wwoof #1
march 18-27 - placitas nm
we’ve completed our first farm stay! we spent one week in an adobe house in placitas, new mexico. we worked a loose 4 hours per day on the farm and had the rest of the time to explore northern new mexico. most of our work hours were spent clearing out the acequia (trench) in preparation for the city to release water into it. we also tiled a door frame and planted tree saplings, among other construction tasks.
we visited jemez hot springs, taos, and albuquerque in our time off. jemez hot springs was one of the greatest gems we’ve found so far - a beautiful spot at the base of the jemez mountains with 4 geothermal pools and cute cabins. we loved exploring taos and got to have a yummy brunch with Trisha (my college friend’s mom)! we checked out the impressive rio grande river gorge, earthships, and taos plaza. we were especially intrigued by earthship biotecture - an org that builds off-grid homes made of recycled materials, namely tires rammed with dirt, bottles, cans, and cardboard. there’s a lot to say about earthships but i think the coolest part is that the design (placement and angle of windows, greenhouse chambers, adobe walls, etc) harnesses the sun so that the homes maintain an internal temp of 70 F year-round, even when it’s 20 or 100+ outside! not to mention no water or gas bills… sadly earthships can’t be built in most places due to crap building codes and laws against collecting rainwater…
albuquerque was also cool! we found a great panaderia where the 85 year old owner told us he’s “one of the healthiest people” and that he’s learning to do 1-handed and no-handed cartwheels. they’re famous for their biscochitos (new mexican butter cookie). we were able to get a funky slice of albuquerque culture when we stumbled upon a low rider car show on the downtown strip.
yesterday we departed placitas and set out on another stretch of camping. our first stop was southern new mexico where we camped at the base of the organ mountains and visited white sands national park. so white so sandy! today we’re in el paso, eating juicy tacos and drinking micheladas.
hasta la vista,
p & t
