April 2017 Green Fire Times

N EWS & V IEWS

FROM THE

S USTAINABLE S OUTHWEST

NNMC RENEWABLE ENERGY FESTIVAL

• UNM’S DECOLONIZING NATURE CONFERENCE • NORTHERN NM COLLEGE: SEEKING TRUE NORTH

April 2017

NORTHERN NEW MEXICO’S LARGEST DISTRIBUTION NEWSPAPER

Vol. 9 No. 4

Why adopt solar energy?

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

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Vol. 9, No. 4 • April 2017 Issue No. 96 PUBLISHER

Green Fire Publishing, LLC Skip Whitson ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Barbara E. Brown

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Seth Roffman

NEWS & VIEWS

FROM THE

SUSTAINABLE SOUTHWEST

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

DESIGN

Green Fire Production Department COPY EDITORS

Stephen Klinger, Denise Tessier WEBMASTER

Karen Shepherd CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Subhankar Banerjee, Kendal Chávez, Susan Guyette, Japa K. Khalsa, Alejandro López, Seth Roffman, Greg Schoen, John Ussery, Quentin Wilson, John Wright CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jeanette Hart-Mann, Basia Irland, Japa K. Khalsa, Alejandro López, Maceo Carrillo Martinet, Sandra Monterroso, Cristine Posner, Seth Roffman, Greg Schoen PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANT Cisco Whitson-Brown, Gay Rathman ADVERTISING SALES John M. Nye 505.699.3492 John@GreenFireTimes.com Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 Skip@GreenFireTimes.com Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 DakiniDesign@newmexico.com Steve Jinks 505-303-0501 SteveJ@GreenFireTimes.com Lisa Powers 505.629.2655 Lisa@GreenFireTimes.com Liberty Manabat 505.670.7243 Liberty@GreenFireTimes.com DISTRIBUTION

Linda Ballard, Barbara Brown, Co-op Dist. Services, Nick García, Andy Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), PMI, Daniel Rapatz, Tony Rapatz, Wuilmer Rivera, Denise Tessier, Skip Whitson, John Woodie

CIRCULATION: 30,000 copies Printed locally with 100% soy ink on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper

CONTENTS DECOLONIZING NATURE: RESISTANCE, RESILIENCE, REVITALIZATION — SUBHANKAR BANERJEE . .. . 7 AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE HOSTED BY UNM EARTH DAY EVENTS .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 9 NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE’S RENEWABLE ENERGY FESTIVAL .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .11 SEEKING TRUE NORTH: REALIGNING NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE WITH A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE — ALEJANDRO LÓPEZ . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 13 EDUCATION AS OFFERING: BRAIDING COMMUNITY, COLLEGE AND PLANT STORIES — PATRICIA TRUJILLO AND NNMC STUDENTS .. . .. . .. . .. .15 HERITAGE SEEDS IN COMMUNITY LIFE — GREG SCHOEN .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .17 FARM TO SCHOOL AWARDS CELEBRATE LOCAL FOOD — KENDAL CHÁVEZ .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 19 AGUA ES VIDA – A YOUTH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROGRAM — JOHN WRIGHT . .. . .. . .. .20 EVERYDAY GREEN: BEING A LOCAVORE — SUSAN GUYETTE . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .22 SPRING COOKING WITH VEGETABLES — JAPA K. KHALSA .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .23 NEWSBITES . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .37 WHAT’S GOING ON . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .38

GREEN FIRE TIMES c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@greenfiretimes.com © 2017 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for community members, business people, students and visitors—anyone interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered range from green businesses, jobs, products, services, entrepreneurship, investing, design, building and energy—to native perspectives on history, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, sustainable agriculture, regional cuisine, water issues and the healing arts. To our publisher, a more sustainable planet also means maximizing environmental as well as personal health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol.

Green Fire Times is widely distributed throughout northcentral New Mexico as well as to a growing number of New Mexico cities, towns, pueblos and villages. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome.

www.GreenFireTimes.com

ON THE COVER: The Promise of Renewables, acrylic on canvas by Roger Montoya

Taos Area Delivery Person Needed for Green Fire Times Send email to: Info@GreenFireTimes.com

Roger Montoya is a resident of Velarde, in northern New Mexico.

He is co-founder of Moving Arts Española, a landscape painter, choreographer and an activist for arts education.

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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Celebrating Alternative Medicine, Healthy Lifestyles & Sustainable Living Come soak in the healing.

where do you belong?

Organized by region, proximity and interest, the Cultural Atlas

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NM MAY 12-14, 2017 HOTSPRINGSFESTIVAL.COM Live Music t Workshops t Yoga t Excursions Hot Springs t Vendors t Camping

will help you find where you belong.

Paid for by Truth or Consequences Lodgers Tax.

The Cultural Atlas of New Mexico leads you to historic and cultural places throughout the Land of Enchantment.

Memories made here

what a night! i love you.

Whether intimate or public, Ĵ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵ ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ¡ ȱ ǯ

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

ȱȱȊȱ ȱȱȊȱ ȱȱȊȱ ¢ ȱȱȊȱ ȱ ȱȱȊȱ

Planners, we invite you to visit with us & tour our charming, historic facility. Rates are reasonable.

ȓ Ĵ ǯ ȱ DZȱȱśŖśȬşŞŘȬŚŚŗŚ

www.GreenFireTimes.com

© Jeanette Hart-Mann

EARTH DAYS

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge south of Albuquerque

DECOLONIZING NATURE: RESISTANCE, RESILIENCE, REVITALIZATION

An interdisciplinary environmental justice conference hosted by UNM, April 19–22

T

he colonization of nature under capitalism is rooted in an ethos that views human beings as separate to and above nature—Earthmasters for whom the planet is an inexhaustible reservoir of natural resources to be exploited. With profit as the prime motive, the resources are denuded beyond sustainable limits for the disproportionate benefit of a wealthy few. Pollution and waste from this activity also are skewed in their impact, in this case to the substantial detriment of poor and marginalized people, indigenous communities and biotic life. Capital’s colonization of nature has brought us to our current moment of grave ecological peril— climate change, Sixth Extinction and other human-caused environmental crises that cumulatively and rapidly degrade Earth’s life-sustaining ecological fabric.

It will bring to Albuquerque 33 speakers from the fields of art, architecture, humanities, religion, science, and grassroots activists from across the U.S. and from México, Canada and Ecuador.

The gathering will foster discussions on integration of knowledge across disciplines, practices across cultures and social-environmental movements across geographies. It will convene in the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque (parking is extensive and free).

In conjunction with the conference, 516 ARTS, a contemporary nonprofit art gallery in downtown Albuquerque, will host a companion exhibition,

© SBasia Irland

The time has come to integrate knowledge across disciplines and practices across cultures to inspire necessary and meaningful actions.

Decolonizing nature has thus become an urgent priority if we are to progress toward a just and sustainable Earth for all living beings. How do we resist further ecological devastation? How do we achieve resilience in times of stress? How do we revitalize affected ecological habitats and communities?

The University of New Mexico will host an interdisciplinary environmental justice conference, Decolonizing Nature: Resistance, Resilience, Revitalization, from April 19 through Earth Day, April 22, to address these and related issues.

Narmadã pilgrims walking barefoot and carrying all their possessions for a 3-year circumambulation along the length of Narmadã River, India.

www.GreenFireTimes.com

© Cristine Posner

SUBHANKAR BANERJEE

Río Grande Headwaters, Colorado

Decolonizing Nature, from April 15 through 29 of works by artists from Brazil, Guatemala, México, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Additionally, on April 18, the UNM Art Museum will host a one-day screening of films that address decolonization of nature.

A l a r m e d by t h e s c i e n c e o f r a p i d environmental change, scholars in different fields in the humanities started to reorient their disciplines to incorporate ecological concerns, which gave rise to, in the last decade, a new field—environmental humanities. At about the same time, artists began to engage increasingly with the politics of ecology, and art critics and historians began to write about it. And on the ground, indigenous peoples from all over the world have been using their creation stories, art, literature, traditional knowledge and creative organizing to fight back destructive industrial projects.

The time has come to integrate knowledge across disciplines and practices across cultures to inspire

necessary and meaningful actions toward a just and sustainable Earth for all life. Such integration is the subject of the Decolonizing Nature conference.

The discussions will be grounded in academic scholarship, creative practices, environmental pedagogy and grassroots activism. Such an interdisciplinar y approach is not merely useful but is essential, because the causes of the crises we are facing and the solutions we may envision are as much social (driven by our desires, values and morals) as they are scientific. One of the aims of the gathering is to discuss, debate and deliberate on building creative alliances for environmental conservation, justice and sustainability for all living beings.

The conference will feature talks by such prominent public figures as Robert D. Newman, president and director of the National Humanities Center, and William McDonough, the influential and internationally renowned designer and co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. We will celebrate CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

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EARTH DAYS

EARTH DAY EVENTS ALBUQUERQUE

April 19–22, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Earth Day Celebration ABQ Biopark

Learning experiences that explore how our actions matter to plants, animals and the ecosystem. Discovery stations and hands-on activities. $4–$12.50.

4/19: The Aquarium; 4/20: The Zoo; 4/21: Tingley Beach; 4/22: The Botanic Garden. 505.848.7180, biopark@cabq.gov, www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/ biopark/events/earth-day-celebration

Cornell Mall, east of the Student Union building, 8900 Central SE Local growers’ market, alternative transportation, interactive displays and demos on energy conservation, waste reduction and sustainable lifestyle practices. Handcrafted art, entertainment and food trucks. Organized by UNM Sustainability Studies students. https://abqstew.com/2017/03/14/savethe-date-2/

April 22, 9 a.m.–12 p.m.

Resilience Garden Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW Special volunteer gardening event. 505.843.7270

April 22, 10am–4 pm; April 23, 10 am–4 pm ABQ Home & Garden Show Expo NM

© Seth Roffman

April 20, 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

UNM’s 9th Annual Sustainability Expo

Sustainability Expo at the University of New Mexico Hands-on activities and special guests in the Earthworks Garden. Bake cookies in a traditional adobe horno and solar oven, race a solar car.

505.989.8359, http://santafechildrensmuseum.org

April 22, 2–5 pm Spring Festival Desert Montessori School, 316 Camino Delora

A resource for home improvement enthusiasts and gardeners. Workshops, demos, exhibits. $7/$5/12 & under free. www.abqhomeandgardenshow.com

Kid-friendly activities, scavenger hunt, costume catwalk, crafts & games. Free admission. Activity tickets: $2. All-access $30 or 2/$50. 505.983.8212, https:// desertmontessori.com/

April 22, 2–4 p.m.

ABQ March for Science Civic Plaza

April 22, 6 p.m.

Earth Day Celebration Collected Works Books, 202 Galisteo St.

A march in solidarity with the March for Science in Washington, D.C. to defend and celebrate science. https://www.facebook.com/ marchforscienceABQ/

Earth Day celebration featuring Stephen Pett, Judith Toler, Kristen Barendsen, Janie Chodosh, Helga Schimkat and Donald Levering. Presented

by Michael Dax of Defenders of Wildlife. mdax@defenders.org

April 22, 2–7 p.m.

Río Grande Water Festival Sawmill Village Plaza, 1751 Bellamah NW, Albuquerque

April 23, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m Seed School Railyard Park, 1607 Paseo de Peralta

April 22 Abrazos on Earth Day Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 7851 2nd St. SW

ESPAÑOLA

Celebrating community, water conservation, Mill Pond Refuge.

Entertainment, food and family-friendly activities. Free. 505.563.0615, www. nmwatercollaborative.org

Community celebration of environmental justice. Free and family-friendly. www.fws.gov/nwrs/threecolumn.aspx?id=2147599603

April 23, 10 a.m–5:30 pm La Montañita Co-op Earthfest Nob Hill co-op on Silver St. between Carlisle and Tulane

Community festival. Farming/gardening experts, booths for environmental, social and economic issues, artists and craftspeople, live entertainment. Free.

Robin: 505.217.2027, robin@lamontanita.coop

SANTA FE

April 22, 9 a.m.–5 p.m Community Day at the Garden

SF Botanical Garden, 715 Camino Lejo Free admission for NM residents. Docent tours. https:// santafebotanicalgarden.org/april-community-day-at-the-garden/

April 22, 11 am–2 pm March for Science NM State Capitol

12–1 pm: Rally, speakers. Science expo booths. https://sciencemarchsfnm. com/the-event/event-details/

April 22, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Santa Fe Children’s Museum 1050 Old Pecos Tr.

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Workshop offering a comprehensive overview of why bioregional seed saving is so important. Practical, hands-on activities and engaging lectures. $65/$52. Includes lunch. Presented by S.F. Master Gardeners and the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. belle@rockymountainseeds.org, https://www. rockymountainseeds.org

April 21–22 Renewable Energy Festival Northern NM College, 921. N. Paseo de Oñate

Learn about solar, wind, geothermal, green building and how to save energy in your home. Demonstrations, family activities, food, entertainment. Dancing Earth troupe, Ohkay Owingeh youth hoop dancers, Peñasco Theater Collective, Moving Arts Española, flamenco, Cipriano Vigil and others. 4/21, 6–8 p.m.; 4/22, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Free. 505.570.0300, info@movingartsespanola.org

LOS ALAMOS

April 22, 10 a.m–2 p.m.

