as “tips and tricks” for successfully growing in the tricky Ramah climate.

First Garden Tour – Ramah and Timberlake Subdivision Milton Conrad’s garden, green and abundant, is a longstanding garden in the heart of Ramah. Surrounded by stately Chinese elms, cottonwoods and poplars, Milton’s garden boasted a virtual grove of well grown tomato plants, complimented by beans (dry and string), peas, sweet corn, squash, walking onions, strawberries, raspberries, and garlic. Milton’s wife Kelly sells surplus produce at the Ramah Farmer’s Market as well as “putting up” for family use. Milton’s garden is surrounded by a tall windbreak of trees, creating a protected microclimate that helps mediate early and late frosts and cutting winds. Milton’s 15 year old, well established orchard boasted a variety of fruit trees. Not too much fruit was set this year because of late spring frosts.

Kate Wilson Garden The tour drove on to Timberlake subdivision to visit first time

garden tour participant (and market grower) Kate Wilson. Kate brought everyone out to her fruit tree orchard, surrounded by a seven foot high

fence, planted last year after attending Gordon Tooley’s orchard workshop that was held here in Ramah. Kate demonstrated her low tech watering

system consisting of 20 orange 5 gallon buckets filled from a hydrant and then set next to the trees to slowly water from small hole(s) drilled at the

bottom. Next, Kate provided a demonstration of her top bar bee hive, demonstrating with an empty, v-shaped hive set up at some distance from her Carniolan (Yugoslav) honey bees. Kate explained the advantages of this sustainable form of bee keeping that utilizes no chemicals or antibiotics. Kate went on to show her very compact, combination home and market garden, with its new DripWorks irrigation system. Kate grows a lot of greens (looseleaf, romaine, Butterhead and Crisphead lettuce, spinach, chard, arugula, mustard), as well as squash, beans, peas, beets, turnips, radishes and carrots. One unusual and exciting crop was her beautiful fennel plants. Lastly, Kate showed her raised bed flower and herb garden.

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MARKET NEWSEl Morro Traditional Crafters

Fiber FestivalSaturday, October 23, 11:00AM – 3:00PM at the Old School Gallery, Free

Join us for a day of fun as we celebrate the world of fibers. There will be various crafters demonstrating their skill as well as displays of finished work. Come watch the spinning, knitting, crochet, basketry, quilting and felting. Try your hand at some or just visit with the crafters. There will be food and drinks available with proceeds going to El Morro Area Arts Council. Questions contact Kate Wilson 783-4704 or the Old School Gallery 783-4710.

Ramah Farmers’ MarketFALL

Grower/Craft MakerPot Luck Brunch& Seed Exchange

s theOld School Gallery

Located on Route 53, 11 miles east of Ramah next to El Morro Feed & Seed, across from the Ancient Way Café/Inscription Rock Trading

Saturday, November 20, 11:30am – 1:30pmCome meet the growers, artists, and produce customers that

make the Ramah Farmer’s Market happen! Bring seeds! Please bring a dish! Refreshments will be served.

All community members welcome!

• Bring seeds to exchange, or pick up some extra from our Seed for Need program.• Bring seeds saved in your own garden.• Seed for Need participants bring seed saved from Seed for Need stock.• Bring your leftover plant pots to give away.• Meet the Growers – let them know what produce you would like to buy!• Want to grow and sell produce or crafts at the Market? Find out how!• Want to sell produce without leaving your garden? Participate in the Community Table!• Find out what’s next for the Ramah Farmers Market.• And much more! For more info call Jackie or Denis 783-4440 or Jesse 870-2750

Local Baker in NeedLocal baker Gloria Holden, in order to comply with new state regulations on Home Based Processing, was informed that her septic system had to be replaced. Gloria provides baked goods to the Ramah Farmers’ Market in order to supplement her disability income. The new septic system is way beyond Gloria’s budget. Please be generous. Your contribution will help in sustaining our farmers’ market community. Sponsored by the Ramah Farmers Market Association and its vendors, ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo.com, HC 61 Box 816, Ramah, NM 87321

Five minutes down the road was Pat Wolford’s “season extension” garden featuring raised beds, overhead sprinklers, and waist high shelf of pots planted in pole beans (for easy picking). Most of Pat’s garden is under a metal structure designed to support plastic sheeting or shade cloth, depending on the season. On that day Pat’s tomato plants were festooned with ripening tomato plants. Other crops included broccoli, cabbage, pole beans, lettuce, greens, sweet peppers, carrots, beets, and Japanese turnips. Pat’s covered garden design allows her to harvest more than one crop during the season. Next to Pat’s house is a diminutive, irrigated, lawn and shrub yard designed to satisfy her need to “go barefoot”. Last on that day, and a short way up the hill, was Harry Hutton and Harriet Lawrence’s mostly ornamental garden, featuring a spectacular, round, raised bed petunia garden serving as a centerpiece. Harriet’s garden is set against a half circle adobe wall serving as protection from the prevailing winds from the west and south. The garden featured a fountain, drawing in squirrels and song birds. This will be Harry and Harriet’s last time on the garden tour, as they will be moving to Missouri in October. Harriet finished off the tour with a drawing for door prizes consisting of potted plants and cacti.Second Garden Tour- Ramah and El Morro The following Saturday tour commenced with the Johnston Family garden in the center of Ramah. Alda, and her son Tim were first time garden tour participants. When the tour arrived Tim and his girl friend Amy were standing behind their road side stand on Tietjen street. Tim laughingly told us that the reason he doesn’t sell at the market is because he “couldn’t get up that early”. He and Amy sell almost everyday from his little stand weighed down with squash. Behind Alda’s house is a discreet and lovely grass lawn with large velvety comfrey plants that Tim harvests for green manure for the vegetable garden. Tim’s garden is still pretty young, but productive with corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, greens, lettuce. At right angles to the house garden was a long narrow garden filled with Tim’s crossbred squash experiment. It was here that we all got to meet their next door neighbors, two very handsome mules, or “johns”, named Ben and Jerry. Tim also gave us an impromptu history lesson on the origins of Ramah. According to Tim, the original Ramah settlement was closer to the Notches in The El Morro Valley. The pioneers, misreading the map, had settled on the wrong plot of land. A land speculator figured out they were, in effect, squatting, bought the land under them, and had them evicted. Later the “Ramanites” figured out where they where suppose to be, and resettled, to grow into the town we know today. Up the hill from Ramah, at the end of Lambson Rd, is the Cindy Blea homestead. Cindy’s gardens featured sloping, terraced, perennial herb beds with the scent of thyme and oregano filling the air. Down below grows a compact vegetable garden with well grown corn beans and squash, as well as carrots, potatoes, cabbage, peas, turnips, garlic, and onions. Cindy entertained us with stories about her experiments with companion planting (see article on p. 5). Around the corner of the house was the highlight of the visit: the family livestock project. Chickens, dairy goats (milked every day) and … a pot bellied sow complete with piglets! Down the hill from Cindy’s, across from the entrance of Canyon Road, is Will Stripp’s chili garden. Row after row of chile plants, including Sandias, Joe Parkers, Espanolas, Jalapenos, Anaheims, Poblanos, and Big Jims, stood short, but festooned with chiles. Short, because the day before Will was set to transplant in his plants in June, frost struck, nipping off the tops of the hundreds of plants staged for transplanting. Although the size of the crop was diminished, most of the plants grew enough to produce a harvest for Will’s pet project: Set up in front of the fenced in garden (deer and elk like chile, too) were crackers, cream cheese and jars of Will’s famed Willies Chilies Sweet Hot Slices jam. It has been a challenging year for this well established garden; last year the entire garden was flooded and buried by the four inch September deluge. It took considerable effort to restore the garden and prepare it for this year’s chile project. Will refers to his chile project as “my experiment”. The last garden of the day was Will Stripp’s and his wife Pam Davis’ home garden, located at the “Belly Button” rock formation across from El Morro National Monument. This is a second year vegetable and berry garden, surrounded by high plastered walls (probably elk proof), and complimented by terraced perennial flower and berry beds. Pam’s garden was in full swing, with sky blue morning glories, ripe strawberries, fulsome tomatoes along the sun warmed walls, enormous rhubarb in the shade against the house, squash hanging from wall climbing vines, and (interesting) espaliered fruit trees against the wall surrounding the back patio. Pam served up ice tea and everyone, tired by now, sat down and relaxed to enjoy the ambiance of a flourishing garden - a fitting end to a great garden tour.

