Hatch, NM

(Day 10 of my 30 in 30 Challenge)

When you live in Southern New Mexico, Labor Day weekend really only means one thing: Hatch Chile Festival

PLEASE NOTE: In these parts, chile is spelled with an "E". If you're caught spelling with with 2 "I's",
you get one reprieve. If you do it a second time, we send you packin'.

To give you an idea of what happens around here -

*You don't plan anything else for the weekend. Well, except for coming home and roasting up your goodies.
*New Mexicans live for the day that we get the word that the chile harvest has started.
*We begin our count down on when we'll get that first whiff of roasting chile on the air.
*We start thumbing through our recipe boxes and collections, and start planning our menus.
*Friends who've moved away start emailing you with "Could I ask you a huge favor?" in the subject line.
*We check to make sure we have enough room in our extra freezer.

Hatch, New Mexico is 'up the road' about 40 miles from Las Cruces. As of 2009, there were 1667 residents. It's an agricultural, blue collar community. In 2006, Hatch was hit with a devastaing flood. It's been 4 years and recovery is still on going. It's another beautiful part of Dona Ana County that folks definitely need to put on their list of things to see while in the area.

Surrounding Hatch you'll find the Las Uvas Mountains to the west and the San Andres National Refuge to the east. Caballo Lake is to the north - and I'll fill you in on that area in another 365 Days post.

Now...if you'll excuse me...I need to go make space in my extra freezer. I've got a few orders to fill.