Published 10/23/08
The second annual New Mexico Small Farm Conference will be held Friday and Saturday at the Moriarty Civic Center.
Admission is $10 each day. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., with welcoming speeches at 9 a.m. and information sessions beginning at 10 a.m.
The conference provides information to help livestock and agricultural producers make decisions about running an existing farm and ranch or starting a new one. It will include a report on the acequia agriculture hydrology research obtained in north central New Mexico. A representative of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission will also speak.
Thirty agriculture sessions will discuss topics such as how to get started in farming and ranching, financial hazards of small farms and how to avoid them, insurance, alternative methods for preserving agriculture properties, inheritance and legacy planning and using alternative energy. They will also discuss the basic how-to for growing brambles, vegetable gardening in the fall, composting, raising poultry, establishing a health program for small livestock herds and an update on tricaminiosis and livestock tuberculosis in the state.
Home-economics sessions will include hands-on demonstrations for cooking with pinto beans, pecans, pumpkins, apples and making red-chile ristras. Craft sessions will be held to demonstrate how to make corn husk dolls and bring new life to old denim jeans.
During an ongoing health fair, attendees will be able to have their blood pressure and glucose checked Friday and visit the Lions Club Eye Bus Saturday for free examinations.
For more information, call Del Jimenez at 852-2668.
From a press release
As the 2008 fire season winds down, the Carson National Forest is beginning preparations for the 2009 season. Applications for wildland firefighters will be available at the Forest supervisor’s office in Taos, and all District Ranger offices.
They must be submitted by Jan. 15, 2009.
Anyone interested in participating on a wildland fire must complete the required fire training courses. First-time firefighters are required to complete the Basic Fire Fighter course, which will be offered Nov. 3 through Nov. 7 at Northern New Mexico College’s El Rito campus.
This is a week long course with four days of classroom work and one field day. Another session will be offered in the spring.
New recruits must be 18 years old by June 1, 2009 and provide two of the following forms of identification: a driver’s license, picture ID, Social-Security card or birth certificate. All firefighters will have to successfully pass a work-capacity test at the arduous level; camp crew members must pass at the moderate level.
To register, contact Donald Martinez at (575) 581-4120 or register online at www.nnmc.edu. Tuition is $144.66 plus $5 for registration and materials. The registration deadline is one week before classes begin.
Please contact the College for information on other firefighter courses being offered.
From a press release
Former Chama School District teacher Linda Hughes was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a “Best of Show” ribbon during the 2008 State Fair in recognition of her efforts to enroll her students in food-preparation and sewing contests.
Hughes has been a teacher for 35 years, including eight in the Chama School District and 27 years at Los Lunas High School. For 33 of those years, her students have entered the food preparation and sewing contests at the New Mexico State Fair, winning a total of more than 400 ribbons.
Hughes’ award was presented by the members of the Fair Commission along with EXPO New Mexico General Manager Judith Espinosa.
The first year Hughes’ students entered a competition at the Fair was 1975. Sylvia Torrez Vigil, of Chama, won blue ribbons for a stuffed teddy bear and a Choco-Dot pumpkin cake. Clara Maestas Trujillo, of Española, won a third place ribbon for her Raggedy Andy. Vigil and Trujillo still have their dolls.