Permaculture Guild (Pc Guild)& Permaculture Credit Union (PCU)

New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association (NMFMA)New Mexico

Farmer’s Markets Micro-Loan Program

Permaculture Guild (PcGuild) is a non- profit organization acting as a fiscal sponsor and a sister organization to the Permaculture Credit Union (PCU). In that role and keeping as our mission the ethics of permaculture: care of the earth, care of the people and re-investing the surplus, we are able to accept tax deductible donations to help with projects that are based on those ethics. A recent pilot micro-loan program, initiated through the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute, the Santa Fe Market farmers and the PCU, has been very successful. In partnership with the New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association (NMFMA) and the PCU, the PcGuild has introduced a micro-loan program for farmers all across the state of New Mexico. With donations received, the PcGuild maintains an account at the PCU with funds to be used as collateral for these small loans to NM farmers. This enables the loans to be offered at a low interest rate and as the loans are re-paid, the funds can be re-used to secure new loans. It is reuse and recycling at its best! Please tell other farmers and friends about this loan program. In addition, they can make a tax-deductible donation to the PcGuild's micro-loan fund.

The NMFMA, Pc Guild and PCU aim to:• Help small-scale farmers across the state who sell at farmers’ markets obtain loan funds at reasonable rates with individualized payment schedules.• Respond to a need for micro-loans for agricultural producers who might have difficulty qualifying for assistance from other sources.• Encourage economic growth of agricultural producers in New Mexico.• Strengthen relationships between producers, the NMFMA, Pc Guild and PCU. (continued next page)

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Many thanks to the numerousRamah Farmer’s Market

vendorswho shop at El Morro Feed

and Seed!Many thanks to all the

“Beautiful Chicken” contest winners

who shop at El Morro Feed and Seed!

Open Thurs 12-5 & Sat 9-3 Call 783-4777

Now selling Paraffin Lamp Oil, Strike Anywhere Matches, Dr. Bronner’s Soap, HE compatible Laundry Detergent

Shop here for Starcloud lamb, Davis Ranch grass-fed beef and

El Morro Valley Ranch organic certified beef.

Providing delicious, homegrown, USDA certified beef at reasonable prices. No antibiotics, insecticides or hormones

have ever been used on these cattle.

Purchase at El Morro Feed and Seed (look in the freezer)on Thursdays and Saturdays,

Nita or Bob: (505) 783-4564 rschafer@wildblue.netwww.elmorrovalleycoop.org click on Local Products Market

Ranch

El Morro Valley Ranch

Organically Raised Natural and Healthy

Range-fed Beef

For Spring Orders Call

783-4521 or email

elmorrovalleyranch@gmail.com.

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(continued from p. 3)Eligibility Requirements-- In order to qualify for a loan, the applicant must comply with each of the following requirements:• Submit a NMFMA/Pc Guild Prequalification Letter. Letter guidelines are available on the brochure available from the Ramah Farmers Market co-managers, 783-4440 or email ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo .com, NMFMA’s website at http://www.farmersmarketsnm.org and the PcGuild website at http://www.permacultureguild.org. Applicants may also call the Guild at 505-471-6338 to request an application by mail or fax.• Must be a Permaculture Credit Union member by establishing an account at PCU with a $50.00 balance, and upon pre-qualification approval, fill out a basic one page PCU Loan Application.• Must be a food producer and food vendor (for at least one year) at a NMFMA member market. Written verification from a market manager is required (e-mail from manager OK).• Must document results and complete an exit interview at the end of the payment period.

Loan Terms:• Loan amounts between $500.00 and $2,500.00.• Loans must be paid back within 40-months. Applicants may propose a payment schedule that works for them within that time frame.• Interest rate is currently at 6.00% fixed rate.• No collateral is required, no penalty for early repayment and no application fee.• Loans must be activated within 45-days of notification of pre-approval.• All financial information provided as part of this loan process is confidential.• In the event of default, remedies will be pursued by Permaculture Credit Union.• NMFMA and PCU reserve the right to deny a loan application at any time, for any reason, except as prohibited by law.• Deadline: Loan applications may be submitted at anytime.For more information, please contact the New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association: 888-983-4400 or the Permaculture Guild at 505-471-6338

Ramah Farmers’ Market Setting Up Website Volunteers are in the process of constructing the new website at ramahfarmersmarket.org. The new website will provide a wide variety of information and links related to the market, marketing of local crops and produce, sustainable agriculture, organic farming and gardening, home based processing, homesteading, traditional crafts and much more!

Ramah Farmers Market Now on Facebook Check us out on Facebook where we can keep you posted on events in between publication of the Beet. We are also planning a weekly update on whats available at the market. Feel free to send your garden and livestock photos and keep us posted on how things are going at your homestead.

“Surround” Orchard Spray Available One of the things we learned at the Tooley’s Trees workshop last October was how useful “Surround” tree crop protectant could be for protecting young fruit trees from sun scald and insect damage. The Ramah Farmers Market purchased 50 lbs of Surround at a bulk price and is offering it to local orchard growers for $4.00 a pound, about half price. If you would like to purchase Surround call 783-4440 or e-mail ramahfarmersmkt @yahoo.com and we can arrange for pick-up or drop-off locally. “Surround” forms a mineral-based particle barrier film, which acts as a broad spectrum crop protectant against sunburn and heat stress, and as a protectant for controlling damage from various insects, mites and disease pests. Surround also serves as a growth enhancer. Surround can also be used on crops, and plants in greenhouses, home landscapes and gardens.

Looking for Writers, Poets & PhotographersEver thought about writing for the Beet? Help us out! We are always on the look out for stories about the Ramah area, Ramah history, gardening, research based articles on sustainable and organic agriculture, poetry, food, book reviews, maybe even (agricultural) fiction. Contact the editors at 505-783-4440, ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo,com

High Elevation Gardening

Farm Speaking Out Loud This fall, moisture in the soil is all but depleted; a watering regimen is still needed, about twice a week. This is the time of the year to fertilize the orchard and protect young trees for winter. This is also the time of the year to get garden beds ready for next year. This is when you introduce organic matter, minerals and any winter cover crop that you may use in your system. October 18: the Evening Grosbeaks are coming to the valley now on their way south, which indicates that we may have a dry winter. In this case some preparation for watering during the winter will prevent winter loss. In some areas the leaves have changed to yellow and gold and the oaks are in full color, which is better than it has been in past years, when the leaves just turned brown and fell off. This could be an indication of moisture and that we gained in some way this year. However, we are still behind in the amount of rainfall that is needed, which still may affect the pine trees in the ongoing battle with pine bark beetle. Some removal of infected trees would be indicated in good forest management, and hopefully prevent a fire from being extremely damaging.

In some areas the chicken’s molt was stressful because of temperature, so egg production was low. With a dry winter, stress on the animals will be fairly high so some preparation should be considered. This is also a good time to start to develop a compost area, with the leftovers from the garden, and animals. (Dogs and cats (and their manure) should not be put in your compost - they take a different kind of composting and a longer time.) This is also a good time to introduce worms into your garden, after all the added fertilizers and tilling has taken place. Adding worms at this time will allow them to overwinter and get a head start in the spring.If you have horses it is time to treat their feet for fungus or any of the other hoof problems. Also, it is a good time to de-worm the horses, and to take care of any maintenance that might be needed.

Companion Planting – The Adventureby Lucinda Blea

Around September 1st, I’m standing in the garden, as I do each morning, surveying the situation and notice the black tipped leaves on the squash indicating it has frozen. I call Randy, my husband, and ask if he knew it was going to freeze, then announce with a moan, “I’m going to cry.” He begins to console me, as he assumes my dismay is over the frost, when it in fact it is because I notice there about 200 green beans in a 2-foot space needing to be picked. This should be good news, right? The problem is, this follows two previous 1:00 a.m. nights of canning green beans. I am tired and now face the challenge of needing to pick again.

Now you might assume this is an article about a whiny person who looks gift horses in the mouth; actually, it is about the success I’ve had this year with companion planting.

I’ve been gardening for almost 40 years, so the concept of companion planting is nothing new to me. I have at times tried a variety of techniques. The problem for me is my Martha Stewart- type obsession for “pretty maids all in a row”, or in this case, single variety vegetables evenly spaced all in a neat row.

Past years’ bug problems coupled with my desire to grow a garden as naturally as possible, avoiding all pesticides and other evils, have motivated me to put companion planting to the test. For several years I have planted a few green onions with the carrots, which ended the carrot borer problem, and have let radishes go to seed amongst the cucumbers, eliminating all cucumber pests. This year I decided to take companion

planting to the next level. So, I bought a book, and began scouring the Internet for information. I designed each bed to take advantage of the benefits of eliminating or at best discouraging pests, while improving the quality of each vegetable. Looking back, what I should have done is call some of my expert gardening neighbors who have had experience with this type of planting.

