The aroma and flavor of the horno-roasted chicos on Christmas Eve prepared and served by Carmen, El Vecino’s wife, still vividly lingers in his memory and ghosts his taste buds. With that in mind, El Vecino has settled on a resolution and aspiration to cultivate a Concho corn crop for roasting and drying of his own chicos for next Christmas.
Already in the planning, El Vecino planted a Concho corn seed augmentation crop this past summer. He shared his store of seed and had precious little to start with, so he had to plant more. The planting gave him an adequate amount that he feels is enough to meet his needs and still retain a seed store for future plantings.
El Vecino’s mother’s horno has fallen into disrepair and has dissolved to a mud and straw lump by rain and snow. It’s a regret and alas from this lump raises his aspiration to build his own horno to make his own chicos. Some of the mud and straw from his mother’s horno will be incorporated into the new horno to honor her memory.
El Vecino’s colleague and friend, Dennis Gallegos of Coyote, gifted him with an horno-specific adobera/quadro (form) to make the horno adobes. This is a summer project to prepare the horno for roasting and making chicos in the fall. It is labor specific, but then again, in gardening what isn’t?
Everything related to the gardening of the produce we cultivate and the food that is prepared requires tons of time and effort. We give thanks for good friends that support us, for the will and ability to do what we do, the planting knowledge, building knowledge and preservation knowledge passed on to us by our parents, and the hope and blessings for good snow and moisture.