Best Cabeza De Vaca Podcasts (2025)

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Memorial Day with New Mexico's Ernie Pyle 15:13

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7d ago15:13

15:13

This is Memorial Day 2025 week and I want to celebrate someone special. When I interviewed people from World War Two there was a bad week in April 1945. On the 12th President Roosevelt suddenly died and six days later Earnie Pyle was killed on by a Japanese sniper. Both deaths were devastating. Especially war correspondent Ernie Pyle who I think of…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Memorial Day in New Mexico 15:05

8d ago15:05

15:05

Here on the last Monday in May is the United States Federal holiday, Memorial Day. It honors and mourns those U. S. military personnel who died while in the service of their country. Importantly, it also honors the families of those service members who died for our country. I want to talk about some of those New Mexicans and remember their family a…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The new flavors beyond just chile 15:10

13d ago15:10

15:10

Do you like chile? I certainly do and I also spend lots of time thinking about chile. I tell everyone about Southern New Mexico's goodness of chile. In the last few years there's been a new wave of flavor to enjoy. Previously chile tasted precisely like chile, nothing more nor less. It was and is good. Then regular great tasting chile was combined …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Here comes the sweet onions 15:24

22d ago15:24

15:24

An interesting fact came out of the recent Kentucky Derby and it connect in an odd way with New Mexico chile and onions. Sounds like a stretch but every horse running in the race could trace lineage back to Secretariat, the famous Triple Crown winner. Likewise, every bit of New Mexico chile and onions goes back to work done by Fabián García a hundr…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - First New Mexico Businesses 15:16

1M ago15:16

15:16

There was a time when New Mexico didn’t have any businesses, no corner markets, restaurants, dry goods stores, nothing at all other than an individual here or there might barter. Today we have lots of businesses. When did New Mexico commerce begin and what kinds of businesses were they? I have some good stories to tell about how those first busines…

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Untitled Episode 15:12

1M ago15:12

15:12

As youngsters we played Cowboys and Outlaws. As the Outlaw we shouted, “You got me" and fell to the ground. Cowboys always got the outlaws. I think of Old West writer Eugene Rhodes who was asked why in 1895 he let outlaws stay at his ranch in Southern New Mexico. First it isn’t healthy to refuse armed men and more importantly, he said, Outlaws are …

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Enchanting People of New Mexico - Kit Carson of New Mexico 15:10

2M ago15:10

15:10

One day I was asked about the Carson National Forest in Northern New Mexico. “I thought Johnny Carson from the Tonight Show was from Nebraska." Yes, Johnny Carson was from Nebraska. However, The Carson National Forest in Northern New Mexico is named for Christopher Houston Carson, better known as Kit Carson, frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness gu…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Cabeza de Vaca, the man and the movie 15:16

2M ago15:16

15:16

Southern New Mexico has proudly been in movies but there is one movie that local film people have not mentioned. It is a 1991 Mexican film directed by Nicolas Echevarria call Cabeza de Vaca. It is based on a real person. In 1535 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and three companions were the first Europeans to travel through Southern New Mexico. Let’s ta…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - It is chile planting season 15:17

2M ago15:17

15:17

Later this year, when you bite into some delicious Hatch Valley grown chile, think back to the first week in April of 2025. This week starts the chile planting season which features many innovations in the process of commercial Hatch red and green chile production. Let’s talk about the incredible innovations that provide outstandingly wonderful Sou…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Billy the Kid makes us money in New Mexico 15:11

2M ago15:11

15:11

This is an odd question for New Mexicans: did you realize that Billy the Kid made you some money this last year? I mean how could he since he died a hundred forty years ago? Well, my friends Billy the Kid, the Old West outlaw did make people in New Mexico richer long after his death by Lincoln County Sherriff Pat Garrett. Let me tell you how this h…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Trains were the change agent for New Mexico 15:15

3M ago15:15

15:15

We in New Mexico live completely differently than in the 1880s though there is a similarity that I want to talk about today. We travel without much effort all over the state and if we need to travel to Albuquerque from anywhere in the state it is just hours away. The change in New Mexico started with trains and that is the topic today. Trains were …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - New Mexico's lost gold 14:59

3M ago14:59

14:59

We all enjoy gold, yes, real gold. In New Mexico there are several ways to get yourself some gold. Buy it – costs money, trade something for it or, find it. Yes, in New Mexico you can find it either by prospecting in a stream with a pan, cold work or even better would be to find some gold that has been hidden for at least a century. Let’s do that. …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Coach Lou Henson 15:09

3M ago15:09

15:09

When March comes around, well we have March Madness with the wind but the other March Madness of basketball - those of us in New Mexico who enjoy College Basketball are thankful for a 2015 member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, one of 89 coaches in the Hall of Fame. If you attend a basketball game at New Mexico State University’…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Elephant Butte Dam and tasty chile 15:10