I began by planting several varieties of pole beans with the corn. To say the results were amazing is an understatement. Corn, a heavy nitrogen feeder, benefits from the nitrogen-enriching qualities of the beans, and each adds a stabilizing benefit to the other. I added compost to the soil at tilling time, and have applied 1 feeding of manure tea. Both the corn and beans have grown and produced vigorously. There is a distinct difference between the health and production of the corn planted with the beans and vice versa, and those planted by themselves. With the exception of the grasshoppers, which did minimal damage this year, the green beans have been pest free, and I don’t seem to have earwigs in the corn. A few years ago I gave up trying to convince the grasshoppers the garden was mine. I just plant extra for them to eat.

I made a couple of mistakes, which, had I consulted with my neighbors, could have been avoided. First, I planted the corn rows too close together to allow for the extra space needed by the pole beans. Second, I planted the corn and bean seeds at the same time, when in fact the corn needed a slight head start. The green beans grew faster than the corn and soon were looking for a place to climb, however the corn was still too short to fulfill that need. The runners from the beans began crawling on the ground, crossing rows every which way, creating a tangled mass resembling the pod tendrils on the movie, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Now the corn is reaching six feet and higher, and the green beans are as well. The problem is, you need a flashlight to pick beans at high noon, as they have created a sun-blocking canopy, resembling a rain forest. The fact that the rows are too close makes picking very difficult. It’s an, “over the river and through the woods” kind of experience. I only wish I could get to grandmother’s house, but it seems the end of the row never comes, and I didn’t count on the fact that I would have to wrestle the green beans for a cob of corn, as they have claimed it for their own.

There is a second part to this tale. With the blessing of a great harvest, comes the task of dealing with it responsibly. The first pickings from the garden are so exciting. My first salad, which consisted of three peas, four small spinach and three lettuce leaves, was delicious and I relished every bite, all three of them. It was the same experience with my first handful of green beans, and the dilemma of how best to cook my first batch. After 4-5 bushels, the excitement has waned considerably. At first I would sit happily in front of the TV and snap beans. Now there is not a single channel on my satellite TV that can take my attention off my sore, blistered fingers. I’ve snapped, cut, clipped and smashed to change it up and after a few hours it all still hurts, and yes I have given to every soul that who walks through my door. If the Harvest Festival had a “largest green bean category,” I’m pretty sure I have a couple that would have taken the prize.

One day my grandchildren came to the house while I was working on the beans and my two granddaughters asked if they could help. I gladly gave them each a bowl, turned the TV to a cartoon and was pleasantly surprised at how well Madeline and Liberty, ages 6 and 7, could snap beans. I thrilled at their growing pile, and panicked when they grew weary. I shamefully offered candy to keep them going. This thankfully bought me another hour. I convinced my son to let the girls come back a few more times, but I had to up the wages to include money. After their fingers got sore even money wasn’t enough motivation. I had to think fast before I lost my helpers. Then it came to me, knives, sharp knives!! They were always asking to use them in the kitchen, and I would tell them they weren’t quite old enough. So with guilt over my desperate measure, but not enough to back down, I walked into the living room and plopped two cutting boards and two of the dullest sharp knives I could find on the coffee table and announced, “I think you’re old enough to use sharp knives.” It worked brilliantly. Over the next few days they worked several more hours, and in case you were worrying, no bloody fingers. I think my eight dollars was well spent. Even though it may have violated child labor laws and probably resembled a child’s sweat shop somewhere in the world, there was pride on the girls’ faces as jars were canned and labeled and the fruits of their labor proudly displayed for family to see. Even though my eyes are glazed over and I stare into space while snapping beans, I don’t think I have succumbed to the body snatchers and turned into a “pod person”.

I’ve learned several things this year, such as: ask for advice, pigs don’t like garden hose sized green beans, Dish Network doesn’t have enough channels, 200 jars of green beans take up a lot of shelf space and companion planting works. (Continued next page )

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Tues.-Sat. 9-5, Sun 10-5 One mile east of El Morro National Monument

“Our Coffee is Monumental” (505)783-4706 www.inscriptionrocktrading.com

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(continued from p. 5)But once again it has been reinforced to me that the most important

thing about growing a garden is - just do it. Big or small the rewards are always worth the effort.

Growing Garlic in Candy Kitchenby Joanne Snowdon

Garlic is a wonderful crop to grow because of its various uses: food, spice, medicinal and decorative—even mythical! What's more, in our experience here at Snozi Enterprises, growing garlic is pretty easy. We have planted garlic three times now. We started in the fall of 2008 with twenty pounds of a Silverskin (softneck) garlic called “Silver White” from Filaree Farm. The certified organic planting stock costs $16.00 per pound. In general, Silverskins have a long storage life; they have a fairly high yield; and, they do well in harsh climates and at our high altitude of 7,300 feet. Silverskins have pale green leaves and three layers of cloves that are wrapped in a nice skin for protection. Silverskins are great garlic for braids because of the bulb shape and the pliable leaves. Most importantly, our Silver White garlic is a gourmet garlic with a fantastic, spicy, sweet-hot flavor. Our 2008 and 2009 crops were planted on or about September, 12. Several weeks before we actually planted the cloves, we added four pick-up truck loads of green horse manure into the ground for fourteen 50-foot rows. We used our small tractor to plow and disc the manure into the soil. Right before planting, we used a rototiller to smooth and furrow the soil. Soil preparation is a big part of planting garlic. We separated the bulbs into cloves the night before planting. Cloves are planted with the root side (basal plate) down. For these first two years, we planted each clove three to four inches apart and about three inches deep. (Our 2009 planting stock was saved from our 2008 harvest, thus, saving us the $16.00 per pound!) After planting, we set the drip irrigation system and mulched with about four inches of grass hay. This planting, mulching and water system process took about four days to complete. We watered once every ten days until just before the ground froze (or, at least, that was our intent, though we never actually dug up a patch to determine if the ground was frozen.) The idea is plant early enough for the roots to grow before the ground freezes, but not

too early that the leaves sprout. Even though we thought we knew the right time to plant, unfortunately, our leaves did grow before winter and froze when we had up to nine feet of snow, to no detriment to the spring plants, luckily.

In the spring of the following years, we scooted the mulch aside and composted with two truckloads of our own homemade compost. We watered once a week, or so, weeded and watched. We weren't sure when to harvest; we had lots of conflicting advice about it. Some people said wait until the leaves turned brown; some people said scoot the soil away from the top and look at the size of the bulb; some people said wait until the leaves fall over. In 2008 we waited until the leaves fell over, which was in late June, and harvested at that time. Later we found out that our variety of Silverskin does in fact lodge (fall over) about a week before harvest. In 2009 we waited for brown leaves and harvested in mid-July. Harvest was the hardest part of the garlic process. Because we have a sandy-loam clay soil, we must dig each bulb out with a shovel. After digging out the plant, we string them together with baling twine in groups of thirteen (because that's how many we braid together) and hang them in our carport to “cure.” The curing time varies from year to year. 2008 was a fairly dry year so we only cured for a few weeks before cleaning, braiding and marketing. 2009 was a rainy year, so we cured up to four weeks and then cleaned, braided and marketed. In 2008, we harvested about 135 pounds of nice bulbs ranging in size from 1.5 to 2.5 inches in diameter. In 2009, we got about 135 pounds of slightly smaller bulbs. We just finished planting our 2010 seeds on October 8. We have increased all amounts: we input eight truckloads of manure, planted 40 pounds of our own saved seed, and set up 28, 50-foot rows of drip irrigation. We planted each seed a little further apart this year—five to six inches, and a little deeper—four to five inches deep, in the hopes of improving our yield in terms of overall weight and individual bulb size. Tomorrow, we check to see if the water system works, and mulch with four to six inches of grass hay. In the spring, we will water, compost and watch. We hope to harvest about 400 pounds of 2.5 inch

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bulbs in June/July, 2011. We have been really lucky when it comes to pests and disease. We haven't had any! We believe that crop rotation and organic matter inputs have saved us from those plights. Crop rotation and organic inputs are a small part of what it means to be “certified organic.” Certified Organic regulations also help with soil preparation, weed control, inputs and mulching, irrigation, pest control, cleaning, packing, storing and marketing. We are proud of our wonderful, delicious, certified organic, gourmet garlic and look forward to providing it to our community in 2011.