Earth Day Celebration Nature Center, 2600 Canyon Rd.

Hands-on activities for kids, planetarium shows, booths, music, food. Free.

505.662.0460, http://peecnature.org/events/details/?id=18020

April 22, 1:30–4:30 p.m.

Green Design

Celebrate the spirit of Earth Day in this general introduction to green design presented by Suzette Fox. Learn to use sustainable products in fun, inspired ways to create a beautiful home. $50. Information/registration: http:// losalamos.unm.edu/community-education/index.html

TAOS

April 22, 9 am–3 pm Home & Garden Expo Taos Youth & Family Center, 407 Paseo del Cañón E

Free admission. Presented by the Taos Chamber of Commerce. 575.751.8800 ■

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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EARTH DAYS

NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE’S RENEWABLE ENERGY FESTIVAL “Bringing Power to the People” April 21–22

N

orthern New Mexico College in Española will host its first annual Rene wable Energ y Festival on April 21 and 22. The event will provide opportunities for the public to learn about and get involved with the transition to the new energy economy.

A partial list of the presenters— local experts living in the Río Grande Valley—includes:

Eliud Salazar, of Cañones, N.M., a designer/builder who seeks to reduce the environmental impact of construction through careful design and implementation, will discuss adobe construction methods and their compatibility with passive solar and zero-energy designs.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Friday evening, from 6-8 p.m., there will be a reception and performances at NNMC’s Nick Salazar Center for the Arts Theater featuring Dancing Earth Indigenous Contemporary Creations, youth hoop dancers from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Peñasco Theater Collective, Moving Arts Española, Mina Fajardo Chuscales F lamenco, Cipriano V igil, Marcos Cavalcante and David García, and the Sikh Choir. On Earth Day—Saturday, April 22—the festival will offer fun activities, food and user-friendly educational presentations and demonstrations. Some of the topics: How to save energy in your home; solar, wind and geothermal technologies; adobe, passive solar and green building techniques.

ENERGY CONSERVATION – CAULK IS CHEAP QUENTIN WILSON – PRESENTER AT NNMC’S R ENEWABLE ENERGY FESTIVAL

Joaquin Karcher’s company, Zero E Design, has offices in Santa Fe and Taos.

Karcher’s presentation is entitled Zero Energy Homes: A Solution for Fossil Fuelfree Living. He describes Zero Energy Homes as the next generation of efficiency, comfort and energy without pollution.

The new building concept slashes heating energy consumption by 90 percent and is revolutionizing the building sector.

The first renewable energy is energy conservation. It does not get the publicity that solar and wind systems attract, but the first job in the design or operation of anything that consumes energy is to reduce the energy requirement through energy conservation.

Energy to heat and cool buildings can be reduced to zero following Architecture 2030 guidelines: • Orientation of buildings to the south • Reduction in volume of buildings to meet the occupant load without excess • Placing majority of glass on the south, less on the north and even less on the east and west • Proper orientation and glass arrangement heat buildings in the winter and, while less than obvious, cool in summer • Double-glazing in windows and doors further reduces heat loss. Clear glass is appropriate on the south. Glazing with coating to reject heat on east, west and north saves summer cooling.

• Extra insulation in foundations, under buildings, on east, west and north walls and especially on the roof further cuts the energy requirements.

Existing homes: • Lower thermostat in winter • Raise thermostat in summer • Install storm windows • Stop air leaks • Add insulation where possible • Replace incandescent light bulbs • Turn electrical devices off completely • Get an Energy Audit

© Seth Roffman

Energy to power automobiles can be cut in half with vehicles sized according to the load they carry. A Bentley Continental coupe weighs 6,000 pounds. 1980s Honda Civics weigh 1,800 pounds.

Solar energy can provide most of the energy for vehicles by 2030 and all of the energy by 2050. Jay Leno has had a solar-powered Tesla in operation for five years.

NNMC’s Renewable Energy Festival will feature exhibits, demonstrations, lectures, family activities, food and entertainment.

www.GreenFireTimes.com

Energy needed for most industrial processes can easily be provided by solar, wind and hydrothermal resources right now if industries are willing to convert from coal, gas, oil and nuclear sources.

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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24th Annual Women’s Health Fair Saturday, April 29th from 9am to 3pm NOW ACCEPTING VENDOR REGISTRATIONS Registration Forms can be printed from the devargascenter.com/events page New Mexico’s premier health event for women and their loved ones featuring over 90 vendors, entertainment, specialty services and body work, and a plethora of merchant and vendor giveaways!

Over 50 Unique Stores & Restaurants • Free Parking • N.Guadalupe & Paseo de Peralta Walking Distance from Railyard & Plaza • 505-982-2655 • devargascenter.com •

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

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NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE

SEEKING TRUE NORTH: REALIGNING NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE WITH A QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE AND AN ETHIC OF SERVICE A LEJANDRO LÓPEZ

There is no place in the world where I would rather be.

— NNMC President Rick Bailey, Ph.D

I

f institutions, like the individuals who steer them, become infirm, lose their strength and sense of direction, can they recover their health, power and bearings? Northern New Mexico College, with new president Dr. Rick Bailey at the helm, will soon demonstrate that this may indeed be the case—if he is able to translate his vision into reality.

Fo u n d e d a s a l a n d - g r a n t institution under the Territorial Constitution in 1909, NNMC had its beginnings in an educational process aimed specifically at developing certain skills and abilities of a people who, since the appropriation of the northern half of México in 1846, had remained at the margins of U.S. society but were grounded in their own meaningful and physically demanding agricultural way of life. The Spanish American Normal School at El Rito, as it was then called, was designed to train area individuals in pedagogy so that they might serve as teachers to other, mainly rural, Spanish-speaking students who comprised the bulk of the state’s population.

Since few people in the area spoke English, it was also designed to inculcate the New Mexican—Mexicano—population with English and the culture that came along with it. Those responsible for the school’s creation believed that by assimilating the national language and worldview, this historic community, older than the country itself, might function more effectively in the highly demanding, rigidly structured industrial U.S. society

that was quickly overtaking the region. Later on, operating as a boarding school for high school students for many years, El Rito campus, across many decades of the 20th century, became a thriving incubator for much of northern New Mexico’s emerging bilingual and bicultural homegrown leadership.

Fast forward to the middle of that century: The school’s leadership decided that adding instruction in highly practic al and marketable trades would be a great asset to the populace, particularly because, in the decades since its founding, much of northern New Mexico had modernized and become dependent on a largely industrial-technological infrastructure. Under a new name, Northern New Mexico Technical Vocational School, in 1969, and operating in two locations 30 miles apart, El NNMC’s new president, Rick Bailey Rito “mother school” and its offspring, the Española Branch campus, offered highly coveted courses in plumbing, electrical engineering, barbering and cosmetology, construction, welding, auto mechanics and other trades. These trades enabled many individuals to earn a living during radically changing times.

© Alejandro López (3)

In 1977, after undergoing yet another name change, Northern New Mexico Community College continued to offer courses in the trades while simultaneously developing a strong academic and humanities arm. Indeed, that period may have been the school’s finest moment because it offered something for everyone in the region at a reasonable cost, but also because the college attracted some enormously talented individuals who created a rich, intense and creative climate of learning and doing. For a people used to participating in the magic of co-creating life in their fields, with their animal flocks and artisan hands, this was a climate that fed their mind, body and spirit.

Among those it attracted were folklorist Dr. Enrique Lamadrid, novelist Jim Sagel, master musician Dr. Cipriano Vigil and former State Historian Hilario Romero. Under the direction of a colorful, free-spirited and utterly inspiring teacher, Joan MacDonald, the arts thrived, while graphic designer extraordinaire, Angela Werneke, produced the most highly crafted school publications anywhere, stamped, as they were, with her elegant eagle-in-flight logo, which the college maintains to this day. Connie Valdez, a big-hearted Solar panels at NNMC’s Española campus

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Standardization does not teach

INNOVATION. It favors efficiency over INGENUITY, memorization over MOTIVATION. Critical thinking, confidence and curiosity are hallmarks of a Waldorf graduate, and key to thriving in the modern world.

Come visit us and see why entrepreneurs around the world are choosing Waldorf.

Parent Visitor Morning April 27, 2017 8:30 - 10:30am

RSVP appreciated, 505.467.6431

santafewaldorf.org | 26 Puesta del Sol, Santa Fe | 505.467.6431

Assessor’s Valuation Outreach Meetings April 2017 The office of the Santa Fe County Assessor will be at these locations during the month of April to assist property owners with filing for exemptions and benefits as well as filing property valuation appeals.

4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

“It’s you we value”

follow us @sfcassessor

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

For more information on dates and times of these outreaches, visit our website. w w w.s ant afe countynm.gov/ass ess or

www.GreenFireTimes.com

NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE

EDUCATION AS OFFERING

Braiding Community, College AND Plant Stories

BY PATRICIA TRUJILLO PH.D., WITH NNMC STUDENTS JOY DILI, ERIK GARCÍA, EVELYNNE GONZÁLEZ, MICHELLE M ARTÍNEZ, CODIEE MYLES, SHAYNA PORTER, NICOLE SODERBERG AND TATIANA SMITH We dedicate this article to the late Emily “Awa Povi” Martínez from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Joy Dili interviewed Ms. Martínez for the Plant Stories assignment featured in this article. She was an elder who shared important plant knowledge and the Tewa names of plants. She passed away very shortly after the interview. We offer our story to honor our elders and ancestors.

M

any of us in the Norte are taught since a young age to give a ceremonial offering each morning. My Pueblo sisters offer corn meal and prayers. I was taught to acknowledge the sun in prayer for a new day; I whisper Ave Marías to myself in the car on my way to work, but I know that my gramita did it through song. We pray to the directions, to our ancestors, to our respective Creator. An offering is acknowledgement that we are part of a bigger world, and the humble action of gratitude pays respect to our relationships that allow us to do good for Mother Earth and her creatures. Our offerings are the introduction to the stories of our day.

But, often in our modern world, even amidst our practices of offerings, we are jolted into our daily positions at work; in my world it’s in the classroom as students and teachers.

We attend meetings, strike tasks off of our

to-do lists and are constantly moving to the next thing. We grab something to eat in our cars as we move from one appointment to the next, often fueled on sugar and caffeine.

Our intentionality can quickly shift. Even if we start the day from a place of process and connection, we can slide into being product-and outcome-oriented. As a college professor, I see this all the time, in the profession and in the actions of students and faculty. We are all going at a hundred miles an hour and forget to connect.

“Writing the Land: Storytelling, Environment and Indigenous Knowledge” It’s ironic, qué no? College classrooms are supposed to be the place where students prepare for the real world, but often there can be very little connection between the theory and practice of knowledge shared in classrooms to the work happening in the greater community. I decided to be mindful of this in designing a course for Fall 2016, “Writing the Land: Storytelling, Environment and Indigenous Knowledge,”

at Northern New Mexico College. In the course, cross-listed between English and Pueblo Indian Studies, students were introduced to writings by indigenous authors from the Americas and asked to consider how storytelling is a decolonial methodology for addressing historical and ongoing struggles for sovereignty and self-determination in their homelands, and how to co-exist with settler societies.

As Leslie Marmon Silko writes, “I will tell you something about stories. They aren’t just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. You don’t have anything if you don’t have stories.”

In this course, we moved away from singleauthored papers as major assessments for gaining knowledge. Students did get to reflect individually in short response papers, but our major assignments were different. Our major assignments engaged in indigenous methodologies of decentering authors from authority and centering community voice for power sharing. As the Pueblo adage says, “It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.” For midterms, students in the course were asked to plan, schedule and provide a community storytelling event for our campus. The students designed an event called “Food Stories,” where we invited our campus community to share in a collective understanding of storytelling.

Students organized a potluck and invited four storytellers.

The event started with two original songs, “Red or Green” and “My Grandmother’s Kitchen,” performed by Michelle Harvier.

One speaker, Richard Sedillo from Ohkay Owingeh, shared stories of growing up with his grandfather, who still used a horse-drawn wagon for farming.The second speaker, Beata Tsosie-Peña of Kha’po Owingeh, shared stories of corn. Lastly, Daniel Chatchou, from Camaroon, Africa, told the group of his food traditions. Over 50 students, faculty and staff gathered for the successful event. Students from ENGL 399 prepared foods near and dear to their hearts and began the event by telling some of their own food stories.

Students from “Writing the Land” course with Tewa Women United Environmental Justice Coordinator, Beata Tsosie-Peña

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In the reflections after the event, students and participants shared a sense of gratitude.

Codiee Myles, a student from class reflected,

Beata Tsosie-Peña speaks to the class about the history of corn “I’m proud of what we did. We made this place [the college] feel real home-y.” When we are connected to a place, we have a sense of belonging. So, how do we create more educational spaces that encourage connection, service and sense of belonging?

