27 Apr Return to Taos!

Wednesday Apr 20

Our return to Taos has been everything we hoped it would be! We left town on a cold winter March day with fresh snow covering the mountains and the hum of spring break just around the corner. We rolled into town around midday Wednesday with the sun shining strongly and the torrential winds that had been rocking the entire country taking a day off.

We arrived back at Snowmansion / Peaceful Earth Gardens in nearby town Arroyo Seco, energized and greeted warmly by Muna, Kali, Shakira, Amu, Subra and Besk. We got into gardening almost immediately — and couldn’t be happier working out in the hot desert sun with a mountain view!

Thursday Apr 21

Our second day back at the farm was a momentous spring occasion! The acequias (irrigation ditches) began flowing on Thursday! We worked all afternoon clearing the debris out of the ditches as the water inched through various beds of the property. Luckily one of Muna’s good friends, a Peruvian named Martín, is staying here for a time and is a longtime master of acequias! He showed us diligently all the basics for acequia work, making sure the beds are properly reached each time the water flows.

Friday Apr 22

What holiday could be more fitting for us farmer-wannabes than returning right in time for Earth Day! Friday we ran errands for the property in town and planned on returning that afternoon for the festivities in the park. However by the time we were ready to go, the wind was picking up more and more, with an eerie gray-white horizon to the west. It wasn’t long before the cloud had doubled in height, growing closer and closer very quickly, and it was a certainty that a dust storm was on its way. Within a few hours, the sky was a weird brown-white and the visibility was shrinking fast. We all collectively decided to skip the festivities downtown as we watched the wind gusts 50+ mph whip through the property.

The night ended up being a great night in with the team – cooking up a fabulous dinner of zucchini noodles and watching weird horror movies on the giant tv in the community kitchen.

Saturday Apr 23

Since we all missed the Friday Earth Day festivities most of the team around the property was dedicated to going downtown on Saturday. Aaron, Kali and myself were ready to go first so we carpooled downtown around 11:30 with Martín as our guide for the morning. He offered to show us around the Hanuman Temple, just a couple blocks away from the Taos plaza and Kit Carson Park – where the Earth Day festivities were going.

We walked through the grounds, checking on the acequia feeding the property there, saw several different fire pits and lovely little housing for their volunteers. The temple also has several acres and many producing gardens to feed the local community. After the grounds tour we headed for the park a few blocks away. There were several musical acts with various speakers in between. The music varied from electronic to reggae to hiphop, and the speakers talked about the various water and weather issues facing the community. We also got to see two brothers from a nearby pueblo do a traditional buffalo dance, signifying the end of winter and beginning of spring!

We stayed in the park until after 6 — a full day downtown!!!