Ghost Ranch Veggies & Tales

Earth Honoring Faith in Action

Farm Mission:

The Farm at Ghost Ranch seeks to reconnect people, food, spirituality, and land by creating and maintaining relationships within the earth and human family. It does so by using outreach, education, and service to provide nutritious, pesticide-free produce to those in need. We are ever mindful in our role as caretakers to work with the earth by using farming techniques appropriate for the high desert and growing food that is indigenous, culturally relevant, and suited to our arid environment. We respect and acknowledge all faith traditions, recognizing that we are all children under the care of the same Creator.

"God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures." -Francis Bacon

Every Wednesday evening throughout the summer a farm open house will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., for all who are interested in learning more about this endeavor!

A Growing Family

The first week in July many starters made a transition from the greenhouse and found their permanent home in the garden soil. These include pinto beans, canario beans, watermelons, calabacita squash, tomatoes, and many different varieties of flowers. Marigolds started to show their heads and are proving effective against pestilent worms and insects. Zinnias, sunflowers, and moonflower vines will soon add some color to the mix. Hollyhocks will eventually line the herb garden, which is flourishing with dill, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, and parsley.

A new fence is in the process of installation around the garden. This is constructed with chicken wire and metal posts, but will also be electrified to discourage deer, rabbits and other furry intruders from devouring the harvest. The recent addition of two new scarecrows --- an owl and a python --- will hopefully help with this as well.

On another exciting note, the farm rooster crowed at sunrise for the first time this week!

July Showers Bring August Flowers

The northern New Mexico monsoon season has finally begun and for that the Ghost Ranch farm is very grateful. The rains are delivering much-needed water to the various crops on the farm. The rain has also given some relief from the heat for the various flowers that are slowly climbing over the edges of their pots and will hopefully decorate the farm entrance in late summer. These flowers include zinnias, marigolds, Mexican sunflowers, nasturtiums, and moonflower vines. There are still some flower seeds in the greenhouse, including mountain columbines, which may make their way into the ground as the season turns more toward autumn.

On the food side of things, we are very pleased to report that the corn is a little bit over knee-high by the fourth of July, the potatoes and onions are flourishing, and guests at Wednesday night's open house were treated to snap peas and radishes fresh from the garden. The radishes were planted by various children who have visited the farm throughout the past couple of weeks: they did an excellent job! Most varieties of tomato are also coming along quite nicely, and the same goes for the squash. We are still waiting to see about the chile peppers and watermelon. Pumpkins will hopefully be planted before summer's end.

Compost

The farm's compost piles are growing larger every day and are nicely contained in very sturdy wooden structures that were skillfully and lovingly constructed by members of the 2011 Youth Service Corps. The material will make excellent fertilizer for the crops this year and next and is certainly providing excellent nourishment to our twenty chickens!

Royal Flush

Ghost Ranch Farm now has a working outhouse! A sink still has yet to be installed, but all visitors to and employees of the farm now have a working restroom facility available to them. Many thanks are extended to Miles Coleman and Watts Gallegos for their help in the installation of this facility and to young volunteers from Newton, KS who helped to dig the trench in which to install the plumbing
- your help is very much appreciated!

The All-American Dog & Pony Show

We are very proud to report that Cocoa and Chotsky, the two miniature horses currently residing at the Ghost Ranch farm, made their parade debut on the second day of July 2011 in the Independence Day parade and were a huge hit! Decked out in red, white, and blue ribbon they brought up the tail end of the parade, closely trailing the farm cart and Becky DeLair with her dog Tetchko. All the parade attendees were delighted with their presence and the farmers were very pleased that both were able to share their adorable selves with the whole ranch!

Return of the Burros

The donkeys are back at Ghost Ranch! On Monday July 4th, the five resident burros were moved to the pasture behind the cantina and social center. They will make their home there for a couple of weeks and then will be moved down to the pastureland next to the farm. An animal shelter will be constructed, hopefully with the help of Youth or Adult Service Corps, and will provide shade for these creatures in the hot weeks of mid- to late summer.