COMMUNITY HOMESTEADING

Why Buy Local?by Owl McCabe

“Why should I buy local food, and why do you think it’s so important?” Several people have asked me this, and I usually have a hard time coming back with a simple one-sentence answer, although the answer is actually quite simple, to guarantee an affordable food supply for years to come. In general, I am reluctant to say this, since, for now, the food supply seems cheap and plentiful. After all, the supermarkets are filled with amazing deals on luxury produce imported from around the world. However, the world is changing, and such deals are not likely to be available for much longer.

In our highly centralized system of food production, food travels anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 miles before it reaches the consumer, and, with increasing centralization, this travel distance is increasing. Due to shipping costs, the price of long-distance food is strongly tied to the price of oil. Since World War II, we have been blessed with cheap food because a plentiful supply of oil has kept the cost of shipping low. However, with the growth of the Chinese and Indian economies, the supply of oil has had a hard time keeping up with the demand for oil, and, when demand exceeds supply, prices go up. This is what happened a couple years ago when gasoline cost nearly $4 a gallon. The recent recession has reduced the demand for oil somewhat, and so the price of oil has gone down a bit, but the root cause of the gas price spike has not gone away – supply is not keeping up with demand. In fact, it may be that the supply cannot keep up. Some experts now predict that world oil production has peaked and will soon start to drop. Richard Heinberg, one of the world's leading experts on oil reserves, warns, “The lives of billions of people were threatened by a food crisis caused by our dependence on dwindling supplies of fossil fuels.” So, if the days of cheap oil are ending or gone, we can expect that the price of food is about to go up. To compound this problem, our system of food production is part of the global economy. Thus, a crop failure anywhere in the world raises the price of food for everybody who buys from the global system. Just this year in Russia, an unprecedented heat wave destroyed a large part of the Russian wheat crop. In response, the Russian government imposed a two-year ban on the export of wheat, which gave rise to a spike in wheat prices all across the globe. If all goes well, the Russian crop failure is a one-off, and Russian wheat production will recover. However, there are reasons to anticipate even larger failures elsewhere in the world, and recovery from those failures might take decades if recovery is even possible at all. Consider the North China Plain, which now produces more than half of China's wheat and a third of its corn. Both crops are irrigated with ground water. Unfortunately, the annual drop in the water table under the North China plain has increased to the point that it can now be measured in feet per year. Likewise, in both India and Pakistan, ground water is being pumped in excess of sustainability. Thus, it is just a matter of time before the wells in China, India, and Pakistan begin to fail. As a result, food production in these areas will plummet. Finally, there is yet one more major threat to our food supply. Our current system of agriculture is destroying our top soil. Consider Iowa, which has some of the best topsoil in the world. In the past 50 years, the depth of Iowa’s topsoil has fallen from 18 inches to 10 inches. These 10 inches are still more than enough, but productivity drops off sharply when the depth of the topsoil drops below six inches, the depth of the average crop root zone. So, at a rate of eight inches lost every 50 years, unless something is done to change farming methods in Iowa, crop yields in Iowa will drop off sharply in 25 years! Of course, the problem of topsoil loss is not limited to Iowa. It is systemic, a direct consequence of our current farming methods, which, to produce one pound of corn protein generates 22 pounds of topsoil loss. The losses for beef are even worse. On average, producing one pound of corn fed beef protein, according to current methods, comes at the loss of 145 pounds of topsoil. Obviously this is not sustainable, and, since our agricultural practices are used through out the world, it will lead to production failures through out the world.

Also, one should keep in mind that production failures and the

resulting increases in food prices are not a mere inconvenience. For the poor, it will mean hunger, and for the very poor, it will mean death. Even in the US, the hardship could be considerable, although we are a fortunate country in terms of water supply and arable land. So, in anticipation of these failures, what can we do? I think that our best response is to create and support a local food economy. Food that is grown and consumed locally uses much less oil in its production, which makes the price of locally produced food much less dependent on the price of oil. Likewise, food produced locally using sustainable methods enhances soil fertility, giving rise to greater food security. In addition, because both the producers and consumers are local, the profit from the sale of local food stays in the community. This is why I think that creating a local food economy should be our top priority as a community, and this is why I have chosen to make this a personal goal. I would like to ask all concerned community members to join me in this endeavor. If possible, grow food, and, whether or not you grow food, support the Farmer’s Market, and buy locally whenever possible.

The El Morro Valley Cooperative: Why a Local Grocery Store

by Kate BrownAs most of you reading this article already know, the El Morro Valley Cooperative was formed in spring of 2010 with the long-term goal of establishing a full-service grocery store for our area.Why a local grocery store?

The great success of Ramah Farmer’s Market is evidence of our valley’s growing interest in healthy food options.We would no longer have to drive the nearly 100 miles round-trip to access a full-service grocery store thereby reducing travel expenses and having more money to spend on food, not fuel!Like the trading posts of days past, a local grocery store would be a community builder. It would contribute to the local economy and keep money within the community.

So where is the Local Grocery Store? As most of you reading this article also know, we hit a snag with our first loan application to USDA. The New Mexico Department of Agriculture knows of our project, and, fully supporting it, sent our application on to Washington, DC without delay. Sadly, the folks in Washington denied our request. Our request was denied NOT because D.C. didn’t give enough merit to our project. It was denied because our request did not satisfy the criteria established for that particular loan initiative…. (couldn’t someone just walk the application down the hall to the correct initiative??) Right now we are seeking partners to provide the 20%-of-request that the other loan applications require. This is a big job and time consuming. As soon as we can find a source for the 20% of funds we will submit another loan application. Anyone with ideas or suggestions on how to achieve this, please, contact us. Anyone with angel wings on their back and a check-book in their pocket…do not hesitate to call!

The Virtual Local Grocery Store! Undaunted, we are developing a Virtual Grocery Store at our website www.elmorrocoop.org ! Our virtual grocery store will feature two components: 1) The Local Producers Market, where local producers post what they have available and local buyers place orders. 2.) The Buyers’ Alliance, where folks can order from Natural Foods suppliers on a monthly basis. Details about these new developments will be sent out to co-op members at a later date. If you are not an El Morro Valley Cooperative member but are interested in participating in our Virtual Grocery Store please contact Kate Brown at k8.brown@yahoo.com or call 783-4420.Join us! We need your support, your help and your contributions toward these exciting and worthwhile endeavors. Membership is only $20 annually, and entitles you to vote for board members and attend annual meeting. And like all cooperatively run businesses, when Coop income exceeds its costs, the profits are distributed annually to the membership (which could be you!) Those of you who receive the Enchantment newsletter put out by our local electric cooperatives will notice that October is National Cooperative Month. According to the Enchantment “Americans from all walks of life have come to realize that the cooperative approach – members working together to achieve price and service benefits –can ( Continued p. 10)

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(Continued from p.1, “Harvest Festival”)A few entries included heirloom family recipes. The pie descriptions for the auction were a delight to read: Char Tooley’s entry, for example, “Pie made with pumpkin from Judi and Bill’s garden – organic sugar and fresh grated ginger and a whole lot of love. Pie crust [recipe] is my mother’s; eggs were layed and gathered from my free ranged chickens…” Another entry description, Eileen Kingsley’s, was also great fun: “This pie is a variation of my Scottish grandmother’s pie that she baked in her wood stove on my grandfather’s dairy farm in Wisconsin…” Some of the more interesting ingredients in Eileen’s pie included Tokay wine, Lucky Duck wine and Lord Calvert Bourbon. The Pie contest was in three divisions; dessert (fruit) pie, dessert (non-fruit) pie and dinner pie. The pies, after being checked for local ingredients, are assigned a number, so they can be judged anonymously. The pies are judged by festival goers, chosen by lot: Anyone who wanted to be a pie judge put their name in a hat; names were then pulled out of the hat. This year judges were Kurt Anderson, Sherry Carter-North, Paul Enz, Eden Gloria, Emily Johnston, Charlie Mallery and Steve Samson. Cash prizes were awarded in all three divisions (1st $30.00, 2nd $20.00 and 3rd $10.00) For the third time in the contest’s five year history, Pat Burnam won the fruit pie competition. First time contestants Telia Anderson, Cindy Blea, Lisa Hand and Wanda Wallace all took home ribbons and cash this year.