3M ago15:10

15:10

When people look at Elephant Butte Dam in southern New Mexico it looks like it has been there forever. Not so. It is a little more than a hundred years old but it took thousands of people a very long time to complete the dam. And I look at it and think of green and red chile. YUM! There is a very good reason for this. Here is the story about Elepha…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - No longer out of season chile 14:58

3M ago14:58

14:58

Many things have changed over the years, especially in our kitchens. Many years ago, there were absolute vegetable and fruit seasons. In the 1960s citrus was a treat at Christmas usually sold in boxes by the local High School band as a fundraiser. Now perhaps we can say there are no absolute season except Hatch Valley grown chile only grows without…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Unusual New Mexico names 15:14

4M ago15:14

15:14

New Mexico is the land of enchantment. Oh, yes, I don’t to tell you that, we all know about the very enchanting New Mexico. But what I find enchanting is some of the place names that are in New Mexico and here are a couple: Bug Scuffle, one of my favorites along with Candy Kitchen, Carrizozo and Tucumcari. Let’s talk about unusual place names in Ne…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - NM's Clyde Tombaugh and Pluto 15:08

4M ago15:08

15:08

When the planet Pluto is mentioned, it isn’t often that someone says, oh yes, New Mexico’s Clyde Tombaugh found it 95 years ago February 18th. Is Pluto a planet? It is with me. Not that I spend time looking in the night sky for Pluto. Nope, Pluto is about three billion miles away from the sun so even with a powerful telescope it is not easily seen.…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The Red and Green question with a focus on Red 15:41

4M ago15:41

15:41

Let’s talk about the red, of the red or green question. The official New Mexico question is, red or green? The 1996 New Mexico Legislature passed that Red or Green was officially the state question. It put a spotlight on the New Mexico chile pepper industry. We hear about green in roasting but what about red chile? Let’s talk traditional red, fresh…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The identity of New Mexico: Red and Green chile 15:29

4M ago15:29

15:29

When talking about the great state of New Mexico, green and red chile are central in its identity. Where are you from? I’m from New Mexico. Oh, I love the Green and Red chile. You hear that often. But Green and Red chile in the preparation of food used to be very far apart even though they come from the same plant. The culinary use of these green a…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Unique New Mexico tourist attractions 16:01

4M ago16:01

16:01

Tourists come to New Mexico for many reasons. Some destinations are New Mexico unique such as the Taos Hum, the Roswell Space Aliens museum and festival, the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the White Sands that cling to visitors and the Carlsbad Caverns with all that spectacular space underground. Let’s talk about some unique New Mexico destinatio…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Unusual Old West New Mexico gunfights 15:20

4M ago15:20

15:20

Since New Mexico is a big part of the Old West, there are questions about New Mexico gunfighters. Truth be known the people in New Mexico and the Old West didn’t spend their time in bars and getting in gunfights. But there were a few unusual gunfights unlike what Hollywood would put in a Western movie. Let’s talk about some unusual Old West gunfigh…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Why Hatch Chile is Unique 15:29

5M ago15:29

15:29

When it comes to commercially grown chile peppers, there is a special label Hatch Chile. Some people think Hatch Chile is a specific variety of chile peppers like Big Jim or Sandia chile. It is not. Rather, Hatch chile reflects the place in Southern New Mexico where very tasty chile peppers are grown. Hatch Chile only describes the unique Hatch Val…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - NM Statehood Day January 6 14:55

5M ago14:55

14:55

Today, January 6, 2025, is the 113th anniversary of New Mexico becoming a state. It was a Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in Washington, D. C. when President William Howard Taft signed the statehood bill officially making New Mexico the 47th state in the United States. I want to talk about people who were there in 1912. Love this Podcast? Check out our webs…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - A quick tour of New Mexico 15:26

5M ago15:26

15:26

New Mexico is so big that you could make at least four other states out of our size. And we are in the unique touching three other states at the Four Corners spot. Tourist love to put one foot in one state, one hand in another, their other foot in another and if they don’t fall over, which does happen with laughter, the final hand in a fourth state…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - New Mexico Place Names are often named for real people 15:09

5M ago15:09

15:09

Wherever you live some of the streets and some of the areas of New Mexico are named after real people. They are called Place names since the place, be it a New Mexico county, town, street or some other descriptor is tied to a real person’s name. Example: Deming New Mexico is named for the wife of a railroad executive in the 1880s. We have lots of p…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - New Mexico chile peppers are much more that hot 15:16

