This year we have been blessed with an abundance of flowers thanks to our expanded cutting garden and the many botanicals planted to support the kitchen, bar, distillation and product operations.
That means busy days spent harvesting before the frost and carefully cleaning, dehydrating and preserving everything from chiles and amaranth to lemongrass and jujubes. The greenhouse is bustling with fans gently blowing over drying herbs. The hum of the dehydrator fills the air, and every surface is laden with sunflower heads and seed-saving projects for next year’s planting.
Peppers, pests and perseverance
Fall is always a season of reflection on the farm, a time to take stock of what thrived, what struggled, and what lessons the land offered along the way. The fields feel different now, the light softer, the air richer, and the scent of soil and decaying leaves grounding us in the steady rhythm of the seasons.
This year’s pepper harvest was a clear highlight. Seven or eight varieties filled the rows, from aji peppers grown from saved seed to three types of jalapeños, Lemon Spice and Pumpkin Spice among them, developed through the New Mexico State University chile breeding program. The harvest has been especially rewarding, with poblano peppers now drying into anchos (harvested and dried when bright red) and mulatos (harvested and dried when a deep chocolate brown) for the kitchen’s mole. We also have chilacas transforming into pasilla negro through the drying process, a first for our farm. These peppers represent the full circle of our field-to-fork approach, grown by hand on our New Mexico farm and destined for Campo’s kitchen.
Other crops brought their own quiet victories. Lemongrass and lemon verbena were both harvested and dried, filling the air with citrus fragrance. The lemongrass, collected only once a year, will provide enough for our botanical gin distillation. Corn also fared well after being relocated to an area with less weed pressure and a quicker-maturing variety meant less exposure to heat stress. In the greenhouse, hoja santa is thriving, its broad aromatic leaves ready for traditional mole recipes.
But as every farmer knows, not every story ends in success. The squash crop suffered under a surge of squash bugs, and the garlic heads were smaller than usual, likely due to a bit too much shade. Still, these setbacks come with perspective, an ongoing reminder that sustainable farming and regenerative agriculture are about adapting, adjusting, and looking ahead to the next season.
A living landscape
As the fields quiet, the garden and landscape teams turn their attention to restoration and renewal. Aged lavender plants are being carefully removed, their branches shared with the kitchen to lend a subtle floral note to smoked meats and set aside for winter bonfires. Before the lavender fields are replanted in spring, cool-season turnips and radishes will be sown to naturally aerate the soil and enrich it with organic matter, preparing it for young lavender plants now growing in the greenhouse.
The cut flower program continues to flourish, supplying colorful arrangements to the Inn, Campo, La Quinta Spa, and the Farm Shop throughout the year. The flower hoop house is being planted now with calendula, sweet peas, tulips, ranunculus, anemones, snapdragons, bachelor buttons, and poppies for a vibrant spring bloom. Dahlias will be left in the ground this winter, insulated beneath a thick layer of straw for earlier blooms next season.
Around the property, mammoth sunflowers are left standing to feed the birds, and feeders are stocked to support wildlife through the colder months. Vines of trumpet flower and passionflower are being planted along guest room patios to offer shade, privacy, and a haven for pollinators. Beds at the Greeley Garden entry will be refreshed this winter, extending the beauty of the formal gardens.
A season of transition
There is a quiet beauty in this time of change. Grapevines and coyote willow are being woven into wreaths and Christmas trees for the holiday season while the fields glow with the warm muted textures of fall in New Mexico, golden grasses, seed heads and fading blooms catching the afternoon light. The farm may be preparing for rest, but it remains alive with purpose and possibility, every surface and scent reminds us of the joy that comes from working with the land.