As we veered into our final project, I knew that we had to put our storytelling to work in the community. Knowing that the organization Tewa Women United was hard at work in the community installing the Española Healing Foods Oasis, I asked if we could use the opportunity to create a bridge between Northern New Mexico College and that community project. TWU was very receptive, and Beata Tsosie-Peña, program coordinator for Environmental Health and Justice at TWU, responded whole-heartedly.

She and I co-designed a six-week project that allowed us the opportunity to go out to the garden, brought an indigenous environmental activist into our classroom to share in discussion and actively demonstrated to students the power of such relationships. It established ways to put our literature to work; all these dialogues about the power of story began to be demonstrated in our expanded classroom. All of a sudden, stories were alive and supporting—not only our learning—but TWU and the hundreds of plants in the healing garden.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

Green Fire Times • April 2017

15

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

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HERITAGE SEEDS IN COMMUNITY LIFE

There is a movement of intrepid and enthusiastic souls all over the world working to rescue the heritage seeds that remain.

In our recent history, as agriculture has become more mechanized, and as far fewer of us are engaged in the farming life, the types of seeds grown to produce food have become specialized, and as a result the majority of traditional varieties have been lost—that means, rendered extinct, as they are no longer being planted.

Increasingly, genetically engineered (GMO) crops have become the bulk of our corn, soybeans and many other crops, replacing those varieties created by traditional and conventional plant breeding. These alterations have entered the world’s food supply.

Fortunately, there is a movement of intrepid and enthusiastic souls all over the world working to rescue the heritage seeds that remain, grow them in protected places and bring them back into culture and life. The support for this passion for the seeds was evident at the Mountain West Seed Summit, produced by the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, a relatively young organization made up of longtime seed stewards from throughout the western states. The summit was held at Hotel Santa Fe March 2-4.

Speakers and participants were present from the entire region, and northern New Mexico was strongly represented.The collective spirit of all of us joining together at this summit was palpable, and it was clear to all that we are ready, willing and able to meet the challenges of our time.

Attendees at the Mountain West Seed Summit in Santa Fe

The seed movement is well seasoned in northern New Mexico, and seed conferences have been held for several years. The New Mexico Acequia Association, Food and Seed Sovereignty Alliance and the Traditional Native American Farmers Association (TNAFA), as well as the Tesuque Pueblo Agricultural Initiative, have been at the core of this activism. In 2006, TNAFA and the Acequia Association drafted the Declaration of Seed Sovereignty, which has become a model inspiring similar declarations elsewhere.

Two Examples in New Mexico— near Silver City and Estancia At the Southwest Sufi Community (SSC), a small intentional community northwest of Silver City, we are doing our part to grow many heritage seed varieties, including corn, beans, grains and herbs. The corn has included the colorful “glass gem” type and other indigenous corns such as Hopi and Pueblo corns. Colorful beans, including the mysterious “Beauty Way” or “Fremont” runner beans, are grown. We are fortunate to have the waters of Bear Creek, with water rights, for our irrigation.

© Greg Schoen (4)

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any of us are aware of a renaissance of sorts regarding the preservation of heirloom seeds, also known as “heritage seeds.”

Through thousands of years of human civilization there has developed a kaleidoscope of variation in all the kinds of seeds of food crops—grains, beans, vegetables and fruits—along with fiber plants, medicinal plants and colorful flowers. As cultures formed and people migrated around the world, they carried their seeds along with their stories and traditions. The seeds themselves carry memory in their genetic code, as do the people who planted them. In our personal cultural memories, seeds have a special meaning, as we cherish “the ones that Grandfather planted,” or “the ones Grandmother loved so much.”

© Seth Roffman

GREG SCHOEN

The SSC also works in cooperation with CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

HERE’S HOW TO CONNECT Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, ŚƩƉƐ͗ͬ​ͬƌŽĐŬLJŵŽƵŶƚĂŝŶƐĞĞĚƐ͘ŽƌŐ New Mexico Acequia Association, ǁǁǁ͘ůĂƐĂĐĞƋƵŝĂƐ͘ŽƌŐͬĨŽŽĚͲĂŶĚͲĂŐƌŝĐƵůƚƵƌĞͬ ƐĞĞĚͲĂůůŝĂŶĐĞͬ Traditional Native American Farmers Association (TNAFA), ǁǁǁ͘ƚŶĂĨĂ͘ŽƌŐ The Path (Flordemayo in Estancia, N.M.), ĨŽůůŽǁƚŚĞŐŽůĚĞŶƉĂƚŚ͘ŽƌŐ Native Seeds/SEARCH (Tucson, Ariz.), ǁǁǁ͘ŶĂƟǀĞƐĞĞĚƐ͘ŽƌŐ Seed Broadcast (in N.M.), ǁǁǁ͘ƐĞĞĚďƌŽĂĚĐĂƐƚ͘ŽƌŐ Seed Savers Exchange (Decatur, Iowa), ǁǁǁ͘ƐĞĞĚƐĂǀĞƌƐ͘ŽƌŐ

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Heirloom varieties of corn and beans grown by Greg Schoen in New Mexico

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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NEW MEXICO FOOD & AGRICULTURE

SECOND ANNUAL FARM TO SCHOOL AWARDS CELEBRATE LOCAL FOOD K ENDAL CHÁVEZ

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food access and support local farmers’ efforts to reach local markets, such as advocating for policies that bring more fresh fruits and vegetables into schools.

New Mexico Food & Farms Day at the Legislature also demonstrated the relationships between the health of communities and food and farming. And it highlighted ways people and diverse organizations are working together to increase affordable and healthful

People who are making the concept of farm to school a reality were celebrated.

The 2nd Annual Local Food and Farm to School Awards, a peer-nominated process, recognized outstanding programs and partners that have successfully linked food, farming, kids and community, and have supported the local food economy.

Nominations were evaluated through a lens of providing justice and equity, commitment to land and culture, use of innovative and creative approaches to complex problems, and a clear investment

t takes the dedicated efforts of many people working together to create a movement. On Feb. 20, for Food & Farms Day and New Mexico School Nutrition Day, people from all over New Mexico came to the state’s capitol to demonstrate the importance of local food and its connections to the land, heritage and the future. The day was sponsored by the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council and coordinated by Farm to Table.

into a future of local and sustainable food.

Farm to school is a nationwide movement that, in addition to encouraging the use of more local produce in schools, provides educational opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons and farm field trips. The movement in New Mexico has worked to protect and restore the state’s rich agrarian heritage.

This year’s award recipients, from la frontera to the South Valley and from Jémez Pueblo to the northwest corner of the state, represents an abundance of ecologies, lived experiences and cultural identities. Their work paints a picture of the landscape of local food economies in the Land of Enchantment.

Teacher of the Year C h a r l o t te Tr u j i l l o — P r i n c i p a l a n d Teacher, South Valley Preparatory School in Albuquerque Charlotte is the executive director and a co-founder of South Valley Preparatory School, a state charter middle school whose mission is to provide a small, safe and unique family learning community where students are prepared for high school and beyond. SVPS embeds programs that focus on the total health and wellness of students.

Farmer of the Year

Dale Toya, Farmer of the Year awardee, with New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte

Dale Toya—Traditional Farmer f rom Jémez Pueblo Dale Toya is an advocate for farm training and teaching the younger generation how to grow food by connecting to their core culture. He has developed relationships with organizations, groups and individuals doing similar work throughout Native American tribal communities. One benefit of this was the acquisition of a high-tunnel hoop house for the Jémez farming group called Strictly Roots Farm and Greenhouse.

© Seth Roffman (2)

Organization of the Year

La Plazita Institute staff accepts award for Organization of the Year from Kendal Chávez (r)

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La Plazita Institute in Albuquerque La Plazita Organic Gardens (LPG) and Learning Center is a program of La Plazita Institute, founded in 2004. LPG grew out of the grassroots need to manage Bernalillo County Open Space in the South Valley.

Today LPG has become an agro-ecological learning center, where organic farming, sustainable agriculture and traditional land-based ways of living and knowing are formally taught to students, community

members, volunteers and families throughout the South Valley and Albuquerque.

School Food Service of the Year Barbara Berger—Health and Nutrition Specialist for Las Cruces Public Schools Barbara Berger is a community nutritionist and registered dietitian with 36 years of experience promoting healthy eating to various target audiences in New Mexico.

She has held the position of Health and Nutrition Specialist at Las Cruces Public Schools for the past 12½ years.

Double Up Food Bucks Outlet of the Year Aztec Farmers’ Market The Aztec Farmers’ Market, in the Four Corners region, is currently in its 17th season. The market is a member of the NM Farmers’ Marketing Association. It offers SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks, WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market programs. The market, which is known for its homey appeal, strives for diversity and inclusion in its products, vendors and customers.

Farmers’ Market of the Year Downtown Growers’ Market in Albuquerque The Downtown Growers’ Market has been operating in Robinson Park since 1996.

Originally a summer market composed of a handful of farmers and vendors, it has grown to 100-130 vendors every Saturday morning throughout a 30-week season (April-November). As the market enters its 21st year, it is committed to continue hosting a vibrant platform that supports the local economy, empowers the local agricultural community and showcases the diverse cultures of New Mexico. ■ Kendal Chávez is Farm to School director at Farm to Table, a small nonprofit based in Santa Fe that focuses on food systems work at local, regional and national levels through innovative, community-driven programs and partnerships. Chávez previously served as a service member and state fellow for the FoodCorps-New Mexico program.

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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NEW MEXICO FOOD & AGRICULTURE

AGUA ES VIDA

A Youth Experiential Learning Program

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re we preparing youth for the challenges of the future? It’s an age-old question that perseveres and becomes even more critical as we consider scenarios such as climate change, as well as changing economic, social and political crises.

A multi-tiered mentorship and internship program in sustainability education The Querencia Institute (QI), based in the South Valley of Albuquerque, has undertaken a unique approach to help prepare youth for these challenges. Over the past three years, this nonprofit organization, comprised of educators, natural resource professionals and community activists, has developed a multi-tiered mentorship and internship program in sustainability education.Through hands-on projects and classroom activities, students learn about sustainable agriculture, environmental restoration and water conservation. The Agua Es Vida (Water Is Life) program evolved after QI received a grant from Toyota-Audubon to conduct water conservation awareness training for youth as a response to New Mexico’s extreme drought conditions.

Through the program students gain valuable experiences while earning high

school elective credit and a cash stipend.

But probably what they most value from the experience is what they learn. High school senior Morgan Tracy said, “I think what I got the most out of this program is a sense of community. I never really cared to know more about the people and resources in my area, but because of the program I have opened myself up to the place where I live.”

The students also appreciate the opportunities to do hands-on work. One classroom session focused on the alarming plight of insect pollinators around the globe, a consequence of the use of agrochemicals and land-management decisions. Students planted native flowering plants and built water harvesting structures and a “bee sanctuary” to encourage native bees to nest.

They traveled to various parts of the state, such as when they constructed a pollinator habitat at a community garden in Embudo, in northern New Mexico.

The Agua Es Vida program is based at Río Grande High School, where 95 percent of the students come from low-income families. Río Gr ande High has a histor y of educational efforts related to the community and environmental issues. It was the first school in New Mexico to install a demonstration photovoltaic system. The special education building is LEEDcertified. Students grow vegetables with rainwater fed by the buildings’ cisterns.

The gardens have provided the greens

Students constructing a native pollinator habitat

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

© Maceo Carrillo Martinet

JOHN WRIGHT

Morning warm-up before tending the land at an organic farm in Albuquerque used in salads at the school’s end of the year bilingual awards dinner.

The Querencia Institute collaborates with the school’s career internship program, particularly the Job Mentorship class during the school year and the City of Albuquerque Job Mentorship summer program. Students from the class are recruited to complete community service credit for both the afterschool and summer programs.

Climate change has necessitated various approaches to protecting habitat. Under the mentorship of Maceo Martinet of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Partners Program, QI students work on several projects to protect or restore habitat on private land.

During one such project, they helped install a rainwater harvesting structure that provided drinking water for wildlife in the East Mountains just outside of Albuquerque. Because decreased rainfall and increased temperatures has caused many perennial streams and springs to dry up, wildlife have lost many drinking water sources. Cameras installed near these rainwater structures have shown a variety of wildlife—from deer to bobcats— frequenting the troughs.

The program has grown to include several stages of student development, beginning with an afterschool program where they learn basic skills in gardening and water conservation as they work in the school garden and atrium. They continue with a summer program where they work on hands-on community projects as well

as exploring various topics in class. The final phase is a field internship where students complete projects alongside an environmental professional.

The program helps students understand the political, cultural, economic, ecological and historical factors affecting a community’s sustainability. In the field they can see those factors at work. One lesson involves learning how ancient cultures lived in lowwater climates by examining the waterharvesting technology they used, such as landscaping to direct water to collection ponds. After learning about where their drinking water comes from, QI students organized a river walk at an Environmental Youth Conference and showed other youth ways in which the water supply in New Mexico gets contaminated.

