Dehydrating the Harvest class this Sunday August 15

There are still spaces available for this class. If you ever been to one of Bob Zimmerman’s classes, you know it will be great and informative and free samples! We will have a canopy and chairs outside spaced out for safety. Plus a bonus-after the class if anyone wants to walk in the veggie garden, you are welcome to tour it with me. It is even MORE beautiful than after the last class. Sign up below to reserve your space.

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Sunday, August 15, 2021
12 noon to 2 pm

Dehydrating the Harvest

Have you thought about getting a food dehydrator to preserve seasonal produce? Do you already have a dehydrator and want to learn more ways to use your dehydrator than just drying apples? In this class, Bob will demonstrate how to preserve all kinds of food, complete with recipes and tips for getting the most out of your dehydrator. Here are just some of the unique and tasty treats that we will explore-fruit chips, beef,& turkey jerky, Parmesan, tomato & zucchini chips, sun-dried tomato crackers and fruit rollups.

Instructor: Bob Zimmerman and Mike McGeary
Location: 56 Coyote Crossing • Santa Fe (Tomato Lady’s property)
Fee: $5 for members/$20 for non-members

REGISTER HERE

How to Make Jerky

Making jerky is and easy process and fun to do. You can create it out of beef, turkey or other meat that was hunted like deer or elk. Jennifer and her father David Fresquez from Monte Vista Organic Farm provided a class to Home Grown New Mexico to 25 students in February.  Here are some of the highlights if you want to make jerky.

• The process of making jerky will reduce the meat to 1/4 of the original size.
• Select meat with a low fat content to reduce the fat in the finished product. Fat tends to spoil and oxidize more quickly than pure muscle
which will keep for a VERY long time.
• Slice the meat along the grain and in thin pieces. Roll the meat to get it to be smaller.  If you are having the butcher do the slicing for you remind them to do it on a slicer if possible and to slice with the grain of the meat. Also, when determining the slicing thickness remember that thickness will reduce to 1/4 of the original size.
• Season with a mix in a recycled spice bottle with a shaker top. This can include salt, onion, garlic, pepper, brown sugar and chile to add to each side of the meat
• A dehydrator at 145 degrees is the best for your jerky. This temperature kills disease in turkey.
• Another option is to roast in the oven for 10 hours on 200 degrees
• Store in a paper bag or container to let air in and out for summer.

Enjoy your jerky!

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Cold winter days are a great time to use squash to make soup.  Butternut squash has a nice flavor and tastes wonderful when roasted. This is an easy recipe to create a vegetarian soup. You can also roast the squash and then freeze to use within a year.

If you have squash bugs, butternut is the best winter squash to grow.  These squash came from my community garden where we have lots of squash bugs. They did not come to my plot or invade the squash plants. Six were grown on the fence in 2012. You can also purchase organic squash at the Farmers Market or local grocery stores like Whole Foods or the Coop. They will last all winter if stored in a cool place.

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
3 lbs Butternut squash (multiple squash can be roasted)
1 Can of Lite Coconut Milk
2 tsps of Garlic Pepper
2 tsps of Italian Spice (or dried basil, oregano and marjoram)

Cover the squash with olive oil and roast in the oven for an hour on 400 degrees. You will not need to cut the squash to roast it. Let the squash cool and then remove the inside into a pot. Add the coconut milk and spices and cook for 20 minutes. Let the soup cool enough to strain. Use a strainer to remove the large pieces of squash. See photo above for the type that I use.  You can use many types of strainers. Use a ladle to add the soup and push it through the strainer. Enjoy the soup!

Amy Hetager, Blogger for Home Grown New Mexico

Make Your Own Spice Mix

Spices are one of the easiest things to add flavor to a dish. They can take you to different parts of the world like Asia, Northern Africa, the Mediterranean and India but use the same vegetables and meat ingredients.

Buying spices is easy in Santa Fe.  There are a few speciality shops like Ziggy’s International Market on Cerrillos or The Spice Lady on Cordova that offer spices and ingredients.  The Spice Lady also sells dried spices in bulk so that you can try a smaller amount.  The Coop and Whole Foods Grocery Stores sell spices in bulk as well. Buying in bulk allows you to buy a small amount for a recipe or try a spice with your family. One of the best deals for spices is at Natural Grocers on Cerrillos. They have a huge selection and some of the more difficult whole spices to find.

Store spices in a sealed container.  Small glass canning jars work the best. Try to buy the seed or whole spice so that it will last longer than the dried powder. If the spice is whole, it can also be toasted in a dry pan for a few minutes to bring out the aroma and flavor in your kitchen.

Once you have the whole spices that you enjoy, you can make spice mixes with a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Many cookbooks will list spice blends for their recipe.  Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything devotes a chapter to spices and sauces. It has everything from a pickling spice to curries. Curry is a useful spice mix for vegetables.  Simple ingredients like lentils, potatoes, carrots and spinach can be transformed.  Cut the vegetables into the same size pieces and saute in olive oil with the spice mix.  Add crushed tomatoes and coconut milk for a nice dinner over rice. Visit the Local Organic Meals on a Budget blog for the hot curry spice mix recipe.