6M ago15:16

15:16

New Mexico chile peppers always get lots of attention for the hot that they have and not appropriately for the more important outstandingly wonderful taste. The first thought most people have looking at just harvested green chile peppers is the heat, the burn, the sensation of chile peppers in the mouth. But what is more important is that they are …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - When and why chile peppers are hot 15:28

6M ago15:28

15:28

There are websites that show people having a difficulty like falling off a ladder amid a Hollywood laugh track. The New Mexico version is when I ask people about their first bite of New Mexico chile peppers. Usually, it involves some discomfort. We do know when and why chile peppers are hot. It is a fact that the same seemingly hot chile peppers to…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The Legacy of New Mexico's Chile Industry 15:29

6M ago15:29

15:29

When visitors come to New Mexico, one topic of discussion is our delicious chile peppers in foods like enchiladas. Our chile is a treat as long as to the visitor it is not too hot. It is always uniquely flavorful. That is chile with an e, not chili with an i, chilly in winter nor the country of Chile five thousand miles to the south. The very robus…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Old Time New Mexico food 15:44

7M ago15:44

15:44

In 1985 there was a poster on the wall of a restaurant in Las Cruces that caused me to smile. “On this spot 100 years ago, nothing happened.” Actually, in the then New Mexico territory in Las Cruces, a lot was happening for everyone. What was a daily task for citizens? Finding and cooking food. Let’s talk about some Old Time New Mexico food and how…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - 2024 New Mexico Veterans Day 15:19

7M ago15:19

15:19

Today is 2024 Veteran’s Day, a national holiday celebrating the men and women who have or are serving in the military. Don’t confuse Veteran’s Day with Memorial Day which honors American service members who died in the service of their country. We want to celebrate the about 150,000 Veterans in New Mexico, and their families. We bless them all toda…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - New Mexico's 1916 military airplanes and March winds 15:17

7M ago15:17

15:17

When I go outside in Las Cruces I look up and see airplanes. Little ones, big ones, those with propellors or jet engines along with helicopters. In 1916, airplanes came suddenly to New Mexico. They didn’t fly here, they took a train from San Antonio, Texas to Columbus, NM. The Army’s first military airplanes found out the effect of New Mexico’s spr…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - New Mexico Camels 15:09

7M ago15:09

15:09

Over the years many creatures have walked over New Mexico lands. Buffalo, Elk, Antelopes, Deer, Bighorn Sheep, Cattle, Horses, Mules, Goats, but there was an animal that caused locals to wonder if they were dreaming. In the 1850s the U. S. Army brought some Middle Eastern Camels to the southwest. Here is the story of Army Camels being used in New M…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Arizona made out of New Mexico 15:19

7M ago15:19

15:19

New Mexico and Arizona have an entwined history. They started as one entity, the U. S. Territory of New Mexico in 1850. In that entity from Hobbs to Yuma and northward was all New Mexico. New Mexico and Arizona became separate territories in 1862 and then states in 1912 within six weeks of each other. The history of Arizona and New Mexico are conne…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Sunspot Solar Observatory and more 15:07

8M ago15:07

15:07

New Mexico is known worldwide as the Land of Enchantment. It has a magnificent daytime and nighttime captivating countryside with beautiful vistas day or night. Half the great views you can see by - looking up. The sky above New Mexico is wonderful day and night. In the daytime you can see the Sun at a fun place to visit named the Sunspot Solar Obs…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Old and Future Chile Tastes 15:09

8M ago15:09

15:09

I want to talk about the chile of old such as the Old West Southwestern chile and then the future of chile. I even want your views on what combination of flavors that isn’t being done right now could be the next big chile innovation since chile is now part of a many flavors such as Hatchup, the Hatch Valley red chile and ketchup. I will confess tha…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - A little this and that about New Mexico 15:11

8M ago15:11

15:11

I spend some mornings at a wonderful coffee shop telling stories. Most of the stories might be true. It is lovely to drink coffee and laugh with friends. Without water we wouldn’t have coffee nor green chile. I love the Rio Grande. Today’s podcast has a little of this and that stories. When you hear people talking about how the West was won, it was…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The Hidden Las Cruces 15:00

8M ago15:00

15:00

I am told that an Iceberg is 10 percent visible and 90 percent below the water line. Las Cruces hasn’t seen an Iceberg in forever, except in Hollywood movies. What is the commonality of Icebergs and Las Cruces and most towns in New Mexico? What you see, the roads, buildings and houses are only a part of the entire story of building Las Cruces. When…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - why is everyone so taken by NM chile peppers? 15:20

9M ago15:20

15:20

I had an interesting question from someone: “Why is everyone so taken by chile?” Most of us were born here in New Mexico and do not remember a time when we were not eating chile peppers. Yes, we had baby food, but then came green and red chile. We loved it. Let’s explore why people here and all over the world find New Mexico chile so very great. An…