The Querencia Institute looks to place students who complete the summer Agua es Vida training program into advanced internships. Advanced intern students’ projects include fieldwork and outreach. Carlos Flores of the New Mexico Department of Health works with a group of interns who researched the availability of fresh produce in low-income areas of the South Valley. The students found that it was difficult for low-income families to obtain fresh, locally grown foods because grocery stores that tend to stock processed foods were more conveniently located than markets selling fresh, local food. The students mapped the data they discovered and presented the information to the public at the Corrales Harvest Festival.

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Flores explained that one of the goals of the internships is to apply sustainability k n ow l e d ge t o t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f Health’s work with local gardening efforts, community service programs and residents. The intent is to create a community of youth gardeners who can view their work from both microscopic and macroscopic lenses—from hands in the dirt to tracking the impact of drought and climate change on the local landscape.

Other advanced intern projects include a collaborative effort with the Middle Río Grande Conservancy District and other agencies to reforest a portion of the bosque that was damaged by fire.

Students will map the bosque’s present and future conditions and create a space

where cultural uses of riparian plants will be highlighted. The project will culminate in student-led events where the community will be invited to help replant the bosque.

Perhaps one of the project ’s biggest accomplishments is the students’ personal growth. At a meeting to discuss renewing the school’s support for the program, one parent remarked that her son’s experience changed him—that he has more selfconfidence and was taking his studies more seriously. ■ John Wright is a high school educator, community gardener, watershed protector and social-justice advocate working with the Querencia Institute. director@querenciainstitute.org, www.querencia-institute.org

Students building a hoop house

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Constructing a rainwater harvesting structure for wildlife

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

21

NEW MEXICO FOOD & AGRICULTURE

EVERYDAY GREEN

BEING A LOCAVORE

SUSAN GUYETTE

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ere’s perhaps the best news about “modern nutrition”— a return to the food wisdom of time-honored traditions. Local traditional cultures recognize the value of growing food, picking fresh, home cooking and eating together to celebrate the gifts of Mother Earth. There are many advantages of being a locavore, one who eats food grown less than 500 miles from where you live. Getting connected by eating locally grown abounds with health and social benefits.

Increasing resilience and immunity by eating the nutrients from one’s local environment is a top reason to eat locally.

Eating locally can supply the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients needed to sur vive with good health in our environment. It is much more beneficial to obtain these from whole foods direct from nature, to benefit from enzymes and the ideal combination of nutrients for synergy within the food plant.

Advantages of Buying Locally Grown As obtaining good quality food increasingly becomes a global challenge, now is a good time to be aware of the ethics of maximizing nutritional gain from the food we eat. Consider the following in your decision to buy locally grown, organic food: • Organic food has up to 40 percent more nutrients than pesticide-treated, imported food.

• Biodynamically grown food is nutrient-dense, since rich nutrients

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•

•

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in the soil translate to more nutritional value in the food.

Freshness translates to fewer nutrients lost during transport.

Food cravings decrease when eating whole foods, due to the high fiber content, blood sugar stabilization and nutrient satisfaction.

When the body is obtaining all the nutrients needed for vibrant health from a smaller amount of food, less food is needed overall, lowering costs.

When less food is eaten, weight loss and maintenance of a healthy weight are likely.

The chance to connect at farmers’ markets, talking with and learning from our local farmers, as well as with other locals, brings social satisfaction to one’s life.

The upward spiral of vibrant health, ideal weight and ease of exercise, plus supporting the development of a local food supply, is an incentive for us all to seek out locally grown food.

Where to Find Local Foods Local farmers’ markets, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture shares), cooperatives and natural grocery stores are the key places to find locally grown foods. When you shop at a farmers’ market: • The full sale goes to the grower, which is much more sustaining to the farm than a wholesale price. The average annual farm income is less than $10,000 a year in New Mexico.

• You often have the opportunity to

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

ask the farmer about his/her growing methods and, if possible, choose biodynamically grown.

• Most farmers pick their produce between 3 and 5 a.m. to transport to you for same-day freshness and to prevent nutrient loss.

• This method of buying food furthers a connection to Mother Earth.

• Contact with the farmer offers a chance to thank the person who grew your food for his or her labor of love.

A win/win situation for both your health and local farms is well within your reach.

“Maintain a balance of eating seasonally as well as locally to stay in harmony with the natural order of nature.”

—Steve Gagné, Food Energetics Consider the Adventure Imagine a culinary road trip, discovering nutrient-rich heirloom varieties in vibrant colors—hanging ristras, corn in varied hues, and fresh roasting chiles.

Ventures into rural areas or socializing at an urban market connects you to local cultures and food traditions. Linking with local farmers also affords you an opportunity to discover time-honored methods of food preparation.

There are dozens of farmers’ markets in central and northern New Mexico to choose from for your outing. To find a market within a given distance from your home, use the locator at: http:// farmersmarketsnm.org/find-a-market/.

Follow the back roads to combine historical and food interest. (For information on New Mexico’s historic trails, see http://www. newmexicoculture.org) Eating fresh foods in season also enables you to find bargains at farmers’ markets, not to mention to eat in sync with nature. To identify these foods in New Mexico, visit: http://farmersmarketsnm.org/resources/ shopper-resources/whats-in-season/ northern-nm/

Plan a road trip around history, culture and local foods.

For cultural interest, seek out the market opportunities sponsored by local Native American communities.

Check these out: Jémez Farmers’ Market (575.834.7207, Red Rocks, Hwy. 4); San Felipe Farmers’ Market (505.771-6642, Hollywood Casino, west parking lot); Pojoaque Farmers’ Market (Pueblo of Pojoaque, 505.455.9086, next to the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum in summer, Buffalo Thunder Resort in winter); Red Willow Farmers Market (Taos Pueblo, 575.770.1362, 885 Star Road, just off Veteran’s Highway, behind Tony Reyna’s Indian Gift Shop on the main road into the pueblo).

Items sold may include locally grown and produced veggies such as: chiles, carrots, tomatoes, cilantro, tatsoi, onions, kale, chard, garlic, turnips, beets and radishes.

See the broad array of local varieties of beans, corn and squash; many are rarely available in local stores. You can also find value-added products such as: pickles, energy bars (hemp and organicbased bars), all-natural homemade body products (yucca shampoo, goat’s milk soaps, detox bath soaks, etc.), farm fresh eggs, pueblo oven-baked goods (breads, pies and cookies, handmade tortillas (white flour and blue corn), and natural homemade healing balms.

Often artists will sell alongside food growers. Enjoy the cultural adventure of direct contact with local people and foods—our New Mexico treasures! ■ Susan Guyette, Ph.D., is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Acadian French) and a planner specializing in nutrition, native foods, cultural tourism, cultural centers, and museums. Her passion is supporting the cultural retention of time-honored traditions. She is the author of Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Small-Scale Solutions; Planning for Balanced Development; and co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature. sguyette@nets.com.

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NEW MEXICO FOOD & AGRICULTURE

SPRING COOKING WITH VEGETABLES JAPA K. K HALSA

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pring cooking is the best time to awaken a more subtle palate, one that allows for lots of rich and vibrant vegetables bursting with healing agents. Perhaps you want to shed a few pounds or feel lighter and ready to exercise in the beautiful weather. Here are a few recipes to awaken the spirit of spring inside your body. Combine different flavors and textures of vegetables to make unique dishes.

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon butter 2 Tablespoon nutritional yeast Salt, pepper Step One: Bake or cook the sweet potatoes until soft, about 45 minutes in a 375-degree oven. Scoop them out of the skin and mix in 3 tablespoons of Hatch green chile, 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast and 1 tablespoon butter.

Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

that cools and calms the nerves and reduces systemic inflammation.

Ingredients: 6 stalks of celery, 2 cucumbers half of a lime one-to-two green apples to taste.

Juice all ingredients with the juicer of your choice; drink on an empty stomach, or save and have as a pick-me-up to penetrate afternoon fatigue.

Step Two: Roast the bell peppers. Cut off the stems, rinse the seeds and cut in half. Place skin side up on a cookie sheet and broil until skin is blackened and crispy all over. Immediately place all the peppers into a brown paper bag for about five minutes. The heat and steam will separate the blackened skin from the pepper. Peel off the skin, trying not to eat the delicious roasted pepper as you go. Chop into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Step Three: Sauté chopped-up mushrooms in olive oil with one crushed clove of garlic or garlic salt for flavor. Salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for about five minutes until partially cooked.

Step Four: Thinly slice one bunch of greens of your choice: Kale or chard. Sauté with a splash of water and olive oil for five minutes until moist and slightly shrunken down.

Scrumptious Vegan Veggie Pie This is a veggie casserole that has several layers. Feel free to experiment and make up your own. Roasted red bell peppers make a simple bottom layer with sautéed greens or mushrooms in between. The top and most important layer is baked and whipped squash or sweet potatoes with a little nutritional yeast and Dijon mustard to bring out the savory flavors of the pie. You can broil this for a few minutes to make it crispy or add cheese if vegan isn’t your thing. A few tablespoons of Hatch green chile spices this up and adds the benefit of our cherished New Mexican crop.

Chile can counteract depression, support digestion and prevent fatigue.

Ingredients: 5 sweet potatoes 2 red bell peppers 1 bunch of greens 10-12 mushrooms 1 clove of garlic 1 onion 3 tablespoons Hatch green chile

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Step Five (optional): Thinly slice an onion, caramelize and set aside.

Layers: Arrange the roasted peppers in a single layer on the bottom of a pie pan.

Put the greens on top and cover with the mushrooms. Spread the sweet potatoes on top and smooth out over the pie. Now add the last layer of the caramelized onions.

Bake the pie uncovered for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy all the vegetables, the blend of flavor, texture and color!

A Fresh Morning Routine Juicing: We all love it but don’t always have time to do it. Revitalize this spring with a commitment to a juicing regimen that will hydrate you and fill you with vitamins, minerals and plant goodness for your day.

As the weather warms we can add in the crisp, delicious raw veggie goodness of juice and count on more energy, less fatigue and better digestion as a result. A personal favorite is a slightly sour, slightly sweet blend of celery, cucumber, lime and green apple. This is an all green blast of health

For the Kiddos: Green Mac and Cheese Try folding in extra veggies to an age-old childhood favorite. It’s easy to do and can make it so easy to have your child eat vegetables, sometimes without their even knowing it. The flavor of zucchini can easily be disguised in packaged cheese sauce, and when blended it makes a smooth creamy sauce that will have all ages salivating.

Prepare Mac N Cheese of your choice as directed, but add one coarsely chopped zucchini into the boiling pasta. After draining the pasta and zucchini, pull out the veggie and blend it well with the required amount of milk.

It will turn a zesty green color. Fold this into the cheese and butter with the pasta. It tastes even creamier, and the cheese sauce hides the vegetable flavor completely for picky eaters. ■ Japa K. Khalsa, DOM, co-author of Enlightened Bodies: Exploring Physical and Subtle Human Anatomy (enlightenedbodies.com), teaches a weekly yoga class for people with chronic pain at Sacred Kundalini in Santa Fe. She combines traditional acupuncture with herbal and nutritional medicine, injection therapy and energy healing.

Her w ork emphasizes optimal health and personal transformation through self-care and awareness of the interconnectedness of all life. www.drjapa.com

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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DECOLONIZING NATURE UNM CONFERENCE recently published books authored or edited by some of the conference speakers: T. J. Demos, author of Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology; Joni Adamson, co-editor of Humanities for the Environment: Integrating knowledge, forging new constellations of practice; Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor; Alan C. Braddock, co-editor of A Keener Perception: Ecocritical Studies in American Art History; Alyosha Goldstein, author of Formations of United States Colonialism; Finis Dunaway, author of Seeing Green: The Use and Abuse of American Environmental Images; Willis Jenkins, co-editor of Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology; Salma Monani, co-editor of Ecocriticism and Indigenous Studies: Conversations from Earth to Cosmos Practice; Lynda Mapes, author of Elwha: A River Reborn; Phoebe Godfrey, co-editor of the two-volume anthology Systemic Crises of Global Climate Change: Intersections of race, class and gender and Emergent Possibilities for Global Sustainability: Intersections of race, class and gender; Manuela Picq, co-editor of Sexualities in World Politics: How LGBTQ claims shape International Relations; Chris Williams, co-author of Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation; Dahr Jamail, who is working on a book on climate change; and Anne McClintock, who is working on a book on the militarization of environmental crises.

The event will also feature talks by several influential indigenous artists, activists and scholars: Nanobah Becker (Navajo), a renowned screenwriter and director who grew up in Albuquerque and is now based in Los Angeles, made the critically acclaimed short-film The 6th World; Kyle Powys Whyte, an enrolled member of the Citizen

Potawatomi Nation is the Timnick Chair in the Humanities and associate professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State University; Dylan AT Miner, a Wiisaakodewinini (Métis) artist, activist and scholar, is currently director of American Indian and Indigenous Studies and associate professor in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University; and Nick Estes from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, a cofounder of The Red Nation and a doctoral candidate in American Studies at UNM, will speak on the Dakota Access Pipeline.

We will also host several sessions on issues facing us in New Mexico, the Southwest, the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands and México.