Another spice mix to make in advance and store for recipes is Chinese five-spice powder. This is available in a pre-mixed jar at most grocery stores, but you can make it, customize it and save money if you make it yourself. It can be used in place of other spice mixes in baking recipes for nut breads, muffins and cookies. This spice mixture has a warm character and can be in savory dishes like stir-fry, vegetable side dishes and even home made veggie burgers. Here is an adaptation.

Five-Spice Powder Recipe
1/2 Cinnamon Stick
6 Whole Cloves
1 Tblsp Corriander Seeds
2 Tblsp Fennel Seeds
2 Tsp Ground Ginger

Place the whole spices in a dry pan and heat on low for a few minutes. They will become fragrant quickly. Remove from the stove and transfer to a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) or mortar and pestle.  Allow to cool. Grind the spices. Store in a sealed container for up to three months. This makes about a 1/2 cup of spice mix.

Potluck June 28

Community Homesteading Potluck Gatherings
Grow, Raise, Cook, Preserve
Teach, Learn, Mentor, Share

The Santa Fe Complex and Home Grown New Mexico continue the Community Homesteading Potluck Gatherings at the Santa Fe Complex. They take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Next event is Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30pm

• Rubina Cohen from the Food Policy Council will give updates on the food assessment and other projects.
• Kitchen Garden & Coop Tour is presented by HGNM and Edible Santa Fe.  We will talk about the self-guided tour of six gardens and urban farms on July 24th.  It is our fundraising event for the year.  We will have ticket giveaways at the potluck and also a special code to receive discounted tickets!
• Local Organic Meals on a Budget will talk about their cooking classes every Wed and Sat.  They are a new collaboration between Kitchen Angels, Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute and Slow Food Santa Fe.

The goal of our potlucks is to bring individuals together and organically create an environment of education between the different levels of experience. Come if you are a novice, an expert, or anything in between in the topics of gardening, beekeeping, backyard chicken coops and urban farming.

Bring a dish to share with the group. We want this to be a zero waste event so please bring a plate, silverware and a cup.  You could even bring your dish or drink in a reusable container.

Bring food donations for the Food Depot.  They will accept locally grown produce, canned goods or dry packaged food.  We will be delivering these donations to the Food Depot at all future potluck events.  Last month we had one bag to donate.  Let’s double that this month!

Home Grown New Mexico hopes to continue to communicate these events and add more speakers and activities to our calendar. To facilitate this there is a suggested donation of $5 or more. The Santa Fe Complex is located at 632 Agua Fria Street with parking off Romero Street before the Ark Bookstore and visit http://sfcomplex.org/ for more detailed directions. For more information on the potlucks, email homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com or call 473-1403.

Green Drinks, Potluck and Garden Fair

This is a busy week for Home Grown New Mexico.  We have just completed Earth Day with events at Earth Care, The Santa Fe Community College and La Montanita Coop.  Our celebration included snap pea seeds for all attendees, so they could start their gardens with a healthy treat.  It was great to meet all of the people that want to grown their own food this year.  We hope to see you at our monthly potlucks, education classes and the Kitchen Garden and Coop Tour.

This week includes three important events:

• Community Homesteading Potluck
  Tuesday, April 26th at 7pm
  Santa Fe Complex at 632 Agua Fria Street, parking on Romero
  We will have a seed exchange and hear from Food Depot, Santa Fe Time Bank and Beneficial Farms CSA
  For more information, click here

• Green Drinks
  Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30pm
  Joe’s Diner at 2801 Rodeo Road
  We are excited to share our 2011 plans for connecting individuals, local business and organizations in gardening and urban farming.  The New Mexican wrote a great article on the program and Kathleen Chambers who founded Green Drinks in Santa Fe three years ago.  Congratulations Kathleen!
  For more information, click here

• Master Gardener Fair
  Saturday, April 30th at 10am
  County Fairgrounds at 3229 Rodeo Road
  Our booth will be outside the exhibit hall and you can come learn about our education sessions from May to October.  We will also be selling heirloom tomato plants!
  For more information, click here

Seed Exchange on April 26

Community Homesteading Potluck Gatherings
The Fourth Tuesday of Every Month and the Santa Fe Complex
Grow, Raise, Cook, Preserve
Teach, Learn, Mentor, Share

The Santa Fe Complex and Home Grown New Mexico continue the Community Homesteading Potluck Gatherings at the Santa Fe Complex. They take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Next event is Tuesday,
April 26th at 7pm

• We will have a Seed Exchange Table so bring  any seeds to share with others, envelopes or small baggies and a marking pen.
• The Santa Fe Time Bank will discuss using their system as a way to share skills.
• The Food Depot will talk about their program to grow an extra row of vegetables for donation.  We will accept donations of produce for the Food Depot at our potlucks.
• Beneficial Farms CSA will discuss  their short-term shares, so that gardeners can enjoy local fruits and vegetables in May and June before their plants begin producing.  The CSA is year round!  Gardeners can join again in October for a winter share.

