Summary

The author is documenting the challenges and successes of their gardening experience in New Mexico, emphasizing the urgency to complete the fall harvest before an impending storm brings freezing temperatures.

Abstract

The article titled "Learning Experience — Gardening New Mexico Style" captures the author's race against time to salvage their garden produce before a storm hits, bringing near-freezing conditions. The author reflects on the stark contrasts between gardening in New Mexico, with its extreme weather conditions, and their previous home in Portland, Oregon. They detail the trials of adapting to New Mexico's "wind walls," scorching summers, and unexpectedly heavy monsoon rains. Despite these challenges, the author has found some aspects of gardening easier than anticipated, such as preparing and freezing eggplant for future use. The lemongrass harvest has also been successful. However, dealing with the intense heat of ghost peppers and the time-consuming process of drying them presents ongoing difficulties. The author acknowledges the hard work involved in their "learning experiences" and the many lessons learned while tending to their garden in a new environment.

Opinions

The author initially mocked the idea of a "learning experience" but now acknowledges the hard and painful lessons encountered while gardening in New Mexico.
Gardening in New Mexico is described as a lesson in extremes compared to the author's hometown of Portland, Oregon, indicating a significant adjustment in horticultural practices.
The author expresses a sense of accomplishment in successfully cubing and freezing eggplant and harvesting lemongrass, suggesting a positive outlook despite the challenges.
There is a hint of frustration in the time-consuming process of drying ghost peppers, with multiple rounds and methods attempted to achieve the desired result.
The author seems to have a pragmatic approach to weather forecasts, relying more on local knowledge and their own weather station than on general reports.
Despite the urgency of the harvest and looming deadlines, the author maintains a sense of humor and resilience, as indicated by the reference to Bill the Cat and the exclamation "Ack!"

RURAL LIVING

Learning Experience — Gardening New Mexico Style

As the storm rages, the fall harvest has to come in; freezing temps are coming tonight.

Technically winter doesn't start for a while, but the Fall harvest season is almost done. A storm is bringing near-freezing weather to us. My squash and melons are already gone; peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and surprisingly the lemongrass are holding their own. Today is my last chance to get in the harvest and not feel that I've let my garden down.

Everything since our move to New Mexico has been what I once mocking called a "learning experience." I know life is a learning experience; sometimes it is fun, sometimes it is not, more often than not, it is hard work. A learning experience is an exceptionally hard and painful lesson. I get a lot of those here.

Learning Experiences

Gardening in New Mexico, as compared to my hometown of Portland, Oregon, is a lesson in extremes. Spring has its "wind walls," 20 feet of constant wind that will rip new plants right out of the ground. Early summer is the hottest part of the year, with temps regularly topping 105 degrees. Then comes monsoon season, which brought more rain than New Mexico had seen in the last 10 years, according to our neighbors*. Late summer, suddenly, our bitter cucumbers became sweet, watermelon and pumpkins ripened, and I started making tomato sauce almost weekly.

We only sort of know what we are doing. There's been a lot of googling and way too much single plastic usage since we opted for freezing this year.

Some things turned out easier than expected.

I've been cubing eggplant, tossing them in olive oil, dusting them with salt and garlic powder, then cooking them at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. The three pyrex pans I use, of various sizes, work great in the oven, and then the cubes are placed on a cookie sheet and flash frozen. And Whoop! I have eggplant to use for this fabulous eggplant meatball recipe that is perfect with my heirloom tomato red sauce.

The last of the eggplant & eggplant cubes ~ Courtesy of Author

And the lemongrass harvest went swimmingly.

Harvesting Lemongrass ~ Courtesy of Author

Some are harder — or at least hotter.

My partner lost his ghost pepper plant last year to a tomato hornworm. I relocated the hornworm to a patch of desert four o'clocks, but the pepper plant never really recovered. This year no hornworms, and he harvested, and harvested, and harvested again. He dried them in our dehydrator — and it took days!

Round 1: he just tossed them in; 4 days later, they were dry.
Round 2: he pricked each of them with a knife; 2 days later, they were dry.
Round 3: we'll see.

As a spice, a little is all it takes. I'll be playing with it over the winter. The One Chip Challenge has nothing on the heat in these things.

As Bill the Cat once said, Ack!

I was hoping to write more about the insanity of it all, but I have eggplant in the oven, herbs that need to be brought in, cleaned, and hung, and tomato, peppers, and more lemongrass to get in.

Oh, and I'm on deadline. New customer. Migraines and Fall Harvest be damned. Back to work.

~ Tess

*Those of you used to pinpoint weather forecasts — well, I used to be you. Here we get a general report and the reality, gathered from our weather station, never quite matches up. Large metro area new stations can afford to get the latest and greatest; here, we rely on the NOAA and pay attention to our neighbors.