Speakers in these sessions include, México City-based internationally renowned artist Minerva Cuevas; Jennifer Owen White, manager at the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque; Sofia Martínez, co-founder of Los Jardines Institute in Albuquerque; Silver City-based acclaimed photographer Michael Berman; Perry H. Charley, executive director senior scientist at the Diné College in Shiprock, N.M.; and several UNM current and emeritus faculty members, including John Fleck, Bill Gilbert, Alyosha Goldstein, Basia Irland and Rebecca Schreiber.

The sessions will be moderated by UNM faculty members, including Jeanette HartMann, Szu-Han Ho and Samuel Truett.

The accompanying exhibition Decolonizing Nature at 516 ARTS, curated by UNM graduate students Lara Esther Goldmann and Chloë Courtney, focuses on artists working in film, video, photography and printmaking, exploring different styles and approaches to environmental activism.

© Basia Irland

7

In Bakúm, México, drinking water must be bought. There is no potable water within any of the remaining eight indigenous Yaqui villages.

© Basia Irland

CONTINUED FROM PAGE

Sardar Sarovar Dam, India. Its reservoir has displaced over a million mostly poor, indigenous tribal people, whose entire culture and livelihood are at stake.

Local, national and international artists include María Thereza Alves (Brazil), Sandra Monterosso (Guatemala), Allora & Calzadilla (Puerto Rico), Virginia Colwell (México), Carlos Maravilla Santos & Ehécatl Morales-Valdelamar (México), Dylan Miner (Mich.), Basia Irland (N.M.) and Michael Berman (N.M.). The curators say, “The exhibition brings together diverse voices within the conversation surrounding geopolitical power structures, coloniality and their severe impact on ecology and indigenous communities, as well as the influence of these issues on the present-day discourse concerning environmental activism.

The exhibition aims to create an engaging, open-minded and challenging platform to approach these issues and our role within a global society and to find meaningful and powerful ways for social transformation.”

© Sandra Monterroso

The film screening on April 18 at the UNM Art Museum has been organized by Axel Christopher González and Elspeth Iralu, doctoral students in American Studies at UNM.

Colorando/Decolorando las Hebras (Dyeing and Un-dyeing the Strands)

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

On April 22, there will be panels during the morning hours at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, followed by a visit in the afternoon to the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge to experience Abrazos: A

community Celebration of Environmental Justice. The day will culminate with an evening reception at 516 ARTS. The conference and all associated programming are free and open to the public, made possible with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Lannan Foundation, New Mexico Humanities Council, UNM Office of the Vice President for Research, Center for Regional Studies, College of Fine Arts, and the Department of Art. The project is organized by the Art & Ecology and Land Arts of the American West programs in the Department of Art at UNM, in partnership with the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 516 ARTS, Friends of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, Los Jardines Institute and the Santa Fe Art Institute.

For more information visit: http:// decolonizingnature.unm.edu ■ Subhankar Banerjee, Lannan Foundation Endowed Chair of Land Arts of the American West, professor of Art & Ecology, and director of the Land Arts Mobile Research Center, is coordinating the Decolonizing Nature: Resistance, Resilience, Revitalization forum.

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RENEWABLE ENERGY FESTIVAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE

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John Ussery came to El Rito, N.M. in 1976 to work with one of the original passive-solar pioneers, Peter van Dresser.

He has been involved with renewable energy, microgrid and digital media projects since that time. Usser y ’s presentation at the festival will explore the local potential for using biomass fuel as an important component of sustainable forest management and the shift to renewable energy.

Quentin Wilson taught adobe and solar classes at NNMC and is one of the organizers of the ninth Earth USA International Conference on Architecture and Construction with E a r th en M a t er ia ls , s c h eduled f o r S ept. 29–Oct. 1 in S anta Fe. His presentation at the festival is called Energy Conservation—Caulk Is Cheap.

Wilson will include information on Architecture 2030’s guidelines for

building homes and energy-efficient tips for existing homes. Architect Mark W. Chalom will speak about Passive Solar Design and blending traditional and contemporary styles with sustainable technologies. In addition, Mariel Nanasi, director of New Energy Economy, will speak about Unleashing New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Potential. Donna House, Judy Chaddic k and Paula Breaux will discuss Community Impact Investment: Renewable Energy Equity.

FIND YOUR FUTURE@ NORTHERN New Mexico Collegee Registration for Summer & Fall 2017 begins April 24!

The Rene wable Energ y Festival ’s planners include Northern New Mexico College, Río Arriba County, the City of Española, Moving Arts Española, New Mexico Conservation Voters, representatives from Jémez Mountain Electric Cooperative and many community members. For more information, call 505.570.0300 or email info@movingartsespanola.org ■

Start here or transfer in to finish your degree! We offer 2- and 4-year nationallyaccredited programs in Nursing, Engineering, Biology, Environmental Science, Business, Education... and more. CALL 505.747.2111 OR VISIT NNMC.EDU NORTHERN New Mexico College: Opportunity, Quality & Value, Close to Home!

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INTEGRATING BIOMASS FUEL USE WITH FOREST RESTORATION JOHN USSERY ’S PRESENTATION AT NNMC’S RE FESTIVAL , A PRIL 22 Catastrophic wildfire is the most common natural disaster facing the forested areas of northern New Mexico. Wildfires also do lasting damage to the watersheds and habitats that rely on a healthy forest. Government funding is insufficient to accomplish the task of removing the huge volume of hazardous fuels that have accumulated after decades of suppressing natural fire. Expanding the use of biomass fuels obtained from forest thinning would give market value to wood that would otherwise be wasted, while creating jobs and restoring the economies of rural towns and villages.

Unlike wind and solar energy, woody biomass is obtained in a storable, easily transportable form. It can provide heat when the sun doesn’t shine and power when the wind doesn’t blow. In Europe and other places around the world biomass fuel is the primary source of non-fossil-fuel energy. There are numerous manufacturers of well-engineered efficient and clean-burning biomass boilers and furnaces.

However, in New Mexico, highly touted large-scale biomass heating demonstrations have met with difficulties and failure.

There is great local potential for using biomass fuel as an important component of sustainable forest management and the shift to renewable energy. Current technologies such as chip boilers, wood gasification, biochar, combined heat and power and district heating systems will be discussed at this presentation. The issues of carbon emissions, climate effects, and processing costs will also be examined in an evaluation of biomass as a locally available source of renewable energy.

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James H. Auerbach, MD and Staff support Green Fire Times in its efforts to bring about a better world by focusing on the people, enterprises and initiatives that are transforming New Mexico into a diverse and sustainable economy.

SOME OF THE TOPICS GREEN FIRE TIMES SHOWCASES: GREEN: Building, Products, Services, Entrepreneurship, Investing and Jobs; Renewable Energy, Sustainable Agriculture, Regional Cuisine, Ecotourism, Climate Adaptation, Natural Resource Stewardship, Arts & Culture, Health & Wellness, Regional History, Community Development, Educational Opportunities James H. Auerbach, MD provides dermatology services in Santa Fe, NM (Sorry, we are no longer accepting new clients.)

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SEEKING TRUE NORTH 13

community-oriented president, served as an enormously stabilizing force who grew the college during her lengthy tenure during the late ‘80s into the ‘90s.

In 2005, the college, now called Northern New Mexico College, became a four-year degree-granting institution. To that end, it further built up its academic offerings while de-emphasizing the trades. The change reflected the spirit of the times as well as the predilections of the subsequent college presidents, Dr. Sigfredo Maestas and Dr. José Griego. At that time, El Rito campus began to wane while the Española Branch campus grew in size, importance and enrollment.

A newfound spirit of community service I n r e c e n t ye a r s , t h e c o l l e g e h a s developed strong math, science, business administration, computer engineering, nursing and education programs while generally maintaining a viable arts and academic arm, even as it eliminated nearly all of the trades. These changes took place, in part, as a response to Los Alamos National Laboratories having become the area’s biggest employer. The lab needed people trained foremost in math and science. The lab had also begun investing in the college’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program during this period. Today the STEM program as well as biology, chemistry, environmental science, neuroscience and science are among the college’s strongest programs.

They are headed by department chair Dr. Ulises M. Ricoy.

In spite of having graduated thousands of individuals in multiple fields over the years, the college in recent times experienced many a crisis that left the area’s population deeply concerned. El Rito campus was closed in 2015 due to what some considered a lack of vision and disregard for its charter in the New Mexico State Constitution stating that El Rito campus cannot be closed while the Española Branch campus is operating. A state-of-the-art automotive repair shop, recently built to the tune of more than a million dollars on the Española campus, now lies vacant. The ball was dropped with regard to applying for funding for several of NNMC’s longest-lived federally funded programs, which are no more. Except for barbering and cosmetology, NNMC has shed all of its trades, including its once-stellar solar

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adobe construction, Spanish colonial furniture-making and weaving programs.

During the last administration, the college fell into fiscal management problems and in 2016 it came under the scrutiny of the State of New Mexico Auditor.

Last month it was reported an employee had embezzled $200,000. To make up for budgetary shortfalls, in the last three years, tuition was increased significantly.

This led to an exodus of nearly a thousand students within an 18-month period, from a once-thriving population of 2,500.

Many of those who left enrolled at Santa Fe Community College, which picked up many programs that NNMC discarded.

Española-based students are not happy commuting to Santa Fe and would rather take classes at a smaller institution closer to home, but the tuition for individual classes is less at SFCC, and the programs are a lot more varied.

Enter Dr. Rick Bailey, an unlikely candidate for president of the college. Bailey, from Colorado Springs, had made his career in the Air Force as a pilot. Thoughtful, dynamic and upbeat, he seems to possess the sensitivity, intelligence and, most importantly, the will to serve the people of northern New Mexico to the best of his ability. Although aware of Northern’s recent problems, he steadfastly focuses on the potential for writing—not alone, but together with other members of the regional community—a brand new and highly positive chapter in NNMC’s history.

Having assumed his position in midOctober 2016, Dr. Bailey has already begun sketching out a plan for reviving El Rito campus, one that might actually work.

If a well-attended community meeting and a favorable reception to his ideas are any indication, it appears that El Rito community generally supports a proposal to transplant a successful educational program currently operating in Phoenix, Arizona. Planet Athlete is a nonprofit organization that helps high school athletes bridge the gap between high school and college. The program would bring to El Rito between 60 and 90 male students, six coaches and a handful of administrators.

Although it would not hire many local people, the program would nevertheless inject much-needed dollars and infuse the campus and school with new energy and life. Perhaps in a few years, the college can do the same for its own students.

Other recent positive developments include an increase in enrollment after years of losing students. Last fall’s enrollment went up by 7 percent, far higher than any

As part of his dream, President Bailey hopes to foster a climate that honors a diversity of thought—one that values each and every student and staff member. He also hopes to

© Seth Roffman

CONTINUED FROM PAGE

other in the state. According to President Bailey, “Northern New Mexico College is the single most affordable four-year institution in the Southwest. Its programs are nationally accredited. At Northern, we are providing an incredibly qualitative education at the most affordable price.

Every person here is committed to the success of the students in ways that overwhelm me. I am proud of every single program in the college. Passionate educators lead every program. I have been heartened by this community. There is no place in the world where I would rather be.”

David García, NNMC Chair of Fine Arts make education transformative in people’s lives so that they will walk away from the college equipped not only with knowledge and skills that will enable them to make a living but also with the desire to contribute to society, both locally and nationally.

This newfound spirit of community service is reflected in the recent appointment of Dr. David García as chair of Fine Arts.

García, a musician and anthropologist, has already launched a speakers’ series called Northern Confluence, Currents in Arts, Technologies and Cultures. He has also begun scheduling exhibits by local artists

and integrating the indigenous arts of northern New Mexico into the college’s curriculum and college life. The first art exhibit is Ordinary Grace, wood sculpture of Manuel López of Los Palacios, N.M. It will run from April 27 to April 28.

Another development at the college has been that director of financial aid, Jacob Pacheco and his staff, recently took on the additional work of the New Mexico Educational Opportunity Center (EOC). The EOC program was funded by a $2.5-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Unfortunately, the program was lost during the last administration. During the past 42 years, EOC recruited, retained and graduated thousands of Northern’s students and sent thousands of other students from north-central New Mexico to institutions of higher learning.

A particularly important victory was recently achieved with national accreditation recommended for the college’s nursing program by the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). A visiting team of evaluators deemed the program “exemplary.” A process 10 years in the making and its having reached this nearly final stage is a testament to the dedication of Theresa López, director of the nursing program. López is known for her personal quest for excellence and devotion to serving others. Hopefully, the college can catch the fire from these and other inspired individuals who work at NNMC, as well as by other recent encouraging developments. ■ Alejandro López, a northern New Mexico e d u c a to r, a r t i s t a n d writer, studied at NNMC among other colleges and universities. He later served as publications specialist at NNMC, instructor of Spanish and English as a Second Language and as director of El Rito campus between 2006 and 2007.

An Eagle’s Flight Like mighty eagles, human beings can attain transcendental flight to levels of being supreme. What wings and keen sight are to them, reason and imagination are to us. Whereas eagles remain aloft on currents of cool and warm air and mighty gusts of wind, as human beings we must propel ourselves with arduous tasks of love, ceaseless cultivation of knowledge, and a passion for life.

