Rancho Santa Marína

There is an organic farmers' market that is open on Saturdays in San Miguel de Allende in the La Carpa near the Aurora.  One of the times Jo Ann and I were visiting the market, we stopped and talked with a vendor who was selling organic cheese made from sheep's milk.  He explained to us that they age the cheese in caves using techniques that have been followed for many years.  As we talked we both thought that this would be a fun road trip and he agreed that we could come on down to tour his rancho.

So last week a group of us took off from San Miguel heading towards Atongo, which is in the state of Querétaro, not far off of the toll road that heads to Mexico City.  We had called in advance to ensure we could take a tour and everything seemed ready.

We arrived at Rancho Santa Marína right on time, but alas the gate was locked and we called and called to no avail.  Finally I started honking the horn on our car and someone came out and told us that the person we were suppose to meet was not there.  However shortly after that this young lady came out and introduced herself as Deanna, who was the on site veterinarian, and she would be able to give us our tour.

We started the tour by walking through the automatic milking facilities.  Unlike cows, the sheep only get milked once a day and that would not be commencing until after 1p or so.  Deanna said that we could be able to return to see the facility in full swing.

The next stop of our tour was to visit with some of various herds of sheep.  They are kept in distinct groups so they can manage the production of milk.  Here are a couple of photos of the various herds of sheep.

The rancho is certified organic and produce all of their own feed so they can ensure that the sheep are feed only the highest quality foods and grains.

After touring some of the various herds (there are over 300 sheep on the rancho), we went to the gardens surrounding the main house on the rancho.  The gardens are very beautiful and have a great mixture of flowers, native plants and fruit trees.

After the gardens we went to the building where the make the cheese and where the cave is that is used to age the cheese.  The production facility is very modern and very sanitary looking.  It is run by one woman who was very focused in what she did.

Then we got to see the cave, which has a big glass wall so people can look in on the various cheese.  I was lucky enough to be invited in with my camera to take some photos of the cheeses in the cave.  All I can tell you is the aroma of the cheeses was absolutely fabulous.  Here a couple of photos to give you an idea of what they looked like, but there is no way that I can duplicate the aroma.

Deanna told us that the cheeses are aged for three months in the caves.  What is interesting is that it takes the milk from ten sheep to make one kilo of cheese, so you can do your own math to understand that this is not a very large production business.

So after so much temptation, we were finally given the opportunity to taste the cheeses.  What was interesting is that we were able to taste the cheese of two different ages, one that was in the cave for only two months and one in for the entire three months.  There was a significant difference between the two, much fuller and much more tasty.

Our final stop was to go back to the automatic milking stations, where they were in full swing for the afternoon milking.  You can see for yourself how this process works.

So the plan is to try to organize another tour of this rancho for the Down to Earth garden club of San Miguel sometime in October.  The owners of the rancho are offering us a full tour together with a tasting of cheese and wine for 100 pesos per person.  This tour and tasting was great fun and I think that the entire group will greatly enjoy the trip.  If you are interested in coming please visit the Down to Earth Garden Club web site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gardensma/.

Festival de Música de Cámara en San Miguel de Allende

One of the highlights of the summer season here in San Miguel is the Chamber Music Festival that takes place in late July and early August.  The series features a number of chamber music ensembles and soloists and has been presenting the festival for 29 years.  If you wish to learn more about this festival you can access their web site by clicking here.

One of the main locations for the concert series is the Teatro Angela Peralta, which always has banners and other signs for the concert series as you can see below.

Jo Ann and I live out in the compo and do not come into San Miguel often as we do not like driving at night.  However, this year one of the events were being held at the Santuario in Atotonilco.  This church is a world monument as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and is part of a submission to have both the town of San Miguel and the Santuario designated as a World Heritage location.

The concert at the Santurio features the Rossetti String Quartet and was held in one of the chapels of the Santuario that had recently been renovated.  The chapel was absolutely stunning in its beauty.  The ceiling murals looked like they had just been painted and all of the artifacts were like new.

I did take a number of photos of the concert, but I have to apologize in advance, the lighting was very low and I had to take the images only by hand holding my camera, which does not have any image stabilization.  So with the apology out of the way, here are some of the images from the Santuario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yes the ambiance was beautiful, but how was the music and the acoustics.  The music was absolutely wonderful and the acoustics were as if the chapel had been built for musical concerts.  Both Jo Ann and I just loved the concert and the setting.  Here is a image of the Rossetti String Quartet as the return from one of their breaks between performances.

 

I can only hope that the festival will return with another venue to be held in the Santuario next year.  I really recommend that people should go and enjoy these concerts, they are superb.

Too Much of A Good Thing?

