Black Sheep

Don't let them pull the wool over your eyes: Navajo-Churro sheep have a sordid history with the Government (read here).  So I guess it is no surprise that when our little flock got out during camp it took representatives from several agencies, half a dozen bystanders, a horse trailer, a big net, a lasso, a helicopter, and some luck to wrangle them.  Turns out that our outlaw sheep can give diseases to the wild bighorns that have been successfully re-introduced by the State in the nearby high country and down in the gorge.  The NM Department of Game and Fish was concerned about the escape, and so where we.  Lesson learned.  

The gang was eventually apprehended north of Questa at the VFW (they must like bingo night).  In the end, all it took was a little time and TLC to corral them.  The summer campers sheared the fugitives, and then carded, spun, washed, and wove with their infamous wool.

See Snapshots of Summer (and Summers Past)

Summer Campers show their true colors at the Arroyo Seco 4th of July Parad

Words can never do justice to the Summer Camp experience.  But, since a picture is worth a thousand words, we've posted some sweet photos from 2010.  Included in the gallery are archives from a few summers past.  Also be sure to check out the new movies.  Thank you to the superb staff, volunteers, donors, and campers who made the summer indescribable!  Visit our updated Partners page to see who those doers are.

Life Is Like an Onion

What does interdependence look like?  Let’s peel back the layers.

Little onions wait out a late frost in LCF

February- 7th and 8th graders at Roots and Wings (RWCS) plant 11,000 "candy" onion starts at school.  During science class they water the plants and compare the progress of starts germinated in potting soil vs. regular dirt.

May- RWCS Students spend a week on Sangre de Cristo Youth Ranch (SCYR) during the school’s annual Passage experience.  Students plant the onion sets out in the Lama Community Farm (LCF is a CSA started by RWCS students).

Onion project advisor Farmer Daniel takes delivery of 6,000 onion sets for Cerro Vista Farm (largest local CSA)

June-Community Farm members weed the rows.

July- Campers at SCYR tend the onions, and eat a few during the residential summer camp.  Campers sell produce at Taos Farmer’s Market, feeding the people of Taos.

September- 5th and 6th graders, studying the meaning of community, harvest the big onions.  Bulbs are weighed to complete the soil experiment.  Data is reviewed in planing for next season on the Community Farm.  Onions are distributed to LCF shareholders, including RWCS students and families.

Spring Break 2010! Destination: Lama

In March, Lama was overrun with rowdy undergrads from Southern Methodist University.  Arriving under the guise of a world class ski getaway to Taos, students spent most of the week working for charity in blizzard conditions.  Revelers could be seen organizing the library and gear shed at the school, renovating the barn, tutoring middle-schoolers, and applying 500 linear feet of masking tape to the waste-veggie-oil-burning Cool Bus ahead of a custom paint job.  SMU students displayed telltale good attitudes in spite of inappropriate foot-ware.  Way to restore my faith in humanity kids!

For more on the cool bus with a hot paint job click here

Congratulations... It's a Yak!

On the last day of his ethnobotany internship, Colin said "I'll go feed those yaks one last time."  He found two new yaks!  Colin named them Yogi and Kumba.