An unbreakable core, moral fiber, untiring work—these—and not a breeze, enable us to forever soar above craggy peaks and treacherous drops. Meanwhile, an undying quest for a perspective from above, the sight of dawn from a thousand feet in the air among the clouds, and our own quickening pace of heart, compel us to teach this most wondrous art, this most daunting of disciplines to those who would follow and aspire to fly! For to fly, is to live, and nothing short of it can ever take its place!

— Poem by a faculty member dedicated to President Rick Bailey and the Eagles of NNMC

Green Fire Times • April 2017

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EDUCATION AS OFFERING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 The final project was to create a story-based gift for the community. Alongside the project, we read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.’ Kimmerer asks, “What else can you offer the Earth, which has everything? What else can you give but something of yourself?

A homemade ceremony, a ceremony that makes a home.” In our case, we knew that there is the physical labor of the Española Healing Foods Oasis that community members have volunteered to prepare, plant and care for the garden. We viewed this firsthand on a visit where we held class in the dirt. But, how could we make an offering of our stories?

In the end, we became part of the story of the Healing Oasis Garden.

In conversation, Beata mentioned that over 200 varieties of medicinal or companion plants were included in the garden. She wanted to make sure that visitors to the garden were able to identify and get to know the plants, their usages and their names in Tewa, Spanish, English and scientific. I asked, what if I ask my students to perform research and write the plant stories? We agreed that this would be an important gift that would help build relationships between students and the garden. I set to work and developed an assignment where students had to research and write the stories of five plants they selected. We got the list from the landscape architect. Some students were reluctant to jump in; I heard things like “I’m not a planter. I don’t know which one to choose,” to “Manzanilla! I want to do that one. I use that all the time.” After choosing five, they had to provide the plant name in all the languages mentioned above and write the story of the plant however they chose. It could be formal academic writing, or they could choose to write from the plant’s perspective in the first-person point of view. However they chose to write the plant stories, their responsibility was to provide information to the community and to honor the plants.

Students really got into this project! They hit the library, Google, and even had to perform interviews with native speakers of Tewa and New Mexico Spanish. Not everyone had access to interview resources, so guess what? They had to share and support each other in the work. Students got savvy and began to share sources and books with one another. This was not the classic final-exam paper, where students are forced to write in isolation for an audience of a single professor. No, they were talking to each other, to professors and members of

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their community. Each had to present their work to each other, and finally, as a group present it as a gift to the Healing Oasis.

Beata, who was along with us for the entirety of the project, helped us reframe the end of our semester from a “final exam” to a final ceremony. Collectively, we decided that our offering would be a “Ceremony to Reconnect with Our Plant Relatives.”

The students collated a binder with their stories, organized for easy usage by the greater community. On our last day of class in December, we went out once again to the garden. This time our purpose was to present gifts to the plants and to leave our offerings in the ground. Each student wrote his or her intentions on a sheet of paper, which we buried and blessed with tobacco and sage. We presented our stories and prayed that they will be used to heal pain in our community. And, in the end, we became part of the story of the Healing Oasis Garden.

There were some tears, and lots of laughter.

But we all imagined ourselves connected to the well-being of our plants, our beautiful healing oasis, and the people who tend and visit there. And isn’t that what stories are supposed to do? All of a sudden, all of these people from various geographies belonged to a new shared place—a new home.

The next time you are in town, pop by and visit the Española Healing Foods Oasis behind City Hall. Spend some time, and read the plant stories. Maybe you’ll find yourself connecting with the plants as well. Until then, be inspired with these reflections by the students in the course:

Fall 2016 English/Pueblo Indian Studies 399 class: L–R: Dr. Patricia Trujillo, Shayna Porter, Michelle Martínez, Evelynne González, Erik García (in back), Joy Dili, Nicole Soderberg, Tatiana Smith (in back) and Codiee Myles Codiee Myles: After doing all this research to find out what these plants can do, it really changed my perspective on plants. This made me realize that nature really can provide for us and that not every sickness requires a doctor. Before this project, if I would have seen these plants, I would have thought that they were just weeds and useless. Now I realize that they are much more than that. I hope that whoever gets to read [our stories] about these plants realizes too that they can do much more than what we think.

Erik García: Through our class and the books we’ve been reading I can say I found a deeper appreciation for Mother Earth.

I’ve learned to improve my ways. For example, now I can go riding or walking without headphones. I feel the music is a distraction to the natural world. By appreciating the land more, the thought process is to get us to understand the

importance it plays on our lives. Once we’ve discovered and gained knowledge, we hope it changes the viewpoint, and [hu]mankind will help save the world.

Evelynne González: The most interesting thing about learning plant stories was that each plant has a purpose in nature, they are all here for a reason, and our ancestors would use many of these plants before medicine was available. I feel that there is a connection from researching these plants’ connections to the Earth because one can imagine cultivating such plants and later boiling a cup of yerba manza root for a cold.

We are drinking in all that power. Or when one has a deep craving for nopalitos with red chile, we can just go to our backyard and pick them. There is a great satisfaction that came from learning plant stories, knowing that these plants can benefit the community is satisfying. All it takes is a little dirtywork!

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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Joy Dili: The importance of plants is that they can teach us more than we know. Their knowledge remains endless, and they survived since the beginning of time; surely this makes them more than experts. The words of my plants were strong, funny, sure of themselves, a bit wild, and they all had passion to give.

The gifts that they provide are something I will always respect and be thankful for. I would like to have a better relationship with these plants in the future by planting and seeing them grow. The experience I gained in this class has been more than rewarding, and I’m grateful to be a part of this project.

It’s amazing the things you think you know, until you take the time to really understand it from the beginning. We could learn so much from plants. I surely did.

Tatiana Smith: When starting this project I didn’t want to do it. I was like ewww!

We have to plant and get dirty?! But after picking my plants I began to bond with them.

The very first bonding experience was actually going to the garden and smelling white sage for the first time. That scent created such amazing feelings inside me, and I knew that I found one of my plants. After this project I feel more connected with these plants and the plants my classmates researched as well.

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Green Fire Times • April 2017

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As the class ends, Dr. Trujillo likes to give students a pilón. In Chicana culture, this is the parting gift a host gives guests leaving a special occasion. This year’s gift was a braid of sweetgrass.

Shayna Porter: Coming from a big city, I never got a chance to understand Mother Nature. After taking PIS 399 I can say that my nonchalant ways of interacting with Mother Nature have changed. Before doing this project I had no knowledge of how important and valuable a plant can be. While I was doing research on the five plants I was assigned, it made me want to change my city-like ways.

Instead of taking a hike to get cardio, I can take a hike to connect with Mother Nature. Instead of stressing myself out with worries, I can place my stress or worries onto a plant and ask it to hold it for me. I learned that having a garden and showing those plants love is a spiritual and therapeutic act. Now I feel like I have moral obligation to Mother Nature.

Students prepared foods near and dear to their hearts and told their own food stories.

Michelle Martínez: How am I supposed to be a good neighbor/friend if I hardly associate with any plants? This project was a perfect opportunity to change that and I’m glad that I did it. I know so much more because of it. During this research project, I have felt a deep calling to start getting familiar with the plants that we are sharing this Earth with. I have been inspired to become friends with these plants and get to know their names and stories. I would love to know how to identify plants when I walk by and know who they are. I want to learn about how plants heal and also be able to practice it. One of my goals is to plant a New Mexico locust near my house and become close with that plant and learn from it.

Nicole Soderberg: Plants are our healers in so many ways. They help us in healing our bodies to healing our spirit, heart and mind. They live in this same world as we do and share some of the same issues humans have. We are more alike than we think. We must respect the value of taking care of our elders. They have known this Earth for many years and have lived through issues we might not have encountered yet. So we must listen when they speak and help them when they struggle to walk and grow. We must protect them when danger is near and make sure they get to live a full cycle of life.

The more I learn about plants the more connected I feel to them. I understand them more and the interconnectedness of Mother Earth and all her beings. As we are out and about in our busy days, plants wait patiently for us to come visit and share a conversation with them. To take time to get to know each other and the world around us is what nature intended. ■ Patricia Trujillo, Ph.D., is the director of Equity and Diversity and an associate professor of English and Chicana/o Studies at Northern New Mexico College. She was born and raised in the Española Valley. Dr. Trujillo is invested in community-based action research. She serves on the boards of the Northern Río Grande National Heritage Area, Tewa Women United, and NewMexicoWomen.org

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HERITAGE SEEDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Grandmother Flordemayo’s “The Path” Seed Temple project on 40 acres near Estancia, which hosts a seed bank for safekeeping of heritage seeds and sharing with local communities. The Path holds gatherings related to seeds and spirituality and helps increase awareness of the importance of keeping heritage seeds alive.

None of the seeds from the Sufi Community or The Path project are sold but rather are shared openly with people interested in being seed stewards. Volunteers have come forward to grow-out (increase) seeds that are acquired and may be rare or in limited amount, helping to maintain a stock of healthy seeds. Those varieties that perform particularly well and produce a good harvest then become “community service varieties” that can be donated to “seed libraries” and to folks who just want to get started.

Why not sell seeds? Because seeds may offer a greater opportunity. On a grassroots level, why interpose a “storefront” between you, me and the seeds? Although seed businesses are an effective way to get seed out there and maintain standards of quality—at a deeper level the seed itself is the currency. In sharing and exchanging seeds there is a passing around of the life and culture of community. Seeds themselves carry their own ancestry, their own story. We who plant them also have our history, and that is interwoven with the seeds we carry. Seed-sharing in community builds relationships, which are the true wealth. Experienced seed stewards can apply the same techniques as the professionals to produce high-quality seed. Seed-saving and stewardship in community can act as training or practice for embodying the principles of a barterbased way of life that may become more necessary in coming times.

32

Green Fire Times • April 2017

Seed-growing offers a direct communion with nature, its cycles and the elements.

Young children especially benefit from growing gardens and seeds. Much like the “first milk” provides a newborn baby with immunities it needs, an early connection to nature provides an imprint that can help children to later find their way in a world awash in technology and digital distractions.

For me as an adult, working with the seeds has helped to reinforce and nurture the basic qualities of spirituality in a similar way that many of us strengthen our paths with music, art and meditation. If someone asks, “Is seed-saving a spiritual path?” I just say that it can truly support whichever spiritual path you are living.

Heritage seed-keeping and the seed sovereignty movement is likely going strong in your local community in some form. Farmers’ markets and garden clubs can let you know of seed stewards/ seed savers in your area, and about seed exchanges taking place. Your local public library may also host a seed library where you can “check out” seeds to grow and increase, and then give back a portion of your harvest to the library to perpetuate it for others. Getting involved with heritage seeds can lead you into a world of beauty and wonder that serves Nature and our fellow human beings. Happy Planting! ■ Greg Schoen has been a seed steward since the 1990s. He originally worked with Carl Barnes of Oklahoma, known for “glass gem” corn. Schoen resides at the Southwest Suf i Community near Silver City and is a seed-keeper with Grandmother Flordemayo and “The Path” Seed Temple in Estancia, N.M. He actively shares with other seed stewards in Colorado, Arizona and northern New Mexico.

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NEWSBITEs PNM MAY RETIRE SAN JUAN GENERATING STATION On March 16, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), majority owner and operator of the 1800-MW coal-fired San Juan Generating Station, in a shift of its long-held position, announced: “Retiring the remaining two units of the SJGS could provide long-term benefits to customers.”

Almost 300 people are employed at the SJGS in northwest New Mexico. The plant consumes 6.3 billion gallons of water per annum and is one of the most polluting power plants in the U.S. According to the NM Environment Department, between 2005 and 2008, the plant violated PNM’S air quality permit limits for nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide and opacity 60,000 times. Air pollution from the plant has been a major source of haze in the Four Corners region, clouding the air and views in national parks, including the Grand Canyon. Communities (particularly Native American) allegedly impacted by the plant’s air, water and soil pollutants have been experiencing serious health issues.

A press release says: “PNM is on track to retire SJGS units 2 and 3 by the end of 2017, while continuing to operate units 1 and 4 until at least 2022. Retiring the SJGS would provide PNM an opportunity to increase renewable energy production.” Fifty percent of PNM’s energy generation is currently from coal. The company is planning to replace the SJGS’s electricity with mostly natural gas and nuclear energy. The owners of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station in Arizona—which releases more greenhouse gases than almost any other in the country—have voted to close that plant at the end of 2019. That shutdown will impact about 800 jobs.

COAL NEWS On March 15, Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced the approval of a $22-million coal lease in central Utah. Coal leasing and underground mining in the area currently support nearly 1,700 jobs. Zinke said, “Let me make one thing clear, the Interior Department is in the energy business. For many communities and tribes across the West, coal on public lands has been both a boon and a missed opportunity with the potential for thousands of jobs and millions in economic opportunity. We are at a time in our history where we have technology available to responsibly mine coal and return our land to equal or better quality after.”

