The world of piñon picking defines the culture and work ethic of northern New Mexicans. A nut available and accessible every four years to Northern New Mexicans today sells for approximately $40 a pound. Used for gourmet dishes around the world it has been around for several generations and also available to modest households for cooking, selling or trading in my youth.
When I was a preschooler and years that followed, my mother gathered her children ages 5 to 16 for a piñon picking adventure up the Sangre de Cristo Mountains behind our home in Costilla.
A combination of hard work and fun was a chance for yours truly to enjoy the then version of today’s junk food. Mom packed potted meat sandwiches, potato chips, cans of Pepsi and R C cola, Hostess chocolate cupcakes and the traditional stack of tortillas. Up the mountains we climbed as a workforce with a purpose of securing several pounds of piñon before the fall ended.
We had no concern about hungry bears, accidents or hunters mistaking us for their prey. We only knew that piñon meant having roasted piñon for months, occasionally adding it to homemade fudge or peanut brittle.
Mom’s workforce delivered hundreds of pounds kept in gunnysacks in a cool cellar secured from anything that could affect this golden nut loved by so many.
Although my contributions were minimal, I believe I served as entertainment for my siblings. My collection of ‘piñon’ had to be carefully monitored and the overflow of sibling competition led to an over ambitious result at the end of the day.
Looking back these adventures taught us our mother’s entrepreneurial spirit. We knew that owning several hundred sacks of piñon meant mom would, in upcoming months, trade for Grand Junction fruit, Rocky Ford melons, Pueblo green chile for roasting and other vegetables we did not grow. It was a family adventure that led to the trading of foods for enjoyment and survival.
The occasional trader offered religious artwork and artifacts made their way to our home for potential trade. Since the Catholic religion was a big part of our lives, trading for rosaries and religious books was common.
I suppose mom was not the only one with that entrepreneurial spirit in the town, because hard work and integrity in this community were a path to survival. This work ethic and family togetherness defined so many people of those small northern New Mexico communities.
That little golden piñon nut brought us a fortune in trading power. It secured a fortune of enjoyment of a little roasted piñon for months to come.
Today piñon is considered a gourmet food sold at a high cost, yet several generations ago it served as a means of survival, a way to enjoy each other’s company and the indirect occasional access to junk food.While there are still generations of people who remember this type of upbringing, anticipate the next piñon season with memories of days gone by and plan a future event of piñon picking with family and friends.
