Los Lunas, NM is really a perfect blend of old and new!

Settled over 300 years ago, this little town half an hour south of Albuquerque boasts historic old adobe structures that house charming New Mexican restaurants, historic churches, and authentic New Mexico haciendas.

Acres of lush, irrigated valley land are still being farmed to produce abundant crops of chilis, alfalfa, corn, and much more.

But Los Lunas is not locked into the past, by any means. There are up-to-the minute new subdivisions to suit all tastes, and even a new gated subdivision especially designed for the 55 and over set: Jubilee Los Lunas!

The new Rail Runner provides quick and easy commuting into Albuquerque, enabling residents to completely bypass morning and evening rush hours on the road, while the Starlight Multiplex Cinema makes movie-going easy for all ages. We've got our share of accomodations for weary travelers, with various restaurant and motel chains available right by the freeway exit.

Community spirit thrives in our local schools, and in community-wide events like local parades...

Looking for a great small town in central New Mexico? Or perhaps for a peaceful horse property, or other rural home with easy commuting in to Albuquerque? Come check out Los Lunas today!

Ever visited friends or relatives in Europe? If so, maybe you've been impressed, as I was, with how much Europeans walk or bike for their various daily errands. Our friends and relative in Germany and Holland wouldn't think of wasting gas to go out and pick up groceries, for instance. They'd head out to a local market on foot, or on a bicycle equipped with a little carrier basket, instead, and reap the multiple advantages of better health, trimmer waistlines, lower fuel costs, and cleaner local air!

Now, part of the reason for that is that Europeans have eschewed ourr typical suburban sprawl, so that local markets, bakeries, butchers, etc., are all in pretty close proximity to our friends' homes. But I've started wondering whether I couldn't put some of that "walk-or-bike" mentality into practice here at home.

Now, if anybody lives in an area that's not conducive to this concept, I do! Bosque Farms, NM, is half an hour outside Albuquerque, and is so small that we don't even have a supermarket in town, and our post office is shared with, and located in, neighboring Peralta, New Mexico! Nonetheless, it seems to me that I could profit by taking the time to walk or bike whewnever possible, and a two-mile radius seemed to me to be a reasonable distance to consider. I can walk two miles in half an hour, or bike it in half that time, so I started to investigate what I could find within that distance of my home.

As you'll notice from the map at right, a two-mile radius frorm my home takes in a huge percentage of areas that are, shopping-wise, a good deal less than useful! I can, for instance,

1. wade in the Rio Grande river
2. wander onto the Isleta Indian reservation
3. visit a whole lot of small farms, horse properties and rural homes

None of these are terribly helpful from a shopping perspective! (Although I can purchase some of the wonderful, completely local raw milk that I wrote about in a recent post, directly from one of my Bosque Farms neighbors, Sunshine Dairy.)

But really, the only direction in which I can reach anything remotely "shoppable" is to the east, on Bosque Loop and Highway 47. And there is still not a Walmart or superermarket to be found. But I did find a lot of wonderful small businesses, locally owned, featuring local products that I can patronize while getting some great exercise as well! Here are some of my great local options:

• I can get locally grown apples, (and fresh honey, too) from Hays Apple Farm.

• One of my favorite places on days when I just can't find time to cook, is Teriyaki Express. Their terriyaki chicken bowls are my favorite, frershly prepared, and pretty healthy eating. Biking the two miles to pick it up doesn't take much longer than driving over, and is much healthier.

• Fresh produce, that's really ripe, is always available at our local Garden Fresh produce market. Some of the produce is from local farms, and I've found it is always fresher and riper than what I can get by driving 15 minutes to the nearest supermarket.

• We do have a number of other restaurants in Bosque Farms as well, some of them offering pretty healthy options, like the local Sopa's, Burritos Alinstante, and the Bosque Farms Subway. (Of course, we've got some less healthy options, too, like Blake's Lotaburger, McDonald's, and Sonic Drive-in. Can't push those as "green" in any fashion, but they're there in walking or biking distance, for those craving junk food!)

• Another option for getting that local honey, that's so great for helping prevent seasonal allergies, is Bosque Honey Farm, not more than half a mile from my house.