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Triumph and Tragedy, Tolerance and Toughness 7:15

9M ago7:15

7:15

Post-script to Brandon Seale's podcast "A New History of Old San Antonio." This is the audio from my October 2024 SA PechaKucha talk, the video of which you can find on YouTube as well. As a summary of my thoughts after thinking deeply about San Antonio and early Texas history for the last decade, I'm pretty happy with it. But I'll admit that it's …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Inventing a new chile salsa 13:00

9M ago13:00

13:00

When you see a new chile pepper salsa at the Fresh Chile Company, you know this didn’t happen by accident. It took lots of work and innovation to invent, yes, invent a new salsa. Well now there is a new one and I will tell you about what it took to create Randy’s Salsa. Fresh Chile Company owner Randy McMillan wanted to have a salsa with larger chu…

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Enchanting People of New Mexico - The Charley Johnson Story 15:04

9M ago15:04

15:04

It was with sadness that I learned on Wednesday that former NMSU, St. Louis Cardinals and Denver Bronco quarterback Charley Johnson has passed at age 85. It wasn’t his intention to leave Texas and come to New Mexico. A couple things happened. He was raised in Big Spring, Texas. A super athlete in high school, he intended to play football in college…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The stories and secrets of New Mexico chile 15:01

9M ago15:01

15:01

In New Mexico we have what I’m going to call the New Mexico grown chile pepper plant. It’s central to our identity. We go to restaurants for their chips and salsa. The question: red or green is answered in New Mexico as both, in a blend, The official smell of New Mexico is roasting green chile. We have many chile peppers. There’s secrets of New Mex…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The 2024 Hatch Chile Festival and Fabián García 15:22

9M ago15:22

15:22

This weekend is the 52nd annual Hatch Chile Festival in Hatch, New Mexico the Chile Capital of the world. Saturday and Sunday, August 31 and September 1st the small Southern New Mexico town will be brimming with good food, good people and good times. Learn about chile pepper tastes and different ways that the chile can be prepared. Be prepared for …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - 618 New Mexico towns 15:06

9M ago15:06

15:06

With some New Mexico towns and cities only the name is needed, not having to say, New Mexico. Example: Albuquerque, where there is no need for New Mexico. But some, like Las Vegas, need New Mexico or some people will make a 700-mile geographical error and an even worse cultural assumption. And Las Vegas, New Mexico was a booming town long before th…

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Enchanting People of New Mexico - Albert Fountain Episode 3 of 3 15:09

10M ago15:09

15:09

New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment and Mystery. There is no greater mystery than the 1896 disappearance and obvious death of Albert Jennings Fountain and his 8-year-old son Henry. This is the third of three podcasts about Albert Fountain and this mystery that has gone on from February 1st, 1896 to today. Who killed Albert and his son Henry Fount…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Youngsters in New Mexico History 15:16

10M ago15:16

15:16

In the last Enchanting Stories Podcast I talked about 15-year-old Jim White who discovered and explored and over the years promoted Carlsbad Caverns. Several people were surprised to find a 15-year-old was working on a cattle ranch. The Child Labor laws of 1938 set the early age at 14. Before that we had even younger boys working in New Mexico. And…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - A youngster in New Mexico history 15:28

10M ago15:28

15:28

Once upon a time in the territory of New Mexico a 15-year-old cowboy was riding by himself looking for stray cattle. It was 1897. He is one of many youngsters in New Mexico history that changed our state, and we still remember him. This one teenage cowboy made a big change in New Mexico by himself. Teenagers are part of our New Mexico history, espe…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Ag failures to successes 15:20

10M ago15:20

15:20

I was talking with an agricultural researcher some years ago. He said something that I still remember: this success we have in growing plants, it all came about from our many failures. Only by finding what didn’t work, did we discover what worked best. While it seems odd, all that great Hatch Valley chile that you enjoy, well now, came about first …

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - The First Civil War Battle of Mesilla 15:16

10M ago15:16

15:16

As Civil War battles go, the First Battle of Mesilla July 25-27,1861 was interesting but not right for a Hollywood movie, or was it? Could there be heroes and villains, brave men and cowards? There were mistakes made by both sides. Let’s explore this Civil War battle in New Mexico to see if it would make a movie. What to call it? The Civil War batt…

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Enchanting Stories of New Mexico - Flat land agriculture 15:25

10M ago15:25

15:25

When as a young boy I was living in Japan, my father was stationed at Yokota Air Force Base. I saw the Japanese growing their rice crops both in the flat lands and on the sides of hills. Here in New Mexico, our farmers do flat land agriculture. Judging by the enthusiasm people for Hatch Valley chile, I would say that flat land growing of Hatch Vall…