In February, after mining companies challenged pending changes in the coal royalty program, the Interior Department blocked the changes from taking effect. The Trump administration also delayed consideration of a proposal to require companies to prove they are financially capable of cleaning up polluted mining sites so that taxpayers don’t get stuck with cleanup bills at abandoned mines. Clean water regulations intended to protect mining debris from being dumped into streams have also been terminated.

The coal industry is seeking to benefit from proposed legislation that would increase the federal tax credit from $10 to $20 per ton for carbon capture and sequestration, an unperfected, costly process that would reduce some of the environmental impact of coal burning. The legislation also would expand available credits by more than one-third for carbon storage. Carbon can be flooded into declining oil fields to coax production.

XCEL ENERGY TO BUILD NM’S LARGEST WIND FARM Wind facility costs have dropped significantly. Combined with federal tax credits (which are set to expire), wind energy has become increasingly attractive to utilities.

Xcel Energy has announced plans to build the largest wind farm in New Mexico. The 522-megawatt, $865-million Sagamore Wind Project will be in Roosevelt County, approximately 20 miles south of Portales. It will generate enough power to supply about 194,000 homes per year. The project will provide about 300 construction jobs and 20-to-30 fulltime positions when completed by 2020.

A subsidiary of Xcel, Southwest Public Service Co. has operated the 250-megawatt Roosevelt Wind Project since December 2015. Xcel will also build a 478-megawatt wind farm near Lubbock, Texas, and plans to purchase 230 megawatts of wind energy under a long-term agreement with NextEra Energy. The projects will allow Xcel to produce energy at a lower cost than that produced by the company’s coal- and natural gas-fueled plants, thereby saving its 385,000 New Mexico and Texas customers about $2.8 billion over the next 30 years.

Xcel is seeking approval for the projects from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

Another New Mexico project, the 298-megawatt, 56,000-acre El Cabo Wind Farm in Torrance County, will go into operation this year.

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UNM SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RANKS THIRD NATIONALLY IN RURAL MEDICINE The University of New Mexico School of Medicine ranks third in the nation for its Rural Medicine Program in the April 2017 U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools for 2018.”The magazine also ranks the school’s Primary Care Curriculum 18th in the nation. The Health Sciences Center’s College of Nursing Midwifery Program has maintained its ranking of seventh nationally. New Mexico has a long history of midwifery.

Nearly one-third of all births in the state are attended by midwives.

This year’s medical school rankings are based on surveying 170 U.S.-accredited medical schools (140 allopathic, or mainstream medicine, and 30 osteopathic). They were ranked according to measures of academic quality, including academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, and the percentage of graduating physicians who go into the primary care specialties of family practice, internal medicine and pediatrics. These rankings are based on peer-assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators, and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked.

Forty percent of the practicing physicians in New Mexico have graduated from UNM’s programs.

SUSTAINABLE SANTA FE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS UPDATE The Sustainable Santa Fe Commission wants to hear city and county residents’ ideas about critical issues and creative solutions. Mayor Javier Gonzales will introduce the first two community conversations, May 3, 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Genoveva Chávez Center Community Room, and May 9, 5:30–7:30 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe. For the past 16 months, with education, economic development and social equity in mind, the commission engaged more than 50 experts in working groups to draft a plan to address regional issues related to energy, water, buildings, transportation, waste management, environmental protection, food security and greenhouse gas emissions.

These community conversations are the beginning of a larger strategy seeking public feedback and recommendations. The other meetings scheduled are May 13, 1–3 p.m. at the Southside Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive (co-hosted by Earth Care); and May 20, 2–4 p.m. at Chainbreaker Community Center, 1515 5th Street (co-hosted

by Chainbreaker Collective).

Food and refreshments will be served, and childcare and Spanish translation will be available. For more information, contact Commission Chair Beth Beloff at 505.467.8530 or Commissioner Robb Hirsch at 505.988.3364 or rhirsch@ ediconsulting.us, www.sustainablesantafe2040.com

THREE SISTERS KITCHEN ABQ space for “foodpreneurs” Although New Mexico generated $11 billion in food production in 2012, and households in the state spend more than $4 billion on food in stores and restaurants annually, only 5 percent of the food produced in the state is consumed here, according to Anzia Bennett, founder of a new enterprise being developed in Albuquerque as part of the Downtown ABQ MainStreet Initiative.

The Three Sisters Kitchen is intended to support the development of a healthy local food economy by helping entrepreneurs become part of the state’s rapidly growing food production industry. Three Sisters is creating a commercial-grade, multi-use kitchen space and incubator for startups. “Foodpreneurs” will benefit from retail and showcase spaces and tasting events in a culinary classroom at a facility slated to open in the fall, downtown on Gold Avenue, between 1st and 2nd streets.

In addition to its own programming, Three Sisters will provide a space for individuals and other organizations to run programs that reach people around Albuquerque by partnering with initiatives such as the Downtown Growers’ Market, Kids Cook and the Street Food Institute, which trains people to run their own food trucks. The Mixing Bowl, a similar enterprise, run by the South Valley Economic Development Center, can facilitate large-scale production. It will be another of Three Sisters’ associates.

Three Sisters Kitchen will be supported by member fees and is seeking additional funding.

Green Fire Times • April 2017

37

WHAT'S GOING ON! Events / Announcements

ecology. $7/$6/$4/children under 5 free. www.wildlifewest.org

ALBUQUERQUE

APRIL 3, 17, 5 PM 350 NEW MEXICO ABQ CENTER FOR PEACE & JUSTICE 202 HARVARD SE Building a grassroots climate movement to address the impact of climate change on New Mexicans. Meets 1st and 3rd Mondays each month. http://350newmexico.org APRIL 3–4 TRIBAL ENERGY IN THE SW INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER 2401 12TH ST. NW Conference focused on opportunities for tribal projects and tips for navigating a changing regulatory environment. Intended for attorneys, tribal representatives, industry executives, governmental officials and consultants.

Webcast available. www.lawseminars.com/ seminars/2017/17TRIBNM.php APRIL 6–MAY 11 FOOD AS MEDICINE UNM CONTINUING EDUCATION Explore the wisdom of a wellness system growing in recognition and acceptance as a complement to Western healthcare practices. 505.277.0077, CEhealth@unm. edu, ce.unm.edu/Herbalism APRIL 8, 10:30 AM–12:30 PM ABQ CITIZENS’ CLIMATE LOBBY Nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization working in support of solutions such as the carbon fee/dividend to prevent the worst aspects of a warming world. Meets 2nd Sat. monthly. Lisas.ccl@ gmail.com, http://citizensclimatelobby.org/ chapters/NM_Albuquerque/ APRIL 9, 9–11 AM SEASONS OF GROWTH GARDENING CLASS IPCC, 2401 12TH ST. NW Hands-on learning series the second Sunday every month through Oct. explores Pueblo people’s traditional farming methods. $5. Reservations: bsandoval@ indianpueblo.org.

APRIL 12, 9–10:30 AM AGRICULTURAL COLLABORATIVE MRCOG OFFICE, 809 COPPER NW Monthly meeting of citizens, growers, farmers, producers, food processors, buyers, representatives from agencies & organizations. 505.247.1750, localfoodnm@ mrcog-nm.gov APRIL 19–22 DECOLONIZING NATURE: RESISTANCE, RESILIENCE, REVITALIZATION NATIONAL HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER 1701 4TH ST. SW Interdisciplinary international environmental justice conference free and open to the public. Hosted by UNM’s Land Arts Program in the College of Fine Arts with support from the NM Humanities Council and UNM Center for Regional Studies. 516 Arts is hosting a related art exhibit. curry.lucas@gmail.com, http://decolonizingnature.unm.edu APRIL 22, 2–4 PM MARCH FOR SCIENCE ABQ CIVIC PLAZA, NW A call to support and safeguard the scientific community. https://www. marchforscience.com

38

For a list of Earth Day events, see page 9.

APRIL 22, 2–7 PM RÍO GRANDE WATER FESTIVAL SAWMILL VILLAGE PLAZA 1751 BELLAMAH NW Celebrating community, water conservation and the completion of Mill Pond Refuge.

Live entertainment, food and familyfriendly activities focused on issues of sustainability. Free. 505.563.0615, www. nmwatercollaborative.org APRIL 23, 2 PM ALDO LEOPOLD LECTURE AND AWARDS NHCC, 1701 4TH ST. SW Lecture by Barry López. 6th to 12th-grade students will read their winning essays. www.LeopoldWritingProgram.org APRIL 24–30 AMERICAN INDIAN WEEK INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER 2401 12TH ST. NW Celebration of Pueblo culture, immersive museum, traditional native dances, new Native American cuisine, artist workshops, Indian arts market. Admission: $8.40/$5.40/ Members free. Schedule: IndianPueblo.org APRIL 30, 9 AM–6 PM REZILIENCE INDIGENOUS ART EXPERIENCE NHCC, 1701 4TH ST. SW Interactive art, education, wellness & technology program. Film, poetry, creative workshops, panel discussions, fitness activities, fashion show, tech demos, vendors.

Coordinated by organizations working with and within indigenous communities. $10/7& younger free with paying adult.

505.246.2261, www.nhccnm.org MAY 18–20 PLANT-BASED PREVENTION OF DISEASE CONFERENCE UNM National annual conference. 33 speakers include clinicians, researchers and educators.

Open to professionals, students and the public. http://preventionofdisease.org FIRST SUNDAYS NM MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 1801 MOUNTAIN ROAD Museum admission is free to NM residents on the first Sunday of every month.

505.841.2800 SATURDAYS, 1 PM WEEKLY DOCENT-LED TOURS NATIONAL HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER 1701 4TH ST. SW Tours of different exhibits and themes in the Art Museum. $2-$3, free with museum admission. 505.246.2261, nhccnm.org DAILY, 10 AM–6 PM WILDLIFE WEST 87 N. FRONTAGE RD., EDGEWOOD (JUST EAST OF ABQ) 122-acre park/attraction with educational programs dedicated to native wildlife and

Green Fire Times • April 2017

PAID AMERICORPS TERMS Young women and men ages 18–25 sought for seasonal, full-time conservation projects in Albuquerque area wilderness.

575.751.1420, www.youthcorps.org ABQ 2030 DISTRICT A voluntary collaboration of commercial property tenants, building managers, property owners and developers; real estate, energy, and building sector professionals, lenders, utility companies; and public stakeholders such as government agencies, nonprofits, community groups and grassroots organizers. Property partners share anonymous utility data and best practices. Professional partners provide expertise and services. Public partners support the initiative as it overlaps with their own missions. Info: albuquerque@2030districts.org

SANTA FE

APRIL 4, 11, 3:15–5:15 PM GLOBAL WARMING CLASSES ST. JOHN’S METHODIST CHURCH 1200 OLD PECOS TRL. Current and predicted effects, adaptation and mitigation. Instructor: Steven Rudnick.

Renesan Institute. 505.982.9274, www. renesan.org APRIL 4, 6 PM VOICES OF COUNTERCULTURE IN THE SW COLLECTED WORKS BOOKS 202 GALISTEO ST. Roundtable of contributors to the book: Jack Loeffler, Enrique La Madrid, Lisa Law, Meredith Davidson, Sylvia Rodríguez.

APRIL 5, 6 PM FROM POWELL TO POWER REI, 500 MARKET ST. #100 A Recounting of the First 100 River Runners through the Grand Canyon. Author Tom Martin will present a look behind the scenes look at Otis Marston’s book. Book sales will benefit the SF Watershed Assn.

APRIL 6, 6 PM DEBORAH MADISON COLLECTED WORKS BOOKS 202 GALISTEO ST. Authority on vegetarian cooking presents her latest cookbook, In My Kitchen.

APRIL 8, 9:30 AM–12 PM SF CITIZENS’ CLIMATE LOBBY HIGHER ED. CENTER 1950 SIRINGO RD., RM. 135 Working for climate change solutions that bridge the partisan divide.

APRIL 11, 4:30–7:30 PM SF COMMUNITY SUMMIT SF CONVENTION CENTER “Shaping Our Future” Youth, service providers, businesses, parents and institutions will come together to work toward giving children and youth a step up. Topic areas: early childhood, K–12, post-secondary success, disconnected youth, workforce and career pathways.

Registration: santafeb2c.org APRIL 12, 5:30–7 PM FIRE AS RESTORATION TOOL REI, 500 MARKET ST., #100 Learn about the role of fire in the ecosystem, controlled burns & smoke

management. Presented by the SF Conservation Trust. www.sfct.org APRIL 19–JUNE 7, 5:30–8 PM CLIMATE MASTERS THE COMMONS, ALAMEDA ST. Curriculum focused on climate change and the interrelated connections of water, soil, consumption/waste, forest management, transportation, architecture and how we can live more sustainably. Field trips and weekly expert guest speakers. $25. 4/19, 6:30 pm: public screening of Ice and Sky at Violet Crown Cinema with panel discussion. $15.

505.820.1696, www.santafewatershed.org APRIL 20, 6 PM STANLEY CRAWFORD COLLECTED WORKS BOOKS 202 GALISTEO ST. The author reads from his latest novel, The Village, a loving satire that explores daily life in a fictional northern NM village.