The goal of our potlucks is to bring individuals together and organically create an environment of education between the different levels of experience. Come if you are a novice, an expert, or anything in between in the topics of gardening, beekeeping, backyard chicken coops and urban farming.

Bring a dish to share with the group. We want this to be a zero waste event so please bring a plate, silverware and a cup.  You could even bring your dish or drink in a reusable container.

Bring food donations for the Food Depot.  They will accept locally grown produce, canned goods or dry packaged food.  We will be delivering these donations to the Food Depot at all future potluck events.

Home Grown New Mexico hopes to continue to communicate these events and add more speakers and activities to our calendar. To facilitate this there is a suggested donation of $5 or more. The Santa Fe Complex is located at 632 Agua Fria Street with parking off Romero Street before the Ark Bookstore and visit http://sfcomplex.org/ for more detailed directions. For more information on the potlucks, email homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com or call 473-1403.

Start Your Backyard Chickens

Do you want to have healthier eggs from your own backyard?  Would you like to add some vibrant feathered friends to your family? Start keeping chickens this year and change your home into a homestead.  Chicks are available this spring at several locations in Santa Fe.  They require care, feeding and protection but are not complicated or expensive to own.

Basics for the First 60 Days
When you first bring the chicks home, they’ll need a brooder box.  This is a warm, dry and safe place for your chicks to live for the first two months.  The brooder box can be a large box or crate that is 18″ high with straw or wood shavings in the bottom.  It will need to be located in a place that is safe from curious pets or children. Chicks must be kept at 95 degrees during the first week, so you will need a lamp or heat source.  Make sure that the area is warm before bringing the chicks home.

Water and food are the next items on the checklist.  Clean water must be available at all times. A fount is a way to provide water to your small chicks and can be purchased at the local stores listed below.  Chick feed is higher in protein than adult feed.  A feeder will help keep the feed dry and in one place, so that it is available to the chicks at all times. The local feed stores below can provide more information and options.

Checking on the chicks several times per day is important to make sure that the environment is dry, draft-free, warm and they are safely growing.  Human interaction is recommended to have them be used to people and living in your backyard chicken coop.

Pick Out Your Chicks
Here are three locations in Santa Fe that have chicks available this spring.

Critters & ME
1403 Agua Fria Street
982-5040

Monte Vista Fuel & Feed, Inc.
3155 Agua Fria Street
474-6717
Mon – Fri 9am – 6pm
Sat 9am – 2pm

The Feed Bin
1202 West Alameda Street
982-0511
Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm
Sat 9am – 5pm

Other Resources for Your Backyard Coop
Enjoy your baby chicks.  Start planning their coops, eating areas and protection from predators.  There are resources locally as well as online.  Here are a few magazine websites that have covered chickens in the past month.

Mother Earth News – click here for the website

Urban Farm- click here for the website

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone that attended the community homesteading potluck last night.  We enjoyed all of your enthusiasm for homegrown food and the delicious dishes that you brought to share.  We had 55 attendees!  Great for our first event.  Thank you for the support and donations.  We hope to see you at the next potluck on Tuesday, April 26 at 7pm.

The Santa Fe Time Bank and Food Depot will speak to share their programs with us.  We would love to make this a zero waste event so please bring your own plate and silverware.  Directions to the Santa Fe Complex are on the Santa Fe Complex website with clear details.  See you there!

Community Garden Plots Still Available

El Dorado School Community Garden

There are still a few great garden plots available in Santa Fe’s community gardens.  If you are interested in gardening this summer but don’t have the space to do it, want learn more about gardening, or just enjoy the camaraderie of gardening with others, run, don’t walk, to one of the following community gardens. They’re available on a first come, first serve basis and are going fast!

The Railyard is still accepting applications for 50 square ft. parcels. The plots are available for a fee of $15 each. Planting will begin in April. For more information and applications go to: thegardens@railyardpark.org. or contact Gaelle de Tassigny through their website.

The El Dorado School Community Garden has 32 square foot in-ground and raised beds available. A one time fee of $30 is required for new members plus $35 for each plot. They also offer shares in their communal area. You can learn more on their website. To sign up, contact Marilynn Jacobs at (505) 466-6707 or www.eldogarden@comcast.net.

The Milagro Community Garden is currently accepting new gardeners and has a waiting list. Plots are approximately 10’ by 16’ and membership is $25 per year, with a one-time fee of $30 the first year. Full and partial scholarships are available.  You can email Milagro_Garden@att.net for more information.

The three City of Santa Fe Community Gardens may have plots available.  They are Sunny Slope Community Garden, Maclovia Community Garden and Frenchy’s Community Garden.  Contact Jessie Esparza at 955-2106 for details.

For more information about community gardens in Santa Fe go to: www.santafecommunitygardens.org

And don’t forget about coming to Home Grown New Mexico’s kick-off potluck tomorrow night, Tuesday March 29^th.  Hope to see you at the Santa Fe Complex!