Greenhouse Discovery in the Wilds of New Mexico

There really is something to being a creature of habit. Oftentimes James and I are flying down the highway, pass a roadside nursery, look at each other, nod, make a U-turn and stop for a “quick” visit. Just as much as the plants, we enjoy meeting the nursery owners and hearing their stories, how they got started and where they’re going. We love greenhouses and what grows in them! It’s really cool to find, for instance, a mature crown of thorns that’s been in a big old cracked pot for 20 years and has taken on a crazy interesting character and form.

This summer, on the way to our cabin, we stopped for a few nights at Ted Turner’s Vermejo Ranch in Northern New Mexico. Yes, Ted Turner of CNN, environmentalist and land conservationist. Vermejo is a ranch with about 550,000 acres, 2,000 miles of gravel roads, 7,500 elk, 1,200 bison, 1,000 pronghorn antelope, 300 bighorn sheep and 1 greenhouse.

Of course James and I spotted the greenhouse right away. Come to find out, they offer tours of the greenhouse and garden. Sign us up! The last day of our stay, we met our guide, Jess from Maine, and got our tour. Most fortunate for us, she has been solely in charge of the greenhouse and garden plant selection, production, and maintenance for the past seven years.

Last year Jess grew 800 pounds of tomatoes, many heirloom – wow!  In summers she grows lettuces, Swiss chard, radishes, micro-greens, cucumber, multicolor carrots, miniature eggplant and in the fall she grows arugula, kale, broccoli, and all year long she grows herbs and edible flowers like snapdragons, pansies, viola, marigold, yarrow and calendula. It’s a great reminder to me to use flowers to dress up my dinner plate!

Jess’ greenhouse and garden space is limited, so she opts not to grow potatoes and onions because they take up more space, are easy to acquire through her local vendors, and don’t enhance the culinary experience as much as other specialty crops. She prefers purchasing her seed from Johnny’s Seed out of Maine, her home state, and Baker Creek (sold at Gill’s), both offering extensive selection of unusual seed. The Vermejo chef is from Italian heritage, so he’ll often persuade Jess to try a seed selection close to his family’s homeland and heart.

Jess is very clear she practices pure organic gardening. No man-made chemicals. She believes in the squishing method to control bugs, like between your thumb and index finger, and complimentary plantings. For example, she has a big chamomile crop that attracts hundreds of lady bugs that then eat the insects off her squash and cauliflower.

Her greatest pleasure is watching the kitchen staff work with her produce, and the guests as they enjoy her garden greens, edible flowers and herbs. One of our dinners the appetizer was Peruvian Ceviche made with rock fish, cilantro, watermelon radish, apples, and cucumbers. Oh my, amazing!! And, she’s married to the pastry chef, so she gives him a heads up of herbs coming on, like chives, that would complement his creations.

And finally, she loves taking the Vermejo guests on tours of her growing operation. Jess delights when a young guest spots a huge cucumber tucked in amongst the leaves of the mother plant, or a huge purple tomato, ready to be harvested. She loves picking leaves off basils, mints, rosemary and thyme, challenging the guests to “name that herb”.

Jess is experimenting, recording and learning best practices for greenhouse gardening and bringing the flavors of the freshest harvests to Ted’s Vermejo guests in Northern New Mexico – truly farm to table. What a great stop along the road!

 – Sally Gill