Adventures are the best way to learn.
Anonymous
So, on advice of a local (Terry), we changed our planned route and checked out the city of Las Cruces (population 109,934) second largest city in New Mexico..
On our way to the city we noticed the highways were lined with these perfectly spaced trees (30-50 feet apart) making for beautiful unique views. We learned later today that these were Pecan Trees for which the area is quite well known!
We also checked out their very large Saturday morning Farmers Market. (180 Venders). It was here that we learned about Pecan farming from Kristen of Worthington Pecan Farms. Pecans are apparently the only native nut to America. It was fascinating to learn that New Mexico is one of the top three producers of Pecans in the world. Also, that this county (Dona Ana) is the number one producer in New Mexico.
She informed us on how they are harvested as they literally shake the trees to knock the pecans off, then they gather and separate them. Also unique to pecan farming is that there really is no you “have” to harvest by a certain date. Which she stated takes a lot of pressure off. We tried pecans roasted, toasted, spiced, baked in cookies, made into jam, pressed into oil and my favorite; ground into chocolate. A big thank you to Kristen.
Now, every trip to a farmers market isn’t complete until you visit a food truck. Today we tried Barbacoa Tortas and Burritos. (Mexican Pulled Beef mixed with green chiles). Yummy. Next, and Steve’s favorite, was Osito’s Biscochitos booth. Biscochito being the official state cookie of New Mexico. I much preferred the Mexican wedding cookie.
Our next stop (on the advice from the radio announcer) was Mesilla historic district. And yet again another famous Billy the Kid jail. I believe this one he broke out of. 😊
Next up Hatch, the Chili capital of New Mexico. They love their chili’s! 50 lbs bags. Really! We compromised and bought a small bag of Taco Chile spices. Now, to cool things down we stopped at the Ice Box Brewery. They had just opened today. We had a great talk to the owners who gave us some more places to visit in New Mexico!