This past week has welcomed a lot of “new” to the homestead, from our first classes to brand new farm animal babies making their first appearances into the world.
Locally sourced coffee roaster, New Mexico Pinon Coffee and Rasband Dairy kept our guest warm and toasty after a February homestead tour.
Our first classes were taught on Saturday as we received 10 people onto the homestead to learn about Companion Planting and Planning Your Garden. We took a quick tour around the homestead before settling next to the fire in the living room of the farmhouse for a presentation, all while enjoying some local coffee from New Mexico Pinion Coffee Company or herbal organic teas, with creamer from Rasband Dairy in Albuquerque. After the presentation, participants headed back out to the gardens to let their newly found knowledge stretch it’s legs as they walked around the gardens asking questions about the layout and formation of our homestead, talk about being able to directly apply your knowledge.
Homestead class participants sit fireside in the farmhouse as they wait for the classroom section of the homestead course to begin
Sydney Tia Eusepia and Sheila Rason of Flygirl Trees dig up one of South Mountain Homestead’s Mexican Plum trees and discover it was buried too deep.
A very informative Tree Pruning and Care class taught by Sydney Tia Eusepia and Sheila Rason of Flygirl Trees followed the morning class. So informative in fact, I found out, I bit off more than I can chew with my fruit trees we planted in the fall. It turns out we will need to dig them up and check their roots.
The gals from Flygirl Trees literally got down on their hands and knees to teach us and in the process figured out my trees were planted to deep and some of the roots were circling each other- a death wish for any tree. Shoot! All I can say is, I am glad our participants learned from our mistakes as well, and as we learned in class- gardening is a constant experiment full of failures and wins alike.
Starson Roy, aka The Meat Man behind Backyard Butcher, and his wife Erin Roy, prepared guests a FREE farm-to-table lunch between their homestead classes.
Farm-to-table menus are seasonal and use as many locally sourced New Mexico ingredients as possible.
In-between classes, Starson, The Meat Man, and I, were able to serve our attendees of both classes a FREE Farm-to-Table lunch made from many locally sourced ingredients and even decorated the table with a locally made flower arrangement. We prepared for our guests, turkey salad sandwiches (Chef Hubby’s mom’s recipe) with bread I made using flour from Valenica Flour Mill and turkey we sourced from a fellow East Mountain Grower, Lotus Farms. We served the sandwiches with a fresh spring salad using greens from Camino De Paz, a Montessori Secondary School and Farm currently serving grades 7-12 in Santa Cruz, New Mexico. Dessert was a chocolate drop cookie also made using Valencia Flour and Pecans from the well-known Salopeck family in Las Cruces New Mexico. Our table would not have been complete without a beautiful flower arrangement made by Floriography’s owner, 4th generation farmer-florist, Emily Calhoun. Emily and her crew specialize in bespoke experiences and have a direct hand in the growing of the items used to make their one-of-a-kind arrangements.
Springtime on the homestead, and most places as we know it, brings about a time for renewal. After many months of rest the earth beings to come to life. Trees begin to bud, the mud beings to clear (my entryway could not be more thankful) as the soil beings to come to life, and a new crop of farm animal babies are starting to be born. Shortly after our guests left the homestead we noticed our New Zealand doe (female) rabbit Monkey (please don’t be confused- as you can probably tell children named her and her mate as well- Bobcat) begin to show signs of preparing for kits (baby rabbits) in a process called kindling. Just on time, seven new babes were born on Sunday afternoon. One day early, we have chicks pushing their way out of eggs in the loft of the farmhouse filling the house with the sounds of happy cheeps and pecking. In our line of work, there is no better sound than the success of bringing around another generation of animals to continue the sustainable practices of having a homestead and being connected to our food.
If you are interested in being connected to your food by visiting one of our classes or learning how to grow at home check out a few of our upcoming classes. We hope you too can come and enjoy the newness of life on our homestead.
March 7th:
Seed Starting →
Propagation →
March 14th
Regenerative Agriculture →
April 4th
How to Make Jerky →
“Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.”