APRIL 20: 10 AM–4 PM 2017 BUSINESS EXPO & JOB FAIR SF CONVENTION CENTER If you are hiring, seeking advice, growing your business, job-seeking or developing your network, this event is for you.

Presented by the SF Chamber of Commerce.

505.988.3279, www.santafechamber.com APRIL 21, 7 PM SPREAD SF FARMERS’ MARKET Annual community dinner that funds NM artists’ projects and creative initiatives voted on by attendees. Tickets ($15–$50) sold at SITE SF, 1606 Paseo de Peralta, on 4/19, 6 pm for SITE SF members and 4/20, 6 pm for the public (cash or check).Tickets will not be sold the night of the event. www.spreadsantafe.com APRIL 22, 11 AM–2 PM MARCH FOR SCIENCE NM STATE CAPITOL 12–1 pm: Rally, speakers. Science expo booths. https://sciencemarchsfnm.com/ the-event/event-details/ APRIL 26–27 HEALTHY KIDS! HEALTHY FUTURES BUFFALO THUNDER RESORT, POJOAQUE Learn to improve the health of Native American youth and communities. Youth, teachers, nutritionists, coaches, youth workers, program directors, elders, etc. are encouraged to attend. $240/$100 under 21 and 62+. Presented by the Notah Begay III Foundation. info@nb3f.org, http://www. nb3foundation.org APRIL 27 ANGEL’S NIGHT OUT 35 restaurants will contribute 25% of their breakfast, lunch and dinner revenue to the nonprofit Kitchen Angels, which provides home-delivered meals to people with life-challenging health conditions.

505.471.7780, tmccarty@kitchenangels.org APRIL 27, 6 PM SFCC WRITING AWARDS COLLECTED WORKS BOOKS 202 GALISTEO Award ceremony for SF Community College student writing contest.

APRIL 29 PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH Bianca@newenergyeconomy.org

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MAY 1, 6 PM PROTECTING SACRED PLACES HOTEL SANTA FE “Resistance to Resilience.” SW Seminars lecture by archeologist Teresa Pasqual (Acoma). $15. 505.466.2775, Southwestseminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

SAT., 8 AM-1 PM SF FARMERS’ MARKET 1607 PASEO DE PERALTA (& GUADALUPE) Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veggies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked goods, body care products and much more. www.santafefarmersmarket.com

MAY 3, 9, 13, 20 SUSTAINABLE SANTA FE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS Help Santa Fe become a thriving green city and leader in caring for our environment, economy and each other. Learn about the ongoing development of SF’s 25-year Sustainability Plan.

Share your ideas and creative solutions. 5/3 and 5/9, 5:30–7:30 pm. Intro by Mayor Javier Gonzales. 5/3: Genoveva Chávez Center, 3221 Rodeo Rd; 5/9: Hotel SF, 1501 Paseo de Peralta; May 13, 1–3 pm: Southside Library, 6599 Jaguar Dr; May 20, 2–4 pm: Chainbreaker, 1515 5th St. 505.988.3364, rhirsch@ediconsulting. us, www.sustainablesantafe2040.com

SAT., 8 AM–4 PM RANDALL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER 1800 UPPER CANYON RD. Striking landscapes and wildlife. Bird walks, hikes, tours of the Randall Davey home.

505.983.4609, http://nm.audubon.org/ landingcenter-chapters/visiting-randalldavey-audubon-center-sanctuary

MAY 7, 12–2 PM HERITAGE VEGETABLE GARDENING JANNINE’S MICRO-FARM 56 COYOTE CROSSING Learn which warm season heirloom varieties grow here and how to prepare for planting. $5. Homegrownnewmexico.org MAY 10 APPLICATION DEADLINE DRY-LAND PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE Intensive hands-on natural living experience on a 1.5-acre permaculture homestead.

May 22–June 4. Guest speakers: Katrina Blair, Tyler VanGemert, Joel Glanzberg.

575.613.6158, ziaenergeticsllc@gmail.com MAY 13–14 SPRING OPEN HOUSE KINDRED SPIRITS ANIMAL SANCTUARY 3749-A HWY. 14 Visit the animals. Eldercare and hospice for dogs, horses and poultry. Free educational talks and demos. 20 miles south of SF. 505.471.5366, www.kindredspiritsnm.org JUNE 4–6 NEXT GENERATION WATER SUMMIT/GREEN EXPO SF CONVENTION CENTER Learn about new tools and models for building to become radically more water-efficient. An event for policymakers, building designers, builders, water conservation professionals, water system designers, landscape designers, etc. Hosted by the City of SF, SF Green Chamber of Commerce, Green Builder Coalition, SF Area Homebuilders Association. www.

NextGenerationWaterSummit.com SUNDAYS, 10 AM-4 PM RAILYARD ARTISAN MARKET FARMERS’ MARKET PAVILION 1607 PASEO DE PERALTA Local artists, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, live music. 505.983.4098, Francesca@santafefarmersmarket.com, artmarketsantafe.com SUNDAYS, 11 AM JOURNEY SANTA FE CONVERSATIONS COLLECTED WORKS BOOKS 202 GALISTEO ST. 4/2: Journalist Peter St. Cyr, Exec. Dir., NM Foundation for Open Government; 4/9: Marcela Diaz, Exec. Dir., Somos un Pueblo Unido, on immigration and sanctuary cities; 4/23: Pat Hodapp, dir., SF Public Libraries on the state of libraries today; 4/30: Veronica García, Supt. of SF Public Schools; May: SF Watershed series.

Hosts: Alan Webber and Bill Dupuy. Free. www. journeysantafe.com

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REGISTRATION OPEN Medicinal Plants/Herbal Medicine Milagro School of Herbal Medicine Foundations of Herbal Medicine Certificate Program begins April 18. Includes study of local plants, medicine-making, therapeutics and more. info@milagroherbs.com, www. milagroschoolofherbalmedicine.com SANTA FE RECYCLING Reduce, reuse and recycle. City residential curbside customers can recycle at no additional cost and drop by 1142 Siler Road, Building A to pick up free recycling bins. For more information, visit http://www.santafenm.gov/ trash_and_recycling or call 505.955.2200 (city), 505.992.3010 (county), 505.424.1850 (SF Solid Waste Management Agency).

TAOS

APRIL 22, 9 AM–3 PM HOME & GARDEN EXPO TAOS YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER, 407 PASEO DEL CAÑON E. Free admission. Presented by the Taos Chamber of Commerce. 575.751.8800 THIRD WEDS. MONTHLY TAOS ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK TAOS COUNTY COURTHOUSE MURAL ROOM, TAOS PLAZA Networking, presentations and discussion. Free.

FARMER-TO-FARMER TRAINING TAOS COUNTY AND ESPAÑOLA VALLEY Learn to be an organic acequia farmer. The NM Acequia Association has a yearlong training program. It includes farm and business planning, season extension, fertility and soil health, equipment maintenance, planting & harvesting, organic pest management and more. 505.995.9644, pilar@lasacequias.org ONGOING HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL HEALTH SUPPORT HCH Community Wellness Center (lower entrance), 1397 Weimer Rd. 575.751.8909, mariam@taoshospital.com, TaosHealth.com

HERE & THERE

APRIL 2, 1–4 PM KIDFEST Camino de Paz School, Cuartles (near Española), NM A festival of spring, baby goats and life on the land. Campus tours, horse-drawn wagon rides, music, food. Free admission.

505.231.2819 APRIL 8, 9:30 AM–12 PM CITIZEN’S CLIMATE LOBBY Corrales, NM Nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization. Meets on the second Sat. each month. Josephine.darling@ citizensclimatelobby.org

APRIL 14 APPLICATION DEADLINE OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE Nominations sought for Diamond in the Rough award to recognize an outstanding woman in NM agriculture and highlight her efforts. Award will be presented at the 12th biennial Women in Agriculture Leadership Conference, May 30–June 1 in Las Cruces.

200 women from all types of agriculture are expected. 575.524.0050, megrider@ zianet.com, https://www.nmflb.org/Article/ WALC-Diamond-in-the-Rough APRIL 14 ORDERING DEADLINE TREE SEEDLINGS SALE NM State Forestry Div. Conservation Program. Ponderosa pine, white fir, Arizona ash, native plum, piñon, golden current, Nanking cherry, Manchurian apricot, Arizona cypress. Available to landowners who own at least one-acre in NM and use the seedlings for erosion control, wildlife habitat, reforestation, riparian restoration, etc.

505.476.3334, http://www.nmforestry.com APRIL 18-20; MAY 16-18 RECYCLING & COMPOST FACILITY OPERATORS COURSES ABQ, Carlsbad, Ratón, Silver City, NM The NM Environment Dept. Solid Waste Bureau, in partnership with the NM Recycling Coalition, hosts two recycling and two compost facility operators certification courses each year. 4/18-20: Compost; 5/1618: Recycling. Info/registration: http://www. recyclenewmexico.com/trainings/ APRIL 21 APPLICATION DEADLINE CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANTS Natural Resources Conservation Service grants fund development and adoption of innovation conservation approaches and technologies or farm research for projects in NM that last up to three years.

NGOs, state, local governments, tribes and individuals are eligible. 505.761.4419, Athena.cholas@nm.usda.gov, www.grants. gov (CFDA #10.912) APRIL 28–30 ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION VOLUNTEER PROJECT El Malpais National Conservation Area near Grants, NM Join the ABQ Wildlife Federation at Cebolla Canyon. Volunteers will build riparian restoration structures to restore a wetland area. rioscial@gmail.com, http://abq. nmwildlife.org MAY 2017–JULY 2018 NEW MEXICO AGRICULTURAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM NM State University, Las Cruces Designed for men and women in the early stages of leadership careers in agriculture, food and natural resources. Participants meet 8 times over 15 months including 6 in-state seminars and in Washington, D.C. 575.646.6691, nmal@nmsu.edu, http:// aces.nmsu.edu/nmal/application.html JUNE 14–18 GOOD MEDICINE CONFLUENCE FESTIVAL Durango, CO. The Art of Healing. 100 unique classes.

Learn herbal skills. Native plant walks, dance concerts. PlantHealer.org JUNE 20–22 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE ANIMAS AND SAN JUAN WATERSHEDS San Juan College, Farmington, NM 2nd annual conference. Emphasis on Gold

King Mine and other mine waste issues. NM Water Resources Research Institute. https:// animas.nmwrri.nmsu.edu/2017/ FIRST MONDAYS EACH MONTH, 3–5 PM SUSTAINABLE GALLUP BOARD Octavia Fellin Library, Gallup, NM The City of Gallup’s Sustainable Gallup Board welcomes community members concerned about conservation, energy, water, recycling and other environmental issues. 505.722.0039.

MON., WED., FRI., SAT., 10 AM–4 PM PAJARITO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER 2600 Canyon Rd., Los Alamos, NM Nature center and outdoor education programs. Exhibits of flora and fauna of the Pajarito Plateau; herbarium, live amphibians, butterfly and xeric gardens.

505.662.0460, www.losalamosnature.org TUESDAYS, 6–8 PM FAMILY NIGHT PEEC, Los Alamos, NM The second Tuesday of every month.

Games, activities experiments or crafts at the Nature Center. 505.662.0460, www. losalamosnature.org 1ST TUES. 7–8:30 PM GARDENING WITH THE MASTERS Meadowlark Senior Center 4330 Meadowlark Ln., Río Rancho, NM 4/4: Gardening in small spaces; 5/2: Traditional healing plants of NM; 6/6: Growing daylilies; 8/1: Tree selection, planting and maintenance in the high desert. http://sandovalmastergardeners.org 3RD TUES., 7 PM FOUR SEASONS GARDENING CLASSES Sabana Grande Rec Center 4110 Sabana Grande Ave. SE, Río Rancho 4/18: Raised-bed gardening; 5/16: Chickens 101. http://sandovalmastergardeners.org WEDS., 10 AM GREEN HOUR HIKES Los Alamos Nature Center, Los Alamos, NM Kid-centered hikes. Free. Losalamosnature.org FIRST 3 WEDS. EA. MONTH, 6–7 PM SOLAR 101 CLASSES 113 E. Logan Ave., Gallup, NM Free classes about all things related to off-grid solar systems. No pre-registration necessary. 505.728.9246, gallupsolar@ gmail.com,Gallupsolar.org 2ND WEDS., 1 PM SANDOVAL COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS CLASSES COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE 711. S. CAM. DEL PUEBLO, BERNALILLO, NM Free classes. Urban horticulture series. 14: Climate extremes & ways to buffer it. http:// sandovalmastergardeners.org SPIRIT OF THE BUTTERFLY 923 E. Fairview Land, Española, NM Women’s support group organized by Tewa Women United. Info/RSVP: Beverly, 505.795.8117 BASIC LITERACY TUTOR TRAINING Española area After training by the NM Coalition for Literacy, volunteer tutors are matched with an adult student. 505.747.6162, read@raalp.org, www.raalp.org/ become-a-tutor.html

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Green Fire Times â&#x20AC;¢ April 2017

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