• A Ranch Blooms in the Desert

    A Ranch Blooms in the Desert

    Dear Diary, it’s been a while since I’ve written. So much to tell about Mitch and Leslie’s escapades over the summer of 2013: planting and nurturing native trees and shrubs (74 of them, just like the apple above); culinary school in […]

     
  • Goodbye coal, hello sun!!!

    Goodbye coal, hello sun!!!

    The sun shines more than 300 days a year here in New Mexico, and just the other day the wind in the Santa Fe area clocked over 35mph. Yet a staggering 95% of our state’s electricity is generated by coal […]

     
  • View from Stagecoach Pass on the Turquoise Trail

    Riding High on the NM Turquoise Trail

      Cycling historic mining and mountain routes from our “Vel’auberge” When Leslie and I envisioned a place where our friends and guests could melt away the stresses of social change work, cycling featured prominently. We pictured back roads, rolling hills, […]

     
  • Cooking a Spanish tortilla

    Too many cooks in the kitchen? Never!

    Guest chefs at Rancho Gallina As Michael Pollan said in an interview in the latest issue of Lucky Peach magazine, “if you look back through history, cooking was very often a cooperative activity.”  He argues that the isolation of one […]

     
  • The Manhattan Project

    The Manhattan Project

    What else would you call it when someone from NY (though not Manhattan) moves to NM (though not Los Alamos) and continues his lifelong quest for sublime whisky cocktails? The Manhattan Project of course refers to the joint US-UK-Canadian effort […]

     
  • What’s cookin at the Ranch?

    What’s cookin at the Ranch?

    New Spain’s hearty stew with beans, greens, chile and chorizo We are continually thrilled at the bounty of local produce on display at Santa Fe’s year-round farmer’s market, despite our high and dry climate.  Still, by mid-winter we are down […]

     
  • Dazed and Infused

    Dazed and Infused

    As we sip the last remains of our summer infusions, I am ready to share their simple secrets. Many people like to preserve the summer’s bounty by canning their favorite fruits and vegetables, making vats of tomato sauce to freeze, […]

     
  • The Ward 8, with homemade Grenadine

    The Ward 8, with homemade Grenadine

    This month’s “Imbibe” magazine (thanks to Ana Portillo-Moody and Michael Randall for the subscription) featured one of my favorite cocktails: the Ward 8. Alas, having no  grenadine, a critical element, I set out to make my own. Real grenadine is […]

     
  • Geothermal heat pump

    On greening an old ranch, part 1: the Earth is our heater

    Our ranch has old-school eco in its bones: 14-inch thick walls, low to the ground build with some high, south-facing windows, and a protected location in the low point of what was at the time sprawling acreage. But it still […]

     
  • 2012: A Study in Transition

    2012: A Study in Transition

    In 2012 I opened a new and radically different chapter of my life. This year I left the Service Employees International Union after 22 years as an organizer, elected leader, and ultimately the union’s youngest international executive vice-president.  Based on […]

     
 
 

Book the Rancho

Rancho Gallina can accommodate retreats up to 15 people or family/friend gatherings of 20+. For pricing and availability please email us at ranchogallina@gmail.com (click link below under Contact Us). Please note that we are often booked at least 6 months in advance and are not open in the winter months.