Mesilla Blog

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Adobe Wall

An old adobe wall along a quiet Mesilla street.

Tags: Adobe, Mesilla

Monday, February 19th, 2007

World’s Hottest Chile

An NMSU professor has identified what is evidently the hottest chile in the world:

In fall of 2006, the Guinness Book of Records confirmed that New Mexico State University Regent’s Professor Paul Bosland had indeed discovered the world’s hottest chile pepper, Bhut Jolokia.

Bhut Jolokia, at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), is nearly twice as hot as Red Savina, the chile pepper variety it replaces as the world’s hottest. A New Mexico green chile contains about 1,500 SHUs and an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000 SHUs.

“The name Bhut Jolokia translates as ‘ghost chile,’” Bosland said, “we’re not sure why they call it that, but I think it’s because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!”

According to Bosland, Bhut Jolokia is a naturally occurring inter-specific hybrid indigenous to the Assam region of northeastern India. A member of NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute visiting India sent Bhut Jolokia seeds back to NMSU for testing in 2001.

“The plant doesn’t set fruit very well, so it took a couple of years to get enough for field testing,” Bosland said.

Bhut Jolokia Chile — NMSU photo.
The Scoville Heat Units scale for measuring pepper hotness is named in honor of Wilbur Lincoln Scoville, who invented the first method of measuring hotness. The hot substance in chiles is capsaicin. Pure capsaicin has a Scoville Heat rating of 15 to 16 million.

The Chile Pepper Institute was established in 1992 and is located at New Mexico State University.

Tags: Hottest Chile, NMSU, Chile Pepper Institute, Capsaicin

Thursday, February 8th, 2007

"Development"

Mesilla is getting something it’s never had — apartments (how rare is that in today’s world?). Two apartment complexes are now going up, as you can see here:


The Mesilla City Council, which does take its responsibility to preserve historic Mesilla seriously, approved these projects.

But why? Apartment complexes are totally out of character for Mesilla. They will increase the traffic and population density without contributing in any way to Mesilla’s wonderful qualities.

But perhaps worst of all, they are now the tallest structures in Mesilla except for San Albino.

Tags: Mesilla Development, Mesilla Apartments

Sunday, January 7th, 2007

Snow!

Mesilla caught up with the rest of New Mexico this morning and got snow — the first this winter. There are years in which Mesilla gets no snow.

Here’s what San Albino looked like as the snow came down.



An adobe off the plaza:

The Rio Grande:

A pecan orchard:

About 1 pm the sun came out and the snow was mostly gone by evening.

Tags: Mesilla, Snow, San Albino

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007

Pecan Pruning

After the harvest, pecan growers have one last, big task — pruning the trees.

Pecan trees are pruned for several reasons. The main reason is to keep the trees smaller, which makes harvesting and tree care easier. But pruning also helps increase or maintain yields and improve nut quality.

Big trees are pruned using a rideable, motorized arm:

The operator can drive through the orchard and raise or lower the arm as needed.

Pruning requires skill. Trees must be cut in the right way, dead limbs recognized and taken out, and narrow crotches removed.


The prunings must be cleared so that they don’t interfere with the care of the trees or serve as a host for disease or insects.

The prunings are first stacked, then hauled off and burnt. No viable economic use for pecan prunings has been found, so burning is currently considered the best disposal option.

Until they began to leaf out and grow, pruned trees look buzz-cut.

Tags: Pecan Pruning, Motorized Arm, Rideable Pruning Arm

Monday, January 1st, 2007

Happy New Year!

2006 ends in a few hours and 2007 begins.

A traditional way to celebrate the start of the new year in this former Spanish colony is to set off fireworks.

The City Fathers have been trying to squelch that behavior for years. Here’s a lone fireworks stand in Mesilla, selling the bland, “safe” fireworks permitted by current law.

Best wishes for 2007!

Tags: Mesilla, Fireworks

Sunday, December 31st, 2006

Mesilla Plaza – Christmas

Taken this evening on the Plaza, looking toward San Albino.

Tags: Mesilla Plaza, Christmas

Saturday, December 23rd, 2006

Mesilla Post Office

Tags: Mesilla Post Office

Monday, December 18th, 2006

No Trespassing

As you drive the backroads around Mesilla, through the 18,000+ acres of pecans in the county, you will see these little signs every where:

Why such concern about trees? They are not going to be damaged by people walking under them.

Here’s the reason:

Tags: Pecan Thieves

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Blacksmith

Here’s the old Mesilla blacksmith shop, which was built before 1900. It’s been closed for 40 years. The original blacksmith and owner was Simon Guerra.

The structure is unplastered adobe.

Here’s a closer view of the weathered front and the sliding horse door.

The human door:

The inside:

Tags: Mesilla, Blacksmith Shop