It's great when we realize what an accomplishment the Espanola Farmers Market has been!

 When you think about how the world has changed just in your own lifetime—remember the Espanola Farmers Market. 

Hot chile stew is a treat. So are homemade special New Mexican treats.

And the squash that is harvested early. They are long lasting and nothing like grandma fired in her spare time before the young'ins arrive home from school. Sure, we scheduled the opening of the annual summer market later than usual. 

We haven't heard from everyone yet about their points of view, expectations, and experiences.

This means YOU and anyone else who has been waiting to share their experience.

Drop by the market's main table and let loose! This is an accomplishment. No wonder many customers bring their family members and guests from out of town.

Not everything has us anticipating and talking about the month of June in 2024. 

THE LAST OF THE MARKET'S HISTORY FROM SABRA MOORE...

THE END OF THE MARKET OVERVIEW AND HISTORY... 

And then the market grew. We built a vendor plaza, a wildflower garden in front, and an organic field in back. Over the years we have collaborated with various community groups to cultivate the back field, including Tewa Women United and Jon Naranjo's rehabilitation program from Okay Owingeh. Musicians came to play, including Bernardo Jaramillo, Ricardo Vigil, Jeremiah Martinez and David Garcia. Dexter Trujillo worked with students that first summer to build the horno. I collaborated with Nayeli Navarro to manage the market. Jerry Cordova put up the overhead canopies each spring, and we worked with various Board Presidents, including Steve Jaramillo and Fred Martinez.

I also organized two versions of The Farm Show at the Bond House Museum (2003 and 2014), inviting ten artists, including myself, to interview two farmers each. We also made artworks in response to the farm visits and had poetry readings with Joan Logghe and Berta Tsosie Pena.

In 2024, I will greet all the growers and friends from our time together. And I look forward to visiting the market as a customer and supporter.

SABRA MOORE & THE MARKET'S OVERVIEW with COMMENTS ON THE WEEKLY SUMMER ADVANCES...

 

HERE I AM AGAIN...Sabra Moore CONTINUING OUR STORY! 

(CONTINUED FROM JUNE 17, 2024)

I make artists' books, so I designed and produced that first market book and made six or seven more Market Chapbooks over the years. Some years I collaborated with poet Joan Logghe to do poetry classes at various elementary schools. We gave a chapbook to every poetry contributor and to the growers.

The market moved the next year to Espanola Plaza, but that site was incredibly windy, so we moved the following year to a lot in front of Northern New Mexico College's (NNMC) commercial kitchen on Railroad Avenue. We had a Market board by then, and we were trying to find a way to get a permanent site. There were so many good people trying to make this happen—Joe Merhege, Clark de  Schweintz, our  pro-bono legal aid lawyer. Tomas Cordova, our market architect, Gene Lopez, our Board President Mary Parseca, Susie Lucero, and other Board members.

In 2007, with the help of Senator Martinez, we succeeded in obtaining a permanent site from the NM Legislature, 3.19 irrigated acres with water rights. We have a 20-year lease with NNMC with an option to renew. We moved to the site in a joyous procession led by the high school mariachi band, walking from the kitchen parking lot down the street to 1005 N. Railroad Avenue.

AND THE FINAL HISTORY SEGMENT FROM SABRA MORE COMING SOON!

 

A BLAST FROM THE PAST: IT'S A TREASURE WHEN THE KIDS ARE HOME AND ASKING FOR HOMEGROWN FOOD...

 Those who are babies also grow up and have their own lives. We've heard it said that there is nothing like a tall grown kid asking what he/she wants for his/her birthday.

"How about some green chiles grown locally and roasted at the Monday farmers market?"

So Mom and Dad research postage and packages and the kid at college and elsewhere invites his/her friends to enjoy the locally grown chile dishes far away, but it seems so close. 

It is a joy to spread the wealth of hot green chiles. Yum.

When you're far away like this, this story isn't an exaggeration.