Fruit Dessert Pie Winners:First Prize: Pat Burnam (Timberlake): Rhubarb-Orange Chiffon Pie rhubarb (Pat Wolford garden) eggs (Sarah Huber hen house)Second Prize: Kelly Conrad (Ramah): Strawberry – Raspberry Pie (strawberries and raspberries from the Conrad garden)Third Prize: Wanda Wallace (El Morro Ranches): Apple Pie (apples from the James Thomas orchard)

Non Fruit Dessert Pie Winners:First Prize: Telia Anderson (Zuni): Jack O’’ Lantern Pumpkin Pie (pumpkin from the Snowden-Zinn (Snozi Farm) gardenSecond Prize: Lisa Hand (Ramah): Pumpkin Pie (pumpkin from Candy Kitchen garden)Third Prize: Kelly Conrad (Ramah): Pecan Pie (eggs from Ramah)

Dinner Pie Winners:First Prize: Cindy Blea (Ramah): Vegetable Beef Pie

(carrots, potatoes, corn, peas, turnips, onions, thyme, oregano, garlic, cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash from the Blea garden)

Second Place: Jill Acheson (El Morro): Zucchini Walnut Pie(sheep milk yoghurt - StarCloud Farm; zucchini from Pat Wolford, Mary Barry, Kate Wilson, and Judy Malys gardens; eggs from Hobbit Gardens; onions from Conrad garden)

The Pie Auction This year’s prize winners were well received at the pie auction. Pat Burnam’s first place rhubarb-orange chiffon pie broke all previous records in a fierce three way auction battle. When auctioneer Will Stripp finally called it, the pie was sold for $160.00 to Timberlake resident Bob Barry. Kelly Conrad’s second place strawberry–raspberry pie went for $60.00 and her third place pecan pie also sold for $60.00. Cindy Blea’s first place vegetable beef pie sold for $40.00, and Jill Acheson’s second place zucchini walnut pie went for $30.00. Lisa Hand’s second place pumpkin pie and Telia Anderson’s first place Jack O’’ Lantern pumpkin pie went for $35.00 and $30.00 respectively. The pie auction ended up raising $528.00 for the Market.

The Homestead Harvest Display Contest For the first time in Harvest Festival history the Homestead Harvest Display contest was won two years in a row by the same gardeners, Charlie Mallery and Rebecca Allina. Carefully planned and beautifully executed, Charlie and Rebecca’s stunning combination of winter squashes, pumpkins, chiles, chard, marigolds, tomatoes, lavender, beans and canned goods soared vertically, reaching almost five feet above all the other competitor’s to take first in the large garden division, and grand champion overall. This year’s Display Contest judges were Leslie Moosman, Kim Score and Linda Burson. Five gardeners brought considerable diversity to the small garden division competition. New themes were introduced to the competition this year with heirloom and native crops, animal husbandry products (dairy and fiber arts), photography and… recycling! Judges comments included “good diversity” “very unique” “clever and fun”. All this variety provided difficulties for the judges and there was little agreement on how displays should be placed. Ultimately, first time competitor Sherry Carter-North took first honors with her celebration of heirloom and native plants, judges remarking that the display was “very colorful, original and attractive”. If the judges were challenged to come to consensus in the small garden division, they were in complete agreement with Rebecca Allina and Charlie Mallery’s grand champion display. Described as a 3D produce “tree”, comments included “gorgeous”, “colorful”, “bountiful”, “abundant” and “wow”. One judge’s conclusion: “A perfectly outstanding arrangement with high quality, eye catching produce”. This year, for the first time, a grand champion trophy was awarded to the grand champion display. The trophy will travel year to year to the champion display winner. First place winners in both divisions were also awarded baskets from Ghana as prizes.

Grand Champion (Small & Large Garden Display)Charlie Mallery & Rebecca Allina

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Sherry Carter-North and First Place Garden Display

Small Garden DisplayFirst Place: Sherry & Jack Carter-North Second Place: Hobbit Gardens – Jackie Rossignol & Denis BlackThird Place: Kate Wilson

Sari Clark Homestead Harvest Display “Animal Husbandry”

Honorable Mention: Sari Clark “Animal Husbandry”Honorable Mention: Felicia Samson “Education on Recycling”

First Prize: Ray Brunner – 65 lbs.Giant Pumpkin - Squash - Zucchini - Vegetable – Contest A strong turnout in the giant vegetable contest this year yielded a record giant pumpkin for the Ramah area: Ray Brunner, Timberlake, won first prize with a 65 lb. pumpkin.

Giant Pumpkin First Prize: Ray Brunner – 65 lbs.Second Prize: Jesse Grey -31 lbs.Third Prize: Caddo Turney– 22 lbs.Honorable Mention: Patty Jordan – 16 lbs.

Giant Winter SquashFirst Prize: Sherry Carter-North – 29 lbs.Second Prize: Kim Score – 12 lbs. (“Betty Spaghetti”)

Giant ZucchiniFirst Prize: Zuni Mountain Sanctuary – 7.2 lbs.Second Prize: Kate Wilson – 3.75 lbs.

Giant VegetablesFirst Prize: Kate Wilson – Giant Radish 2 lbsSecond Prize: Pam Davis & Will Stripp – Giant Onion – 3.5 lbsThird Prize: Kim Score – Giant Turnip - 2.8 lbs. (“Twyla Turnip”)Honorable Mention: Robert Turney – CabbageHonorable Mention: Carren Kangas – Kohlrabi

Giant SunflowerFirst Prize: Keena Turney

Weirdest VegetableFirst Prize: Carren Kangas – KohlrabiSecond Prize: Kim Score – “Sammy the Snake” GourdThird Prize: Kim Score – “Mr. Butts the Pie Pumpkin”

“Cordon Blue” Homestead Bred Rooster (Star Cloud Farm)

The Most Beautiful Chicken Contest The hen and rooster classes of the Most Beautiful Chicken Contest were competitive. Hobbit Garden’s three times first place most beautiful Wyandotte hen, (and last year’s grand champion), “Goldy” was displaced by Star Cloud’s rooster “Cordon Blue”. Cordon Blue, a Cornish-Australorp Homebred, defeated six other chickens (and a turkey) to become reigning Grand Champion and take home the purple ribbon. Some chickens didn’t make it to the show this year because they were molting. This year the chickens were judged by Kate Brown, Nita Davis and Kirk Shoemaker. Prizes were gift certificates provided by El Morro Feed and Seed.

Grand Champion Most Beautiful Chicken“Cordon Blue” (Cornish-Australorp Homebred) - Star Cloud Farm

(Tony Osborn & Eden Gloria)Rooster ClassFirst Place – “Cordon Blue” (Cornish-Australorp Homebred) – Star Cloud Farm (Tony Osborn & Eden Gloria)Second Place - “Scooter” (Ameraucana Cockeral) - Alicia McCabe Third Place - “Hector” (Jersey Giant Cross Homebred) - Hobbit Gardens

(Denis Black & Jackie Rossignol)Hen ClassFirst Place – “Goldy” (Golden Laced Wyandotte) - Hobbit Gardens

(Denis Black & Jackie Rossignol)Second Place – “Red” (Ameraucana Pullet) Alicia McCabe Third Place – “Dumpling” (Cornish-Australorp Homebred)- Star Cloud Farm (Tony Osborn & Eden Gloria)

Homebred ClassFirst Place – “Pearl” (Ameraucana Cross Homebred)

Non-Chicken Poultry ClassFirst Place – “Igor” – Rio Grande Turkey – Hobbit Gardens (Denis Black & Jackie Rossignol)

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(Continued from p. 7) work for other needs just as effectively” as the early cooperatives did. What better way to celebrate National Cooperative month than by joining your own local El Morro Valley Cooperative. Join us and help us make the dream of a local healthy-food grocery store a reality!

The Great Food Exchange Experimentby Owl McCabe

The agricultural committee of the El Morro Valley Co-op would like to try out a new concept for the buying and selling of locally produced food. We are tentatively calling it the “Local Producer’s Market.” We are hoping that this experiment will prove successful in showing how we can provide local food for ourselves year round. We have scheduled two “market days,” October 16 and October 30, from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM at the El Morro Feed and Seed.Here’s how it works:• Any food producer or group of food producers may sell through the Exchange provided that what they sell is legal and properly handled under state and federal laws. Producers will contact Owl McCabe (775-4277 or petermccabe@petermccabe.com) with ad info on what they have available—preferably by the Monday before the Exchange.• The producer’s ad must contain contact information so that potential buyers can contact the producer to discuss availability and means of payment.• All food items will be brought to the El Morro Feed and Seed at the scheduled date and time.• The different areas (Ramah, Timberlake, Candy Kitchen, etc.) are encouraged to pool transportation resources. Ideally, only one or two people from each area will drive in a single vehicle to the El Morro Feed and Seed, where they will pick up orders and return with them to an agreed upon distribution point for their area (Ramah, Timberlake, Candy Kitchen, etc.)• Future exchanges will be coordinated with the Buyer’s Alliance bulk order pickup.We realize that this exchange may take a while to catch on, but our hope is that, from this simple beginning, we can create a local food-distribution network that is better suited to the needs of our area. I encourage all to participate.

