After an excellent breakfast of menudo (me) and eggs benedict (Bruce), we headed up Hwy 185 to Hatch (no boring interstates for us). We were very surprised to see so much agriculture in the desert of southern New Mexico (all driven by the Rio Grande, of course). We saw cotton, chiles, pecans, corn, and a bunch of stuff us city-folk couldn't identify. Field after field. Came to a screeching halt in Hatch itself. Hatch is a teeny town, population less than 2,000. Their poor little village is completely overwhelmed on Labor Day weekend with cars. The fun part....the entire town joins the festitivies. Seemed like every other house or business on the way in had a chile roaster or gift shop or produce stand (or all three) out front. The festival is out at the airport, about a mile and a half outside town. Traffic jam the whole way.
Parking logistics did not appear to have been worked out in advance, so actual parking took a little time. Once settled, though, our first stop was the row of 8-10 local farmers, each one of which had a big roaster rolling out back. The smell of roasting chiles permeated the air throughout the festival. Not being in need of actual chiles (see previous post on Central Market's festival), we still found a lot to admire.
Ristras (upper right) were everywhere. For the uninitiated, a ristra is a braided collection of fresh or dried chiles. Some use it as decoration, but you can cook with the chiles. You can purchase fresh or dried; if fresh, the chiles will dry over time. We bought a beautiful tri-colored circular one for our kitchen.
We also visited several food and craft vendors and had green chile enchiladas (flat) for lunch. Very good flavors.
Unfortunately, we felt that the festival had grown too fast too quick, and it just didn't seem organized or well-planned. We are used to Fiesta (poor comparison, I know), but even the Becker Lavendar Festival is better organized than this one. Having said that, we are both glad we came. After all, the reigning San Antonio Hatch King and Queen can hardly say they've never been to the real Hatch festival.
Visited a late-1800s frontier fort (Ft Selden) on the way back. Douglas MacArthur spent a few years there as a young boy, when his father was posted there as a captain. There's very little left of it now, mostly snaggle-toothed walls. The ranger told us it will be gone in 40 years. It's not the rain. It's the erosion at the base of the walls from the moisture in the soil; it will completely undermine what's left at some point.
Made a bonus discovery today....the Southern NM Wine Festival is this weekend also! A blog from there tomorrow. FYI....I'm tweeting (with pictures) throughout the day. Follow me at www.twitter.com/laurabray.
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