Let us know about your experiences and maybe you will be written up in a future post.

We're posting on Saturdays, before the big old Monday market.

Join us!

AND NOW— SABRA MOORE AND A FEW WORDS FROM HER ABOUT THE FARMERS MARKET...

 DEAR FRIENDS—

I have managed the Espanola Farmers Market for 23 years, starting in the summer of 2000. This year there's new manager team of Emily Koontz and Corina Logghe. They have already introduced themselves to you on this blog. But first I want to share some memories.

In the winter of 1995, I moved to Abiquiu from a loft next to the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn with my partner and fellow artist, Roger Mignon. We had spent five summers working with others to build our house on a mesa here. I grew up in East Texas. My grandparents on both sides of our family were farmers, and we always kept large gardens. The rural communities here in New Mexico felt familiar to me.

In 2000, I answered an ad in the Rio Grande Sun for a "low pay community job." I was the only applicant, and I got the job. The growers I met at the market were very similar in their values to my grandparents. That first market was on Don Diego Street behind the Espanola Plaza. I wanted to have a festive end to the season and organized the First Annual Biggest Vegetable & Best Poem Contest. The growers brought giant pumpkins and also odd vegetables. Poets read poems.

So we all posed behind the vegetables and straw bales while Roger took a photo. That began a yearly postcard photograph. By now, the market has produced 23 postcards and the cards have grown in dimension as the market grew.

    More from Sabra Moore coming soon!

SABRA MOORE SHARES AN OVERVIEW ABOUT THE FARMERS' MARKET IN ESPANOLA!

 

Some of us have recovered.

It's not such a big deal. The market's opening on Monday, June 10, 2024 is just a week later than usual.

BUT A STATEMENT WRITTEN BY SABRA MOORE IS A CLASSIC THAT'S SHARED!

June 10, 2024.....It's the opening day of the Farmers Market locally... come on down and say hello or sell what you've got!

 

Now for those in the know...This is at the end of a terrific growing season. We're smiling because through the season we have been treated with free this and that, local music, and potlucks, and special programs, and contests, and more.

This year we're opening a little late. We're making a big deal out of it. Smile. We're taking lots of photos during the growing, harvesting, and eating season.

We even have had recipes in Spanish and English of things commonly grown and sold here. 

We have had food to eat while we're buying and selling. And where do we bring guests from out of town?

TO THE MARKET WE'RE GOING AND HAVING A GRAND TIME...

Sabra Moore has been our market manager for 23 years..."I'll be seeing you in the future, but it will be different!!"

Sabra Moore has turned over the market management to Emily and Corina, but you will recognize her at the market in the capacity of a friend and witness in different robes.

Find out more when she issues an overview, a history, and a thank you for all the great farewells.

Sabra will be back soon with an overview of decades at the helm.

For managers of the 2024 farmers market, you'll be dealing with Emily and Corina. . . !

 

As the new market managers for the Espanola Farmers Market, we are very much looking forward to the opportunity to serve our community in this way and support local farmers! We are grateful for all the incredible work Sabra Moore has done for this market over the past twenty-three years, and the legacy she leaves behind. We are also excited to get more information out to the Espanola Valley this year, with the hopes of bringing in more local farmers and shoppers to celebrate the abundant fresh food, conversation, music, and vital community togetherness. 

Hope to see you on June 10th for the market opening! AND you'll be hearing soon from Sabra Moore directly.

Emily Koontz and Corina Logghe

So you've been getting ready for the farmers' market opening on Monday, June 10, 2024...

 Last year in early June, 2023, the crops were not ready to harvest and sell. Some produce loves it hot.

Others like it cold.

That's why we're experimenting with pushing back the Monday when the farmers' market opens. This year...in 2024, we're opening on Monday, June 10, 2024.

It's an experiment, and we'll see if it makes a difference.

So, mark your calendar for June 10, 2024. It's a Monday, and we're going to see how it works out.

Let us know what you think about the date change!