First Annual Quilt ShowWinners:First place viewer’s choice: Penny Hyde “Chaco”Second place viewer’s choice: Julianna Lavery “Illusions”Third place viewer’s choice: Susan Ackerman “Taos Treasures”

Prizes:1st place-$15.00 gift certificate from El Morro Feed & Seed and a $25.00 gift certificate donated by Gallup Service Mart.2nd place-$10.00 gift certificate from El Morro Feed & Seed.3rd place-$5.00 gift certificate from El Morro Feed & Seed.Volunteers:Judy Malys, Julianna Lavery, Penny Hyde, Jerry Ackerman, Barbara Yette, Kris Resnick, Susan AckermanDonations: McKinley County Quilters Guild loaned us their quilt racks.

First Annual Photo Show The members and volunteers representing El Morro Area Arts Council were thrilled to participate in the wildly successful Ancient Way Arts Trail Fall Festival & Ramah Farmer’s Market Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 2, 2010. So many people wanted to participate in our 1st Annual Quilt Show here at the Old School Gallery that we were wondering where we might move the 1st Annual Photo Contest…many thanks to Sharon Dishongh, Maqui, and all the folks over at the Ancient Way Café for lending us the use of their beautiful yurt, which offered a calm and picturesque venue for our Photo Contest. And of course, many thanks for those volunteers that together made the 1st Annual Photo Show possible, especially Alicia McCabe, Loni Trail, Deer Roberts, and Pam Davis- THANKS SO MUCH!Here are the artists that placed in the Photo Contest~

LOCAL LANDSCAPE:1) Margaret Araza – “Timberlake Wall”2) Julie Gibbons - “Los Gigantes”3) Julie Gibbons - “City of Gold”

LOCAL ANIMAL:1) Rebecca Allina - “Young Steer @ El Morro Valley Ranch”2) Sharon Dishough - “Shelter from the Storm”3) Alicia McCabe - “Antha”

LOCAL PEOPLE:1) Pam Pickens - “Nizhoni”2) Debra Roberts - “Gathering of Nations”3) Pam Pickens - “Roy Coho: Patriot”

LOCAL MISCELLANEOUS:1) Owl McCabe - “Weird Bug”2) Deer Roberts - “Trucks Unique- 3”3) Deer Roberts - “Trucks Unique- 7”

It was exciting to have such a heartfelt response to this particular part of the Festival - Thanks to those artists who participated in the Photo Contest- you are a wonderful part of what we are celebrating in this community. I was especially moved by those of you who entered the contest who had never shown their work before in public. One contributor in particular said she had never considered herself an artist before, and that this was the perfect opportunity for her to express herself in this way for the very first time. Let us all follow her example and celebrate the artist in each of us.

El Morro Valley Cooperative Annual Meeting

Sunday, November 14, 2010 4:00 at the Old School Gallery Please plan to attend the 1st annual meeting of YOUR coop!

INTRODUCING

• El Morro Valley Cooperative Virtual Grocery Store • Get information about the Local Producers Market • Sample and order food from the Buyer’s Alliance • Meet and/or become a Board Nominee

This is an important meeting • We need YOUR input • We need YOUR energy • We need YOUR attendance

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3279 W. Hwy 53 Ramah N.M. 87321505-873- 2472

OpenTueday-Thurday 4-8 pmFriday- Saturday 4-9pmSunday 3-9pm

Check out the chicken wings -They fly out of the box.

El Morro Traditional Crafters Calendar 4th Quarter 2010

Fiber Festival, Sat., Oct. 23, 11:00AM – 3:00PM at the Old School Gallery, Free Join us for a day of fun as we celebrate the world of fibers. There will be various crafters demonstrating their skill as well as displays of finished work. Come watch the spinning, knitting, crochet, basketry, quilting and felting. Try your hand at some or just visit with the crafters. There will be food and drinks available with proceeds going to El Morro Area Arts Council. Questions contact Kate Wilson 783-4704 or the Old School Gallery 783-4710.

Quilting, Sun. Nov. 7 Susan Ackerman will be sending info on the quilting class directly to you. She was going to type up description, time and cost.

Spinning Party, Sun. Nov. 14, 11:00AM – 3:00PM at the Rossignol-Black residence in Timberlake, Free/$5.00 Beginners are welcome at this informal spinning get-together. If you have not attended our previous spinning classes, instruction will cost $5.00. Some materials are available for free as well as wool for purchase. We will have a potluck lunch so please bring a dish to share. For questions and directions call Kate Wilson 783-4704 or Jackie Rossignol 783-4440.

Finishing Get-Together / Planning Meeting, Sun. Nov. 21, 1:30PM – 4:00PM at the Old School Gallery, Free Need time to finish those holiday presents or follow up on the recent quilt or knitting class? Here is your chance! Bring all of your own materials and work in the supportive company of all the other elves still trying to finish their projects too. Questions call Kate Wilson 783-4704.

Slow Knitting Follow-Up, Sun. Dec. 5, 1:30PM – 4:00PM at the Old School Gallery, Free Our Slow Knitting Class was so much fun our beginning knitters wanted to keep meeting. They have been bitten by the knitting bug and are eager to learn more. Claire Knowles, with her many years of knitting experience, got them off to a strong start. New beginners who missed the previous classes are welcome. To get started you will need to bring one ball of Sugar & Cream cotton yarn available at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby or Michael’s), size 10 needles, scissors, and Size “G” or “H” crochet hook. We hope to meet on a quarterly basis or more frequently if possible. Questions call Kate Wilson 783-4704 or Claire Knowles 783-4900

.The Giannangelos on San Juan IslandBy Barbara Duncan

Frank and Vicky are alive and well and thriving on San Juan Island. They are living on six acres about fifteen minutes from the very picturesque town of Friday Harbor. That is where the ferry docks when it comes in from the mainland or departs to Lopez or Orcas Islands or crosses the border into Canada to land at Sidney on Vancouver Island. Sidney is a short hop from the city of Victoria. Vicky and I took the ferry over to Sidney and the hop to Victoria (actually it was about a thirty minute bus ride). Our destination was Butchart Gardens. This former limestone mine has been transformed through lots of effort and plants into stunningly beautiful gardens. Vicky departed Butchart Gardens with lots of photos and, more importantly, lots of ideas for transforming their property. Already Frank and Vicky have added a deck to their house and planted lots of trees and the many plants that they took with them when they moved from Ramah to San Juan Island. Brush has been cleared to open up the woods that surround their home. The large moss rock beside their home is being weeded to bring out the beauty and brilliant green of the moss. A pond and more gardens are in the works. San Juan Island is kind of like Ramah. It is basically agricultural with hay fields, horses, alpacas, deer, fox and sheep. There are lots of friendly folks, too. A nice addition is a bar with live music and several really good restaurants. Oh, and there’s an ocean, too. That means fresh seafood. Yup, our organic gardeners have moved on to greener pastures where they will do what they always do – make it even more beautiful!

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Food for Thought As a farmer and a pet servant, I have noted that dogs do a ritual, a fence dance: Dogs will play together with no aggression until they come to the fence line, and then become aggressive, running up and down the fence snarling at each other. You also see this behavior in turkeys; toms will work an area together until they find themselves on either side of a fence, then they become aggressive, flying up and attacking each other with the fence between them. This is not a boundary that the animals make, it is arbitrary: the aggression takes place on this line only. Sort of like the US and Mexico border, a line drawn by aggression and defended with aggression. On local TV news and shows, the reporting seems to be more about your money being okay, and the economy getting better, but be very afraid of your neighbor and fellow man. When did we get into fear-based politics, with more money spent in advertising against a opponent, or a perceived threat to the norm, and none of what they will do - how they will address the problems? What are the issues that they’re really running for office for? It is like, almost anything can be true as long as it is said with a lot of hype, and the ability to blame someone else for the problems that exist, without accepting responsibility for the problem or how to fix it. What happened to the Orwellian concept on how government can manipulate information (the facts) to co-opt people’s opinions? For example, that it is in their interest to go to war, or give up their rights for “homeland security”. Oh, they don’t have students read George Orwell’s 1984 anymore, especially the parts about propaganda. And if you have reread it, you will see that special interests and (their) politicians use it like an operational manual. Here’s a few concepts that seem to make sense: “economics serves the people, not the people serve economics”. “Development is about people, not objects. Development liberates creativity”. “Growth is not the same as development; growth is quantitative and limited, development has no limits.” No economic system is possible in ecological subserviency. Economics is a subsystem of a larger, finite system. Only with a Permaculture Society is sustainable development possible. No economic entity can own life in that life is finite. Extinction is infinite. For more information in the economics of a sustainable world, check out Barefoot Economics by Fred Manneef, an interesting formula on the economics of a sustainable world.

