The quality of this herb is evident by the strong aroma as we work around the hoop house. It dries in the shade on steel wire racks supported just off of a natural adobe floor. We are surrounded by the distinctive minty waxy smell of this herb (I wish I could describe it the way a wine connoisseur describes flavors) that has been enjoyed by relatively few people in the world to this day. The Ancestral Puebloans enjoyed it as did many generations of Navajo, Spanish and Anglo residents of the area. I am privileged to share an appreciation for the smell, the flavor, the color, the growing habit, the singular toughness of the plant here in the dry country far from flowing water.
In one more week if the hot weather holds out it will be dry, chopped and sealed for further processing or bundled directly for the traditional method of boiling.
Ryna helps with on the big harvest day.
Tom and a crew of local youth help with the big harvest.
Steve and Thedeous pose under hoop house with more harvest than imagined.