• We've even got a little health food store, Back to the Basics, right on Highway 47, that offers organic foods, herbs, and vitamins.

• For the occasional non-healthy moods that strike most of us from time to time, we've got our own local donut place, too, called Paradise Donuts.

• I find I can even walk or bike to a surprising number of recreational activities: There's a bowling alley, tennis courts, riding arena, community center, and library all within my 2-mile circle as well.

So, OK, here in Bosque Farms, where it's a 15-minute drive to the nearest supermarket, I still find I can walk or bike to get organic food, fresh produce, local milk, honey, and apples, restaurant meals, and half a dozen leisure activities. And it's a plus for my figure, my pocketbook, and my carbon-footprint! What's in your 2-mile circle?

The latest buzz about honey is that it can actually help eliminate or reduce seasonal allergies, but there's one caveat: it's got to be very, very LOCAL honey!

Here's the idea:

Since bees make honey from pollen, which they collect from flowers in their area, by eating local honey produced right in your own neighborhood, you will be ingesting the same pollens that trouble you come spring. According to a recent article at www.citynews.ca, it's also important that the honey be raw and unfiltered, so as to tetain these pollens and not have them filtered out. This gradual exposure to the local pollens is thought to build the immune response to the pollens, much as immunological injections from an allergist gradually work to reduce the "hay-fever" symptoms of seasonal allergies to various pollens.

Veterinarian Michael W. Fox, in his column in the Washington Post, even recommends honey for relieving pets' seasonal allergies!

The key to the concept, though, is to have the honey be LOCAL, since it is local pollens that will be triggering your allergic response. It does no good to eat honey produced in California if you're living in Vermont!

We've always had the advantage of lots of local honey options here in Bosque Farms, NM, where we live. Our next-door-neighbors keep hives, and occasionally gift us with some of their fresh honey. That's about as local as it gets, since I'm not up to trying my hand at beekeeping myself! And then, there are two local honey farms right here in Bosque Farms, from which we've often bought honey. It's not next door, but it's within a mile or so, and I don't think we grow any plants around our house that don't also grow a mile down the road! And, if I'm out of honey, and decide to just pick some up while at the supermarket, our local grocery carries honey produced just down the road in Los Lunas, NM. Not quite as nearby, but I'll bet that five-mile strectch stille qualifies as pretty "local" as far as the pollen strains are concerned!

It's a thoroughly natural and green idea, and helps boost "buying local." Honey's also got a number of other pluses to it:

1. It's a good source of anti-oxidants
2. It's got 40% less calories than sugar, so is better for your diet
3. Honey is more easily digested than sugar

It seems it can't hurt, and may help, so get out there and find yourself some local honey. Try a couple of spoonfuls daily through the winter, and see if your spring allergies aren't improved!

Not yet ready for prime time with your horse? Here's a great option for NM horse and rider pairs who could use some competition experience in a low-stress environment:

Horse Play Days!

As reported in the Valencia News Bulletin this past weekend, long-time horse trainer J.T. Edmonds has organized a series of "Horse Play Days" at the Valencia County Rodeo Grounds in Belen, New Mexico. These events are designed to give New Mexico kids and their horses an opportunity to compete in a setting that is

• Low Cost
• Low Stress
• Full of opportunities for practice, praise, and yes, ribbons, too!

The competitions are geared to skill levels rather than age, so your sixteen-year-old novice rider won't have to compete with the kids who've been doing competitve barrel racing since the age of five! The events are especially good for green horses, green riders, or both. The Horse Play Days focus on barrel racing, flags, and pole-bending. The competitions are open to all, and the cost is low: just $5 per event to compete, and only $3 per event for an exhibition ride.

The Horse Play Days will be held on the following Sundays beginning at 1:00:

April 20th, May 25th, June 8th, and July 6th.

There will also be a Friday evening competition on August 22nd at 7:00 p.m. For more information, contact J.T. Edmonds at 864-8035. For information about horse properties, or just the New Mexico Horse scene in general, visit my website, or contact me any time by email at Laura@LauraWarden.com or call my cell phone at (505)869-7223.