Ramah Farmers’ Market GrowersNeed Your Help

During the last week of September the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), and many of their organizational allies, submitted a letter to the Senate urging them to support an amendment to the pending food safety legislation, S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. S.510 would considerably ramp up FDA regulation on farms that even minimally process their crops and sell them to restaurants, food coops, groceries, schools and wholesalers (Continued next page)

H oliday N ursery Landscape & Irrigation Contractors Please email or call us with your question or concerns dealing with your yard or landscape appearance- ask our landscape designers

Email – holidaynursery@yahoo.com or

Call-(505) 863-5791 or fax (505)722-9305

1214 East Aztec, Gallup N.M. Official sponsor of The Ramah Farmers’ Market Community Outreach Gordon Tooley; High Elevation Orchard work shop Tooley Trees, Truchas N.M.

William G. Stripp

Attorney at Law P.O. Box 159

Ramah New Mexico 87321

Telephone: 505-783-4138 Facsimile: 505-783-4139

Mobile: 505-870-2993 Email: stripp@wildblue.net

We support The Ramah Farmers’ Market

Battered Families Services, Inc

My Sister’s House Crisis Lines

In Gallup 505-722-7483 Outside Gallup 800-634-4508

My Brother’s Place (Offender program) 505-722-5443 Fax 505-722-9355

My Sister’s House Resale Shop

103 W. Aztec, Gallup 505-722-5801 Mon-Fri 8am-5pm Sat 9am-4pm

Residential and Non-residential Services Safe Emergency Shelter

Supportive Services: • Domestic Violence Education • Parenting Classes • Support Groups

Culturally Responsive Services • Legal Advocacy • Court Accompaniment

Margaret Place •Transitional Housing Access & Visitation Services

•Safe Child Exchange • Safe Supervised Visitation Community Education

All services provided free of charge to survivors of

domestic violence and their children (except visitation services)

Administration: (505) 722-6389 Office (505) 722-9355 Fax

207 S. Strong Gallup, NM 87301

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(continued from p. 11) this legislation is passed, it would subject every grower at the Ramah Farmers Market with inappropriate inspections that may cost the grower up to $300.00 an hour. As most people know, it is not the backyard gardens and small farms that pose a food safety risk; it is the huge agribusiness corporate farms and livestock facilities (as seen recently in the egg industry) that pose serious risk to the consumer. The Tester-Hagan amendment would exempt small farm and food processing facilities, as well as mid-sized farmers who market their products directly to consumers, from many hazard analysis and produce safety standards provisions, provisions that would be overly burdensome to these producers and jeopardize the development of local food economies. Since this issue did not come to the floor for a Senate vote, there is still time to call your Senator and tell them to act in favor of the Tester-Hagan amendment. Though there were final pushes on several major issues by advocacy groups, Congress adjourned and members began returning to their districts without addressing food safety legislation. Congress sent President Obama promises to address food safety legislation (and other issues) in a lame-duck session after mid-term elections.

Call Your Senators Today And Urge Them To Support The Tester Amendment!

Food safety legislation MUST protect family farms, sustainable & organic agriculture. (Continued next page)

J.R.L. Enterprises inc 16 Ashcroft Ave.

Ramah, NM Phone: 505-783-4797

Fax: 505-783 4021 (1 ½ block north of the Post Office)

Mechanical Repair & Engine Diagnosis, Tire & Auto Body Repair,

Paint jobs

Gravel, Dirt work, Septic system

Call for your free estimates Today

Breakfast Served All Day We Serve the Best Green & Red Chile in Gallup

Open Mon-Sat 7:30am to 5 pm Established 1982

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Residential, Commercial and Industrial

Plumbing, and septic needs Call Us First

for fast and complete help Plumbing, Cooling, and Heating service

complete septic systemPortable Toilet rental

RV tanks

Old School Gallery

Home of El Morro Area Arts Council Supporting Art & Community

and the Ramah Farmers Market

OPEN Thursday - Monday 11 am - 5 pm

NM 53 One mile east of El Morro Monument

505-783-4710 www.oldschoolgallery.org

(Contined from previous page) Please call your Senators today and ask them to support the Tester Amendment:• Senator Tom Udall 202-224-6621; 505-346-6791• Sen. Jeff Bingaman 202-224-5521; 505-346-6601• Rep Harry Teague 202-225-2365; 575-393-0510 There are other ways to contact congressmen; type in your zip code on congress.org The message is simple. "I am a constituent of Senator ___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Tester Amendment and to include the Tester language in the Manager's Amendment to the food safety bill. The Tester Amendment will exempt small farm and food facilities and farmers who direct market their products to consumers, farmers markets, stores or restaurants. We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate bad actors without erecting new barriers to family farms and the growing healthy food movement. Our continuing economic recovery demands that we preserve these market opportunities for small, and mid-sized family farms.”Learn More – Get the details – go on-line to ramahfarmersmarket.org and contact@foodsecurity.org

COMMUNITY NOTES

Rural Bookmobile WestTuesday; October 5, November 2, November 30Bluewater – Post Office 10:00 -11:00Thoreau – Senior Center 11:30 -12:30Whispering Cedars – Fire Station 2:00-2:45Ft. Wingate Post Office at Bear Springs Plaza 3:00 - 4:30

Wednesday; October 6, November 3, December 1El Morro National Monument 9:30-10:45Pine Hill Market 11:30 – 1:00Ramah Post Office 2:45 – 4:15

Thursday; October 7, November 4, December 2Fence Lake – Community Center 10:00 - 11:00Cubero – Villa de Cubero Store 2:00 - 3:00Highland Meadows – Highway 6 Mini-Mart 3:45 – 4:30To’hajiilee - Chapter House 5:00 - 5:45

Living Flower EssencesWith Rhonda PallasDowney

DiHom, M.A., Herbalist, Flower Essence PractitionerDEMO & BOOK SIGNING

Friday, December 3rd , 5:30 pm, at Inscription Rock Trading

Rhonda is deeply inspired by the powerful (continued next page) (continued from p. 11) healing qualities of flower essences and whole plant medicine. She considers them her friends, helpers, and guides who help her grow and evolve in her life’s lessons. Rhonda hopes that through (Continued next page)

ANCIENT WAY CAFÉ

EL MORRO RV PARK & CABINS Open

Every Day - 9 am. To 5 pm Friday & Saturday Evenings 5-8p.m.

Closed Wednesdays Come see us at The Ancient Way Fall Festival

Homemade Food and Desserts Made with Love

“We are proud to serve local produce”. El Morro RV Park, Cabins & Ancient Way Café elmorro-nm.com elmorrorv@yahoo.com 505-783-4612 Near mile marker 46 on Hwy 53, one mile east of El Morro National Monument Entrance

Chaffins Ranch & Rope Supply Feed, hay, clothing, work boots, etc;

OPEN Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5:00pm Sat.9:00am-3:00pm Closed Sunday (505)285-6608 1700 Juniper Milan N.M. I-40exit 79 behind Love’s

Serving All Your Livestock Lianas, Poultry, Cattle, horses, Sheep, Goats, Rabbits, Dogs, Cats, and Wild bird seed

Don’t Miss the Stage! Come & Eat Lots of Good Food & Pie

O pen Monday-Saturday 7:00am to 9:00pm

783-4288 Bond Street, Ramah, NM

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(Continued from p 13) the flower essences you will experience their healing qualities, awaken your appreciation for plants and flowers and develop your relationship to her flower essences. They may even reveal to you insights into your own personal journey.Rhonda Pallas Downey is the author of The Healing Power of Flowers and Voices of Flowers

Willson & McKee Workshop and ConcertSaturday, November 13th, at the Old School Gallery

Two voices with hammer dulcimer, accordion, Irish bouzouki, bodhran, and guitars. Rocky Mountain Celtic – What music becomes when it settles comfortably in the West.

1:00-3:00pm Irish Ceili Folk Dance Workshop at the Old School Gallery Admission $7.00,Children under 12 FREEAll Day – Irish Cream Latte & Irish Whiskey Cake at Inscription Rock Trading5:45 PM Seating- Irish Dinner – Leg of Lamb – Ancient Way Café – Call for Reservations 783-46127:00 PM – Willson & McKee – Rocky Mountain Celtic Concert – Old School Gallery – Admission $7.00 – Reservations suggested – call 783-4710

Seeking Clothes DonationsWe are accepting clothes, shoes and toys for the Zuni and Navajo Native community to help them in a time of need. If you can help, it would be deeply appreciated. Please contact Janey and Don Bowe. 505-783-4008. We will pick up anything.