For the past few weeks we have had a significant amount of rain.  Living in the high desert having enough rain is always a concern, but for the past week or so we have had more than what I would call normal.  It is starting to impact the farmers as their crops are starting to rot in the ground.  Also the people who live in the pueblos in the compo can not travel the roads that cross the arroyos as they are flooded.

As you can see below the farmer in the property next to our rancho was trying to plow his fields for a late season crop of corn and beans.  However after we got almost 2 1/2 inches of rain on Friday, he got stuck on Saturday and can not move his tractor. 

It is also curtailing some of our favorite activities, like trail riding with our horses and biking around in the compo.  As you can see below we have a small lake in our riding ring so we have not been able to give the horses much exercise for the past week.

We know of farmers who had cut their crop of alfalfa and had it baled hoping to get it sold before it rains, only to have it rain that evening and ruin the entire crop.  This has to be so disheartening to these farmers as they have an excellent crop but then can't get it to market before it rains and ruins the crop.

I hope that we can have a few days of sun and dryness so that the water can be absorbed by the earth.  However, I do hope that we continue to have this excellent rainy season, only I hope it can space itself out more evenly over the remaining months of the season.

As an update, I know that I have not been spending too much time writing on this blog.  I hope to start again posting about the exciting and interesting things that happen living in the compo in Mexico.  However, please continue to enjoy my almost daily photos of life in Mexico which you can find by clicking here sanmiguelphotooftheday.blogspot.com.

Out in the rain with nothing to wear

So for the past week, weather.com has been showing that San Miguel could be in for some wet weather, but alas we have had no rain since May.  For the past couple of days, the skies have been dark and broody and we have had a lot of thunder and lightening, but still no rain.  Yesterday weather.com said that we had a 60% chance of thundershowers and the skies were overcast but nothing looked too threatening.

With this background information in mind, around 10a Jo Ann and I saddled up the horses for a long trail ride out towards Las Cañas over to Palo Colorado and returning through Rancho Viejo.  When we left we never even considered the possibility of rain and left all of our rain gear at home.  I was kicking myself at little into the ride for not bringing my camera, but we were in for a long ride and I did not want to turn around to get it.

About half way into the ride I said to Jo Ann that the skies looked threatening and maybe we should turn around.  We continued to debate for a while until I was persuasive and we turned around instead of continuing on to Rancho Viejo.  When we were about 40 minutes from home the rains started and I am not talking about light drizzle, we are talking about large very cold drops of rain.  Within five minutes we were soaked throughout and were trying to race home as fast as we could.  The real challenge for us was having to take the horses back down into the arroyo which is a drop of about three or four meters.  This was going to be difficult with the heavy rains and the steep slope.  The other issue that I was concerned with is that the arroyo starts flowing after about one centimeter of rain and can be gushing after about two and half.

We were lucky that we had no problems transversing the slope and the arroyo had not yet started flowing although it was starting to get very wet.  We made it back to the rancho totally drenched but everyone (horses included) were calm and glad to be out of the rain.  It was still pouring after turning the horses back into their stables when I remembered that we had also left all of the windows open at the house.  So off I run in the rain to close up the house and wipe up all of the rain.

After cleaning up the house and changing into some dry clothes, wouldn't you know, the rains stopped almost immediately and the day started to dry out.  This morning it is one of those beautiful desert mornings with everything clean, crisp and very green.

Morale of the story, everything always reverts to its mean and even the weathermen get it right once in a while.  Yes I could have been more considerate of the weather, but who wants to haul around all of the rain gear if you aren't going to need it.

Entering my favorite time of the year

As the year continues to migrate from the hot and dry months of April and May we are starting to enter into the rainy and more temperate season of June through September.  It is during this time of the year that the gardens explode with fruits and vegetables, everything starts to flower and turns brilliant shades of green and best of all, Jo Ann's garden is teeming with fresh produce.

Last night we had one of Mother Nature's spectacular displays of a desert storm (no not the current administration's type).  We had lightening and thunder for several hours and yes we even got a little rain, not much, but enough to wash the dust off of all of the plants.

But what really excites me about this time of year is the ability for Jo Ann to just stroll out to her gardens and pick what ever produce is ready and to create dinner using only the freshest produce that you can get.  And it is even better to know that it has been produced using only earth sustainable techniques, compost and other organic processes.

Of course it helps that Jo Ann is a trained chef so being able to whip together a new plate based solely on what is fresh, which seems overly difficult to me, is to Jo Ann what it is like solving a cross word puzzle.  Start with some basics and experiment from there.

So to share what the gardens are looking like, here is a little virtual tour of Jo Ann's gardens.

 

One of our favorites, the french green been, better known as haricot verte, we will enjoy these through out the summer.

