October in New Mexico
It’s fall! Fall is my favorite season, and it’s so wonderful in my lovely state of New Mexico. Just saying it’s October fills my senses with memories of crisp mornings, bright blue skies full of colorful balloons, the first whiff of pinion smoke, the savory taste of a freshly roasted green chile on a warm tortilla with just a sprinkle of garlic salt.
In my world autumn is a season of bounty. It’s the time of harvest- picking crisp red apples, canning jars and jars of pickled beets, and fresh new pinto beans straight from the combine. I’m just one generation away from total self-sufficiency. My parents and grandparents had root cellars and pantries full of provisions to last the winter. They bought beans in 50-pound bags, potatoes by the sack full, and canned a multitude of vegetables, fruit, and pickles. They usually slaughtered beef and a hog or two. These animals were painstakingly processed with hand meat saws and knives, then double wrapped in butcher paper and frozen in one of the many freezers in the shed and bunkhouses. Daddy usually always brought in a deer and an elk, which my mother critically surveyed and cut away the silver skin, and dried, bloodshot, or pieces that may have a hair touch it. Or even if she thought it looked suspicious- it was deftly cut off and thrown to the dogs. What May have been a large elk, made very few packages when she was through- but we never had any bad meat!
Today we strive to educate the population where their food comes from. Many children think milk is produced at the grocery store. I know adults who do not understand cotton is fiber removed from a boll grown on a plant. Our society lacks the innate understanding of land, families, and effort that goes into each plate of food on their dinner table. Everyone engaged in the various aspects of agriculture carries the responsibility of education. We need to tell people what we do and why we do it! Often giving a little of our story to others, whether personally, on social media, or in other ways, starts the conversation. These are generations of individuals who have only gotten food from a store or restaurant. People inherently are curious, and the opportunity to share knowledge and experience can happen anywhere. Start a discussion with the person sitting next to at a ballgame. If we each just share a few tidbits daily, the surge of information will flow.
Start your conversation today!