HOUSE FOR SALE/RENTThree bedroom, three bath house in Ramah with hardwood floors, brick fireplace. Great view every window. Walk to Ramah Lake. Studio, Full Laundry room. Timberlake. Call 949-436-2231 or e-mail fitzmauricefineart @gmail.com for availability.

Need a Food Card?Food Handler Class

Zuni Ramah Office of Environmental HealthNovember 10, 2010 - 2:00 PM - Zuni Tribal Office BuildingOpen to the public age 14 or older – No Children Please

Call 505-782-7000

THE WHOLE CATASTROPHE “The modern industrial farmer cannot achieve such yields without enormous amounts of chemical fertilizer, pesticide, machinery and fuel, a set of capital-intensive inputs, as they’re called, that saddle the farmer with debt, threaten his health, erode his soil and destroy its fertility, pollute the ground water and compromise the safety of the food we eat.”

Michael Pollen, “Playing God in the Garden”, New York Times Magazine, October 25, 1998

CONTENTSHarvest Festival & Ancient Way Fall Fest (P. 1, PP. 8-9) Market News ( PP. 2- 4)Fiber Fest, Potluck,Help Gloria,---------------------------------------------------------------------pp.1-3 Garden Tour, Farmers Micro Loan Program-----------------------------------------------------pp. 2-3Website, FaceBook, Surround----------------------------------------------------------------------pp. 3-4High Elevation Gardening (PP. 4-7) Farm Speaking Out Loud, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------p. 4Companion Planting----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------p. 5Growing Garlic -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------p.6Community Homesteading (PP. 7, 10 - 11)Why Buy Local, EM Valley Co-op,-----------------------------------------------------------------------p.7Local Food Exchange, EMV Co-op Annual Meeting ---------------------------------------------p. 10Quilt Show , Photo Contest-----------------------------p. 10El Morro Traditional Crafters, Giannagelos----------------------------------------------------------p. 11 Center Pages - Harvest Festival -------------------------------------------pp. 8-9Sustainable Agriculture (PP. 10-14) Food for Thought, RFM Needs Help (Food Safety Law) ----------------------------------pp. 12-14 RFM Community Outreach; Sponsors (P. 15)

Editors, Writers, Poets & Photographers, Researchers: Susan Ackerman, Christy Blank-field, Bodhiarts, Chile Nativo, Owl McCabe, J.Y. Rossignol, Linda Thornton, Kate Wilson. Thanks Everyone.Contact the Co-managers: Denis Black & Jackie Rossignol, HC 61 Box 816, Ramah, NM 87321 505-783-4440 ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo.comBusiness Owners:If you would like to advertise with the Ramah Farmers’ Beet as a Busi-ness Sponsor contact the co-managers at 505-783-4440 or e-mail ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo.com so we can set up an appointment.

RFM Sponsorship Program The Ramah Farmers’ Market is rapidly expanding with more growers, more cus-tomers, a community table, a longer market season, and a Harvest Festival. The Market also has expanded its outreach with a newspaper - The Ramah Farmers’ Beet - spring and fall potlucks and seed exchanges, workshops, and garden visits. The Ramah Farmers’ Beet is a free community resource for disseminating information on the Ramah Farmers Market, high elevation gardening, organic gardening, homesteading skills, local, state and national developments in Sustainable Agriculture, the Slow Food movement, local food security and safety, and other issues of community concern. In 2007 we converted the free newsletter to newspaper tabloid format, accepting local business sponsorships, and increasing circulation to 1000. We envision The Farmers’ Beet as a free community newspaper to be mailed and distributed. In order to improve our links with the community we hope to initiate a web site, and have already contributed funds to the installation and support of a satellite dish to assist in on-line research necessary for accurate and informative newspaper articles. We also plan to reimburse newspaper writ-ers, poets, editors and researchers. The increase in circulation will also increase fuel costs for newspaper delivery – we reimburse newspaper delivery volunteers for their fuel cost. We increased publication to six issues a year. All of these activities require money, time, and volunteers. We invite you to help support the Ramah Farmers’ Market Community Out-reach Program by becoming an RFM Community Outreach Sponsor. All donation amounts will be accepted, but a donation of 15.00 or more gives you a year’s mailed subscription (6 issues) of The Farmers’ Beet. A donation of 50.00 or more gives you 10% off of all promo-tional items (aprons, baskets, etc) for the Market year.

Thank you, Community Outreach contributors; We couldn’t do it without you…

BENEFACTOR Anonymous Ramah, New Mexico Bob & Mary Barry Ramah, New Mexico Frank & Vicky Giannangelo Ramah, New Mexico Frank & Barbara Lambert Ramah, New Mexico Harry Hutton & Harriet Lawrence Ramah, New Mexico Dana Letts Ramah, New Mexico Whooville Ramah, New MexicoSILVER PATRON Anonymous Ramah, New Mexico Jill Acheson Ramah, New Mexico C. Marlow Gallup, New Mexico Paula Tripodi Ramah, New MexicoBRONZE PATRON Steven Albert Ramah, New Mexico Reed & Fran Anderson Ramah, New Mexico Anonymous Ramah, New Mexico Anonymous Vanderwagon, New Mexico Jerry Ginsburg Albuquerque, New Mexico Stanley & Shirley Giser

Grants, New Mexico Terence M. Gurley Gallup, New Mexico Lee & Susan Haygood Ramah, New Mexico Rosalie Bianchi & Paul Juncker Zuni & Ramah, New Mexico Tom & Kate Manrodt Ramah, New Mexico Paul & Flora Merrill Ramah, New Mexico Katherine Rossignol New Milford, Connecticut Martha & Joe Rossignol Devonshire, Bermuda Vinnie Rossignol Crested Butte, Colorado SPONSOR Anonymous Zuni, New Mexico Anonymous Ramah, New Mexico Howard & Karin Brunner Ramah, New Mexico Allen & Pat Burnam Hayden, Arizona & Ramah, New Mexico Bob & Hannah Crooks Ramah, New Mexico T. M. Dolan Pie Town, New Mexico Jerry Jorgensen Ramah, New Mexico Susan McNabb Ramah, New Mexico Patricia Olsen Milan, New Mexico Kim Score & Chris Moeller Grants, New Mexico Beverly Moody Ramah, New MexicoBUSINESS SUPPORTERS Alpine Lumber Ancient Way Café Back Woods Pizza Battered Families Services, Inc. Butlers Davis Ranch Donald Sharp El Morro Area Arts Council El Morro Feed & Seed El Morro Valley Ranch Gallup Lumber Gallup Pumping Service Holiday Nursery Inscription Rock Trading JRL Enterprises Justin’s Earthworks La Montanita Co-op Law Office of William Stripp Loeffler Gun Shop Maria’s Restaurant Mr. Shed Mustang Storage Stage Coach Café Star Cloud Farm The Trading PostIN KIND DONATIONS Gallup Pumping Service, El Morro Area Arts Council, El Morro Feed & Seed , Gallup Independent, Ramah Lake Realty

Add my support to the Community Outreach Program Fund: □ □ $1.00 - $14.00 Friend□ $15.00 – $24.00 Sponsor (Farmers’ Beet Subscription)□ $ 25.00 – $49.00 Bronze Patron□ $ 50.00 - $74.00 Silver Patron (10% off promo items)□ $ 75.00 - $99.00 Gold Patron□ $100.00 + BenefactorAmount of gift _________________

□ Please check here if you do not want your gift acknowledged in The Farmers’ Beet.Name_______________________________________

Address______________________________________

City_________________________________________

State/Zip_____________________________________

Phone _________________________E-mail________________________Make Checks Payable to Ramah Farmers’ Market. Mail to: RFM, HC 61 Box 816, Ramah, NM, 87321 The RFM is a not for profit Unincorporated Association, McKinley County, State of New Mexico (pending) and is not a tax exempt organization.

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Volunteer ☺ Sell Produce ☺ Get on the e-mail list ☺ Start Gardening ☺ Write Contact the co-managers: Jackie Rossignol & Denis Black, HC 61 Box 816, Ramah, NM 87321,

783-4440, ramahfarmersmkt@yahoo.com

H

C 61

Box

816

Rama

h, NM

8732

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“Dedicated employee-owners committed to being the best supplier of building materials and related services to the professional builder.”

New Saturday Hours 8am – 2pmCome see us and the new improvements!

104 North SecondAcross the tracks from Historic Downtown

Gallup, NM(505)-722-6681