There is always an abundance of lettuces, we always have at least three or four different varieties.

What garden in Mexico can exist without Cilantro?

Carrots and more carrots, not only do we enjoy carrots, but we have two horses and two burros who also do.

One of the vegetables that we grow almost year round is Rainbow Chard, it is so colorful, it can be cooked or eaten raw in a salad.  The colors of the stems always are so bright.

And of course anyone who knows Jo Ann knows that she loves flowers of all types and varieties.  Here is a wonderful sunflower that just screams "look at me".

So we now have the garden in almost full production, the tomatoes are growing in front of our eyes, the melons and squashes are spreading out over the vast territories we gave them and we will soon have more produce than we can eat.  We always share it with our friends and neighbors so if you are hungry, come on by.

One final note before closing, the San Miguel Down to Earth garden club is touring the organic gardens at Rancho las Glorias del Huerto this Tuesday from 9:30 to 11a.  This is a commercial farm that produces only organic fruits and vegetables.  It is on a much grander scale than what we do, so it will be fun so see how someone else produces organic food.  If you are interested in joining this tour, please visit the groups web site here.

Earth Day Plus One

So I can now officially declare the renovation of Rancho La Luz completed as this past Monday we cut over from using electricity generated by non-renewable sources to electricity generated by solar panels.  Yes all of our electrical requirements for our house are now provided by renewable sources and that means an end to the various voltage regulators and UPS units, standing in line at the CFE offices to pay our bill, the various fluctuations in power supply, the numerous power outages and best of all not having to race home to unplug the computers when we see lighting on the horizon.

Both Jo Ann and I have wanted to do this since we lived in the Bay Area but we never had sufficient sunshine or financial resources to accomplish our objective.  But now we can say that we really made a committed effort to help sustain the source of our lives. 

We have always tried to implement Earth sustainable techniques in our orchards, gardens and landscaping, using native plants and trees, composting methods, solely organic fertilizers and insecticides, drip irrigation and lots of mulch, but we have always been tied to one of the power monopolies (PG&E, MP&L and lately CFE).  Now we can say good bye as long as we keep our systems well maintained and functioning.

We used a local contractor to do all of the work, Solar and Heating Solutions here in San Miguel de Allende and they were great to work with.  The installation went very easy and the cut over almost seemed anti-climatic, I guess I expected fireworks and parades but all we got was a big drop in the spinning of the CFE meter.

Alas, this is not to say that the entire rancho is now on solar.  I still need to replace the pumps for our main well and irrigation systems so that they can also be added to the solar system, but I need to find more money before I can even think about proceeding on that next phase, but it is a big step for us here at Rancho La Luz.

Tropical Garden in the Desert

Two weeks ago the Down to Earth garden club here in San Miguel de Allende had the grand opportunity to visit one of the most spectacular gardens in San Miguel, if not in all of Mexico.  The house and garden are located very close to the Sterling Dickinson orchid gardens in a very serene setting in the hills over looking San Miguel.

What makes this garden so special is that it is practically a topical oasis in the middle of the high desert environment of San Miguel.  The garden design takes advantages of multiple levels and vistas as the property scales down a steep hillside and creates multiple "rooms" within the garden.  It is truly a joy to walk through this garden and enjoy the peace and quiet that it has created.

There is a vast combination of tropical plants, native plants (to the San Miguel area) as well as grasses, fruit trees and other wonderful plants.

So instead of trying to describe the wonder of this garden, I have presented a few of the images that I took during the tour of this beautiful garden.

 

A wonderful yucca in bloom.

 

Such a wonderful fountain.

 

The fruit trees were just loaded with fruits.

Beautiful bears breeches in blossom.

 

The paths were so wonderful and looked like they had been there for years.

 

How do you get a lily pad pond in the middle of the desert.

And where does this walk way go? 

What is truly amazing is that this garden is only three years past the completion and it is so lush and wonderful.  I sure hope that we will be able to come back to visit it sometime in the future.  For more images of this garden please visit my flickr collection here.

Color Overdose

Last weekend we went to a great party to celebrate the groundbreaking of a Chapel, which is really going to be an art gallery.  Of course the party was on April first so it was all a spoof, but a lot of fun, none the less.  One thing that really hit both Jo Ann and I was the large number of guests at this party and the diversity in all manners.  The guests spanned numerous generations, numerous economic classes and ranged from artesians to ranchers (yes we fit into that category).

The party reminded us of the many parties we use to go to in Muir Beach, which had the same bohemian type feel to the community.  In retrospect, Muir Beach and San Miguel de Allende are very similar, both are off the beaten path, outposts for people looking for adventure and nonconformist views and people who just like to have fun.

