# What's In Season — Northern New Mexico

> Northern New Mexico (Taos area, ~7000ft elevation) produce, foraging, and hunting calendar — what's coming in, peaking, and wrapping up each month. Used by the cooking Scout and answers chat queries about local seasonal eating.

Taos sits around 7,000 ft, which shifts the produce calendar 2–4 weeks later than the lower-desert NM crops down by Hatch. The Río Grande corridor — Velarde, Dixon, Embudo, Alcalde — is the orchard belt. Hatch is still the chile epicenter, but Northern NM has its own green-chile harvest peaking late August through September.

This calendar tracks three threads in parallel: **produce** (gardens + orchards + farmers' markets), **foraging** (wild edibles, monsoon-dependent), and **hunting** (NM Game & Fish windows — exact dates shift each year with the regs).

## January

- **Produce:** Stored apples, stored winter squash, root cellar staples. Farmers' markets dormant.
- **Foraging:** Quiet. Snow on the high country.
- **Hunting:** Tail end of waterfowl season (duck, goose) along the Río Grande. Mountain lion season open through March.

## February

- **Produce:** Stored apples, stored winter squash. First nursery starts going in.
- **Foraging:** Quiet.
- **Hunting:** Mountain lion still open.

## March

- **Produce:** Cold-frame greens starting if you've got a greenhouse.
- **Foraging:** Quiet. Watch for the first wild asparagus by month's end in low ditches.
- **Hunting:** Mountain lion closes end of month.

## April

- **Produce:** First greenhouse tomatoes and greens trickling into markets.
- **Foraging:** Watch for morels at lower elevations after April rains.
- **Hunting:** **Spring turkey** opens — smoked or brined whole bird is the move. Bag a tom and the freezer's set for a month.

## May

- **Produce:** **Asparagus** is the first big garden harvest — grill it whole, throw it in soups, eggs, anywhere. First strawberries showing up at farmers' markets.
- **Foraging:** **Morels** peak after spring runoff softens the ground — sauté with butter, finish a cream sauce, fold into pasta. **Wild asparagus** along ditches and acequia banks.
- **Hunting:** Spring turkey continues through mid-May.

## June

- **Produce:** **Strawberries** peaking. **Cherries** from Velarde and Dixon orchards start coming in mid-month — Brad's Cherry Chipotle Maple BBQ Sauce (`sauces-marinades`) was built for these. **Apricots** ripen alongside.
- **Foraging:** Morels still possible at higher elevations. Late spring is quiet otherwise.
- **Hunting:** Closed except small-game/varmint.

## July

- **Produce:** **Cherries** peak through mid-month. **Apricots** wrap up. **Peaches** begin (Pecos, Velarde). **Sweet corn**, **summer squash** and **zucchini**, **tomatoes** all starting to pour in from low-elevation gardens. Salsas, gazpacho, ratatouille.
- **Foraging:** Monsoon arrives mid-month. **Porcini** and bolete flush starts in the mountains if the rain cooperates.
- **Hunting:** Closed.

## August

- **Produce:** **Peaches** peaking. **Sweet corn**, **summer squash**, **tomatoes** still going strong. **Melons** start. **GREEN CHILE** harvest begins — the iconic NM week. Roast a sack, freeze for the year, and let `green-chile-stew` carry you into fall.
- **Foraging:** **Porcini** peak after good monsoon weeks. **Chokecherries** and **wild plums** ripen along acequias and arroyos.
- **Hunting:** **Antelope (pronghorn)** opens late month. Bear opens.

## September

- **Produce:** **Green chile** at peak — Hatch + NM harvests both running. **Apples** begin (Dixon Apple Days is the first weekend of October). **Melons** continue. **Sweet corn** wraps up. **Pinto beans** drying down in the field. **Winter squash** starting to come in.
- **Foraging:** **Chokecherries**, **wild plums** wrapping. **Piñon nuts** begin if it's a good year (they alternate heavy/lean) — pesto, brittle, fold into mole.
- **Hunting:** **Elk** archery → rifle seasons run through November. **Antelope** continues. **Fall turkey** opens. **Bear** continues. **Upland birds** (quail, dove) open.

## October

- **Produce:** **Apples** at peak (Dixon Apple Days early October), **pinto beans** at harvest, **winter squash** coming in. Green chile wrapping up — last roast of the year.
- **Foraging:** **Piñon nuts** at peak in good years (sweep tarps under productive trees).
- **Hunting:** **Elk** rifle, **deer** (mule deer) opens, **bear**, **upland birds**, **fall turkey**, **waterfowl** opens along the Río Grande.

## November

- **Produce:** Last apples, stored squash. Markets winding down.
- **Foraging:** Quiet.
- **Hunting:** **Elk** late rifle, **deer**, **bear** closes mid-month. **Mountain lion** opens. **Upland birds**, **waterfowl** continue.

## December

- **Produce:** Stored items (apples, winter squash).
- **Foraging:** Quiet.
- **Hunting:** **Waterfowl** continues into January. **Mountain lion** open.

## Pairing notes

- **Cherries → Cherry Chipotle Maple BBQ Sauce** (`sauces-marinades`) — Brad's original. The tart cherry juice + chipotle + maple combo on ribs is what cherry season is for.
- **Green chile → green-chile-stew** — the canonical dish. See also `dried-chiles-for-chili` for the broader chile reference.
- **Tomatoes → Italian and Mexican sauces** (`world-sauces-italian-sauces`, `world-sauces-mexican-sauces`) — gazpacho, marinara, salsa fresca.
- **Game (elk, deer) → Nordic lingonberry** (`world-sauces-nordic-and-northern-european-sauces`) or **Worldwide Chile Blend** from `spice-blends`. Wattleseed cream from `world-sauces-australian-sauces` works for braises.
- **Gap items worth a recipe:** peach, apricot, apple-as-feature, piñon, pumpkin/winter squash, sweet corn. The cooking Scout will nudge to develop something when those are peaking.

## Sources

- NMSU Cooperative Extension — *What's in Season in New Mexico* (produce windows)
- Taos Farmers' Market schedule (May–October)
- NM Department of Game & Fish — annual hunt regulation booklet (hunt windows; exact days shift annually)
- Local orchard schedules (Velarde, Dixon, Pecos)

## Details

- **Category:** Cooking
- **Tags:** cooking, seasonal, northern-new-mexico, taos, produce, foraging, hunting, green-chile, pinon, elk, harvest

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