The Bats and the Bees

In an effort to help the farm grow and expand, the farmers are considering building a bat house and constructing a beehive at the farm. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about either of these endeavors or has input about acquiring these creatures or constructing their homes, we would love to hear it! This project may not be in the cards for this summer, but has great potential to develop in future years. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please email either This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Sprouting Seeds

After lying fallow for over a decade, the farm at Ghost Ranch has been slowly coming back to life since 2009. With the help of various grants and many volunteers, the summer of 2011 is already proving to be a very productive and exciting one for the farm. Many crops are already in the ground, including corn, onions, lettuce, radishes, and peas. The fruit trees lining the road will hopefully be producing apples and pears by harvest time as well. The greenhouse is home to many more plants, which are gradually making their way into the ground. These include tomatoes, cucumbers, calabacita squash, pinto beans, and the ever-important New Mexico staple crop: chili peppers.

When the first crop was harvested at the Ghost Ranch farm in 1978 and all throughout the following decade until 1992, the farm was intended as an experiment of sorts, and was dubbed the High Desert Research Farm at Ghost Ranch. The climate in this area of northern New Mexico resembles that of much of the Earth's surface. Therefore, it was, and continues to be of great importance to try to discover what types of crops grow best in this environment, in order to share this knowledge with surrounding communities and the world at large. Relief from hunger was the ultimate goal for this project. A program called Farm to Market (FTM) was also established, to provide people throughout northwestern New Mexico with a direct connection to those who grew and supplied their food and to the land itself. Although the farm is no longer a research farm, hunger alleviation and local and organic methods of growing food remain high priorities for the Ghost Ranch Farm. Once this summer's crop is harvested, what is not used by the ranch itself will be donated to various hunger prevention organizations and areas in need throughout the greater community.

¿Como se llama?

The Ghost Ranch community is very excited about the arrival of the widely anticipated llamas and alpacas from Victory Ranch in nearby Mora, New Mexico. Two alpacas are expected, along with two llamas. Donald Martinez may also house two of his sheep at the farm, which will be an experimental undertaking. The burros will also make their home by the farm at some point this summer. Two miniature horses have already arrived on the scene. Three-year-old Cocoa and four-year-old Chotsky rolled onto the ranch on Sunday June 12, 2011 and have been a smash hit for a wide variety of visitors. They will hopefully comprise the farm's main attraction in the upcoming Fourth of July parade.

On Saturday June 4, 2011, Ghost Ranch's very own Ted and Nancy Collins made a trip to Mora to shear the eagerly awaited llamas and alpacas. They enjoyed the experience very much and reported that 310 animals were sheared over the course of two weekends.

Twenty chickens are occupying the coop at present. The fifteen Leghorns are around four weeks old and are growing at a steady pace. (In the true spirit of recycling at Ghost Ranch, they have upgraded their diet to include scraps from the kitchen.) The five Production Red chickens are two weeks old and arrived in the coop about a week ago. They seem to be adapting well to their new home and their counterparts have been most welcoming.

An orphaned calf by the name of Hamburger was the first resident farm animal on Ghost Ranch in 2011. He currently resides at the home of Sabino Salazar.

Projects and Progress

In order to better manage the harvest at the end of the summer, the area for primary food production has been reduced to include just the three fields at the rear of the planting area. The rest of the fields will be sown with buckwheat, rapeseed, and other cover crops in order to discourage the growth of the noxious knapweed that unfortunately also grows well in this high desert soil.

Many Service Corps projects (both Youth and Adult) are in the works for this summer. These include the construction of a fence around the vegetable garden to keep out, to the greatest degree possible, the creatures who enjoy partaking in that food; installation of sheetrock in the office and the tool shed; construction of various organizational units; installation and maintenance of a drip irrigation system; and signage for farm buildings, among other things.

Volunteers and Special Thanks

Many thanks and much deep appreciation goes out to all who have dedicated time and energy to revitalizing the farm in any way. Over the past two weeks, Damian Velasquez, Donald Martinez, Benny Lujan, Sabino Salazar, and all of maintenance were most helpful in projects like tilling, moving machinery, and trash and recycling collection. Special thanks go to Gabriel and Ryan Meese of Albuquerque, NM, grandsons of Jackie Meese the Ghost Ranch nurse, who were instrumental in turning over soil, watering the chickens, installing a new birdbath, and a host of other cleaning, gardening, and organizational projects. Eva DeLair was the first farm volunteer of 2011 and her work is very much appreciated. Jeanne O'Dean watered and cared for the greenhouse plants from the middle of April to the end of May and many of the plants flourishing today would not be without her help. Thanks also to Mark Zaineddin, Bill Wylie, Ed DeLair and Executive Director Debra Hepler for their leadership and fundraising efforts to provide support for the farm.

Anyone who is interested in donating their time and/or talents to the farm would be most appreciated!