The big difference we have found between the two is that in San Miguel, there is color everywhere.  All of the buildings, all of the clothing, everything takes color to an extreme.  We really enjoy all of the sensory feelings of the use of color and the colonial feeling of San Miguel.  However, as much as we enjoy the use of color the buildings, gardens and art exhibits at this party took our senses to an overdosed level.  It is great, but maybe not for the weak of heart, when it comes to experiencing color.

So without further discussion, here are some images from the Celebration of the Groundbreaking for the Chapel for Jimmy Ray.

An image of the casa from the patio area.

 

Colors, colors and more color.

 

A self portrait?

 

One of the many gardens.

 

One of the many pieces on exhibit for the party.

 

Another of the pieces on exhibit.

 

Now this is an alter that I could pay homage to.  I enjoyed how they have used so many empty wine bottles through out their landscaping.

 

Now is this a scary scare cow or what.  I wonder if it really works.

Daylight Savings Time Changes

This past Sunday morning we finally changed over to daylight savings time here in Mexico.  This year has been even more trying than most as the US changed over to daylight savings time on March 11 and for three weeks I have been having to manually adjust different appointments that I had in the US with the times here in Mexico.

I have always looked forward to the change over to daylight savings time as it felt like the change extended the day.  This was especially true when I was working as an accountant in Southern California, during the busy season, I would leave the house in the morning darkness and return home after work in the evening darkness.  At least then it seemed that the change to daylight savings was the reprieve from the long hours and lack of sunshine. 

However with the current change in the clock, things are getting pretty crazy.  My day starts at the usual 5:30a when I boot up the computer and work on some of my consulting projects.  Before the change over of the clocks, I would take the dogs out at 7a, open the gates for the construction crews and go feed the horses and chickens.  The sun would be up and it was always an enjoyable walk around the rancho.

So now that we have sprung forward an hour, when I go out at 7a it is still dark with the sun just starting to peak over the mountains to the east.  But to my surprise the construction crews are still showing up at around 7a and start mixing cement and working even though there is not very much light.

Of course the horses are confused as they don't live by a clock, they rise and rest with the sun and of course who has ever seen a rooster check the clock before claiming it is morning.  So now they are getting feed before what is normal for their body clocks, but I have too get out so I can have the rancho ready for the construction crews.

However, that is not what is exhausting me these days.  What has become the real problem is that now the sun does not set until close to 8p and we are working in the gardens until then.  It use to be that we would put the horses away around 5:30p and close them up around 7.  Now we are turning them in at 7, closing them up around 8 and coming into the house around 8:30.  This is making for a very long day as I usually still have an hour or two of work remaining on my consulting projects or my photographs.  No wonder I am exhausted and collapse into bed.

Spring Concert at el Charco

Music in outdoor settings is always so wonderful.  I think back to the Hollywood Bowl, the Pageant of the Masters, summer concerts at the UofM and the concerts at Mt. Tam.  These were always wonderful events with great music, great weather and wonderful environments.  Well now I have to add another location to this listing of great venues, that being the canyon in el Charco del Ingenio jardín botánico.

Last week the jardín botánico sponsored an outdoor concert of four saxophone musicians and the music, the setting and the ambiance were outstanding.  The group played a variety of music from baroque to jazz and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are some of my photos from the concert.

If you would like to check out more of my photos from the concert please click here.

Dia de Festiva en Rancho Viejo

The past weekend the local pueblo near our rancho had a weekend festival.  These are major events for the community and typically everyone in the community participates.  The pueblo of Rancho Viejo has two of these festivals each year, one in March and one in May.  The festival in March commenced on Friday which is fairly typical of these celebrations.  This festival included fireworks that ran from 6p on Friday until around midnight and then started again on Saturday morning and did not seem to stop until the festival was over on Sunday afternoon.

These festivals include the usual carnival rides and lots and lots of snacks, foods and drinks. 

Here is a couple of niños enjoying one of the rides.

 These festivals always seem to be about family and the children always have a great time. 

We did not actually venture over to the festival until Sunday, which was the day for the blessing of the horses and the charreada demonstration.

For the blessing the pueblo delgato leads all of the horses to be blessed into the chapel of the principal church in Rancho Viejo.

Upon the return from the chapel, the charreada demonstration commences.  The local cowboys demonstrate some basic horse handling and maneuvers.

Then the final phase of the demonstration is the riding of the bulls by some of the young men from the pueblo.  Here are three of the "lucky" young men who were selected for the ride.

But then here is one of the bulls that they will get to ride.

To say the least the bulls had the better time of the ride than the young men.  However it was a wonderful day out enjoying the festival, the wonderful people of Rancho Viejo and the environment in general.