Six Generations of New Mexico Chile Excellence

SIX GENERATIONS OF NEW MEXICO CHILE EXCELLENCE

THE SICHLER FAMILY OF SNAKE RANCH FARMS PRODUCE PERFECT PEPPERS

FEATURE PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY JULIE CARTER

Local grown since 1872 bags full of chile

Julie Carter

For the Sichler family of New Mexico there are six generations of experience built into every harvest season. For more than 100 years, the Sichlers have distinguished themselves as growers of quality green chile with a dedication to “doing it right.” Excellence is a family tradition.

The Snake Ranch Farm Store in San Antonio, New Mexico is a testimony to the evolution of those traditions. Standing next to a large table of melons and another full of baskets of green chiles at her back, with a baby on her hip and a two-year-old tugging at her hand, 6th generation family member Erica Sichler Trevino expressed her passion for the farm experience, “I was raised in this life and my husband and I wanted to raise our sons in it, too. We moved back here just for this. This is what it is all about for us.”

The Sichler DNA undoubtedly contains farm soil sustaining the family for 146 years of farming in the Rio Grand Valley of New Mexico. From Los Lunas to San Antonio, each branch of a very large family tree has found their niche in producing from the land.

The journey from the past to present is a story of family and family traditions. Snake Ranch, LLC, is one branch of the family tree that began in the Middle Rio Grande Valley when the first Sichlers immigrated from Germany in 1868. In 1872, patriarch brothers George and John Sichler purchased farmland near Los Lentes, a small village on the west bank of the Rio Grande near today’s current town of Los Lunas. At first the farm was comprised primarily of an apple orchard, vineyards and other fruits and vegetables similar to the family farm in Germany. In the early 1900s, Ernest Sichler Sr. was the first to grow green chile, the product that would become the hallmark of the Sichler name.

Ernest Sr. passed this skill to his son Ernie Jr. who operated under the name Ernie Sichler Farms. Urban sprawl was encroaching on the Los Lunas farmland so Ernie found land to the south in the still rich, fertile Rio Grande Valley, the less populated area of Socorro County. His son, Chris Sichler arrived three days after his 1985 high school graduation to take over management of the southern Sichler farm. In the fall of that year, Chris married his high school sweetheart Paula and together they started their own farming operation under the name of Sichler Farm Produce. They quickly gained a reputation for producing some of the best green chile in the state, building a list of faithful clientele for their chile products along with other produce. Ernie Sichler passed away in 1997 but his belief:“if it’s not worth taking the time to do it right, don’t bother doing it all,” was solidly ingrained in his son Chris.

The now century-old tradition continues today with Chris and Paula, along with their son Steven and daughter Erica, at the San Antonio farm and their two farm stores (San Antonio and Los Lunas). In 2008, to distinguish themselves from other family operations, Chris and Paula began operating their farm under the name Snake Ranch, LLC. Often the curious are interested in how they came up with the name. When Chris was a young man, he made some farming rows that were rather crooked. His neighbor Maurice Benavidez stopped by and asked him, “Are you starting a Snake Ranch?” The name stuck in Chris’ mind and later become the name for his farming and marketing operation.

In 2011, Steven became a business partner in Sichler Farms Produce and in 2013 they rebranded the produce markets in Los Lunas and San Antonio with a new registered trade name - Snake Ranch Farm Stores™ assuring their customers of the superior quality and consistency they had come to expect without the added confusion of different names. At the same time Steven purchased a portion of the Snake Ranch LLC farming operation and began managing alongside his father Chris, qualifying the business in every way as a family-run farm. Today, Chris and Steven manage the farming operations, while Steven also handles all the business end of the Los Lunas store. Paula oversees business operations including bookkeeping, marketing, and website. Daughter Erica manages the San Antonio farm store, which employs 4 full-time and 2 part-time. The farm employs 12 with additional seasonal help.

Erica returned to the family farm after earning a degree in Ag Business at New Mexico State University. She married husband Katlin Trevino and has two young sons, Connor, 2 ½, and Ryan, 9 months — the seventh generation in training.

Ryan Trevino in shopping cart, brother Connor Trevino in background

©Julie Carter

Erica says family comes first when the day has ended and they all go home. They sit at the dinner table and talk family, not work. This focus is the key to their success. The youngsters spend mornings with Erica at the farm store and afternoons with Grandma Paula at home. They are quite comfortable among the bushels of chiles, tables of melons, vegetables and the constant rotation of people through the store. For them right now it’s all fun not an indoctrination.

Customers come from near and far during chile season. “We had a man just yesterday drive over 10 hours to buy our chile,” Erica remarked. “He bought his chiles, loaded them up and turned around to drive the same long way home. We also had some people fly in with two extra suitcases, load them full of chile, and fly back home.”

While Snake Ranch chiles are world famous in many places, there are masses out there that are familiar only with Hatch chile. It requires ongoing education for all New Mexico chile growers to explain to consumers that Hatch is not a type of chile, but a town in southern New Mexico where chile is grown. Due to the large quantity of chile farmed in Hatch, as well as the town’s concerted marketing strategy, Hatch has become a widely recognizable name in chile. Of course, Rio Grande growers will continue to produce and sell their excellent brand of green chile.

There is also the ongoing problem of how chile should be spelled. Chile, the food, not the country, is a green or red spicy pepper. It is cooked up into dishes such as green chile, green chile stew, red chile sauce, red or green chile enchiladas, posole with chile, to name a few. The late New Mexico Senator Pete Dominici had the c-h-i-l-e spelling entered into the 1983 Congressional Record as the official spelling for the New Mexico chile pepper. When New Mexicans speak of chili spelled with an “i,” they are referring to Texas chili, which is normally made with ground meat, beans, chile powder and spices. Meanwhile back at the Snake Ranch, 2018 harvest is underway. The Sichlers raise alfalfa, field corn, winter wheat, watermelons, cantaloupe, peaches, plums, honeydew, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, winter squash, bell peppers, jalapeños, yellowhot peppers, sweet corn, and of course chile.The 650-acre farm supplies both Snake RanchFarm Stores. As a service to their customers,both stores also offer produce items that theydo not grow themselves.

Customers can buy chile fresh or frozen(peeled or unpeeled), dried pods and redchile powder. Roasters are running hot andstanding by for those that wish to carry hometheir chile already roasted and just in case youneed them, they’ll even sell you the Ziplockbags you’ll need for freezing.

“We work hard to provide only the best qualityof everything in a clean and friendly environment,”according to Erica. “We don’t sellanything we wouldn’t buy for ourselves. Wedon’t pick until it’s ready and we don’t tryto sell you anything that’s not perfect andready to go.”

As their website states: “Remember, if it is notSnake Ranch chile, it is not our chile. SnakeRanch chile is not sold in local supermarkets.”Chile season opens mid-August and runsthrough October.

Connor Trevino holding heavy chiles.

Julie Carter

PLANNING A VISIT? For seasonal hours and contact information visit their website at www.sichlerchile.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com SnakeRanchFarmStores

Los Lunas Market: 232 Main St., Los Lunas, NM 87031

San Antonio Market: 88 US Hwy. 380, San Antonio, NM 87832