November 29, 2022
Photos and narrative by Kathy Haq
Students in Santa Fe Community College’s Adobe Construction Program braved near-freezing temperatures on a weekend day in November to give both of the Garden’s adobe clay ovens a fresh coat of mud plaster to counter the effects of normal weathering over the past year. The work took about three hours, and the temperature never got above 34 degrees.
The large horno before maintenance
The newly coated large horno
The small horno before maintenance
Tyler Zander examines the newly mudded small horno
The Adobe Construction class is taught by Kurt Gardella, who was involved in the original construction of the hornos and currently teaches remotely, and Ernest Aragon, the hands-on instructor who oversaw the students’ work in the Garden. The course is taught through the college’s Schools of Trades, Advanced Technologies and Sustainability.
The class from left to right: Elliot Fredericksen of Santa Fe, Matt Scheffler of Santa Fe, Brian Nobes of Rio Rancho, Tyler Zander of Cerrillos, instructor Ernest Aragon, Cody MacLake of Albuquerque and Nathan Longbotham of Santa Fe
The hornos — shown above on Nov. 20, 2022 — have been part of the Garden’s cultural and educational programming since they were first introduced in October 2016 when Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands, the Garden’s hands-on ethnobotanical garden, opened.
The original hornos were cob ovens built with adobe mud sculpted over a sand mold. Students from the Adobe Construction Program rebuilt the large horno from scratch in the fall of 2021 after storm damage in 2020 caused it to collapse and left the small horno in need of repair. (See: The Garden’s Adobe Mud Ovens Rise From the Ashes)
From left: Cody MacLake and Brian Nobes mix earth, straw and water to make the plaster coating
From left: Tyler Zander mixes mud plaster as Instructor Ernest Aragon (center) looks on
From left: Nathan Longbotham, Brian Nobes and Elliot Fredericksen apply the first of two plaster coats
Matt Scheffler applies a new layer of mud to the large horno as classmate Elliot Fredericksen looks on
From left: Matt Scheffler, Nathan Longbotham and Elliiot Fredericksen put finishing touches on the first coat of plaster.
Tyler Zander tends to the coals from the fire lit in the large horno to help dry the first coat of mud
Cody MacLake and Brian Nobes apply plaster mud to the small horno
The class pulls together to finish work on the small horno
Brian Nobes (rear) concentrates on the task at hand while Tyler Zander plasters around the opening of the small horno
The hornos are located in the Hornos Plaza at the far end of Kearny’s Gap Bridge, a setting made possible by a gift from Nance & Ramón Jose López y Familia. The original large horno was built with a gift from Susan and David Lummis, and the small horno was a gift from Deirde and Jim Mercurio. It was repaired by Francisco “Pancho” Ochoa of Art in Adobe in July 2021.
