Chapter 230929: Flambé’s latest Misadventure ………………. Full Harvest Moon of September

Keep on reading to learn more about the September 29th Full Harvest Moon, Flambé’s interesting and delicious suggestion for an alternate Full Moon name, and New Mexico’s green chile harvest. It’s a spicy hot treat!

September 28-30, 2023

The Full Harvest Moon

September’s full Harvest Moon reaches its peak in the early morning hours of September 29, 2023, just before setting a few quick minutes later, as the sun rises. But not to fear! You can catch nearly 99.9% of it at sunset one night before and one night after peak, and enjoy a few “full” nights of illumination, perfect for harvesting the last of your garden before frost.

How the Harvest Moon got it’s name

The Full Moon nearest to fall equinox (September 22 or 23) always takes on the name “Harvest Moon.” And because it occurs so near equinox, this Full Moon rises at about the same time – around sunset – for several evenings in a row, allowing farmers extra time to finish their harvests. 

Note: If October’s full moon occurs closer to fall equinox than September’s, then the October Full Moon becomes the Harvest Moon. In this case, September’s Full Moon is called the Corn Moon, as this is the time of year when corn is usually harvested.

Alternative September Full Moon Names

Highlighting the transitional period between summer and fall, other names for the Full September Moon, include the following:  Autumn Moon (Cree), Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe), Leaves Turning Moon (Anishinaabe), Moon of Brown Leaves (Lakota), Yellow Leaf Moon (Assiniboine).

Animal behavior is also a common theme for September Full Moon names:  Child Moon (Tlingit) which refers to the time of weaning young animals; Mating Moon and Rutting Moon (Cree) both describe the time of year when moose, elk, and deer are looking to mate.

Flambés alternative Full Harvest Moon name ….. the Green Chile Full Moon!

About two weeks ago, under cover of the Full New Moon, Flambé was out on prowl patrol with grandiose plans to nab her a bunny. But as she stealthily exited the house, instead of catching one of those fleet-of-foot fur balls, she caught wind of the most fiery-pungent, eye watering, nose-instantly-running smell ever. As a matter of fact, the odor was so overpowering, it obliterated any lingering or tell-tale scents left by the herd of bunny toes leaving hundreds of tracks in the dirt as they gleefully paraded by Kat, practically right under her now, unfunctional nose.

Her cover blown, Flambé decided to investigate the source of the strong and spicy smell. In a matter of minutes, she found herself on the edge of a local market that was packed with hundreds of people. A long line had formed, and each person was frantically waving hundred dollar bills at the market owner, shouting loud enough to be heard over the jet engine-like roar of huge spinning metal drums. Everyone wanted to buy what was inside these tumblers! As flames rapidly heated the green and red pods inside, they began to whistle, sizzle and pop until the sweating operators stop spinning the drums. Then out came what looked like a large pile of steaming, charred, very well done, and mostly unrecognizable “something!” Kat was flabbergasted! These people wanted to pay for black ashes?
To get a better look at one of the black ashy bits that had fallen to the ground, Kat crawled closer (but not too close for fear of singe-ing her whiskers and blowing an eardrum), and was surprised by what she found. Why, this must be what the locals call a “Big Jim;” a big and fat, and very long green chile that had been plucked from a field in southern New Mexico. This chile, along with tons more just like it, had been stuffed into a burlap sack, transported to northern New Mexico by truck, only to find itself dumped into a super heated roasting drum and spun round and round until its skin cracked and blistered, until the cooked flesh became soft and perfectly spicy.
This roasted-to-perfection chile, and tons more just like it, are bought by the bag full, to be eaten fresh roasted or used in salsa and dishes like chile rellano, or chopped and frozen to be savored throughout the coming year. This chile, and tons more like it, is the signature or iconic vegetable and/or spice that so exemplifies New Mexico. This is Green Chile Harvest Season, and the Green Chile Full Moon has arrived in time for the farmers to ensure all of their crop is harvested to meet the insatiable appetite that New Mexicans have for these green and red pods.

At the conclusion of her investigation, Flambé was still puzzled over the competitive nature of these green chile connoisseurs. Was all the pushing and shoving and shouting necessary to ensure they got their bag of roasted goods before the daily supply ran out? Well, Kat might not think so (it took a full week before her sniffer was back to normal), but I was one of the many who waited anxiously and nervously in a long line (while being bathed in the aroma of thousands of freshly roasted green chilies). After all, we had just finished the last dozen of the 80 pounds of carefully packaged roasted chilies from the 2022 season ….. the freezer was empty and ready ….. and I wasn’t about to miss this once a year opportunity to stock up on green chilies, one of the best vegetables in the world! Besides they go into everything we eat! I wouldn’t know how to cook without green chilies!

As the Green Chile Harvest Season draws to a close, I wanted to know a bit more about how and when this chile craze got started. Here’s a few interesting tidbits:

1.It’s believed that cultivated chile peppers were brought to the United States in 1598, by Captain General Juan de Onate, a conquistador and the founder of Santa Fe.

2. Some archaeological accounts show the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico were introduced to green chile by the Antonio Espejo Expedition of 1582-1583.

3. Today, New Mexico is the largest grower of green chile in the U.S.  The crop is entirely hand picked, and in 2022, workers picked more than 49,000 tons of green chile.

4. Red chile, which is green chile that ripens from green to red in color, is harvested by machines. In 2022, 4,000 tons of red chilies were harvested.

5. Hatch green chilies, said by many to be the best in the world, are grown in the Hatch Valley of southcentral New Mexico (referred to as the “Napa Valley of green chile”). The Hatch green chile is a distant cousin of the Anaheim chile, but grows long in length, and has much more flavor and a wider heat spectrum. Roasted Hatch chilies taste almost buttery and have a sweet heat. 

6. We like Hatch green chilies, but prefer the green chilies grown in Lemitar, NM, located in the central Rio Grande Valley south of Socorro. These chilies are not as sweet, have a more robust flavor and tend to be spicier than Hatch chilies.

7. The aroma of roasting chilies is world famous. Soon, New Mexico may become the first state to have a state aroma, “green chilies roasting in the fall.”

That’s All for this month. Until next month and our next Full Moon, don’t forget to look up!

As always, Flambé invites you to follow her Zentangle-inspired antics (ZIAs) by visiting her page called Tangled Up, to see what trouble she always seems to find, past and present.