"I always wanted to do something unique", says Gayle Ice, so when their little farm started producing too much fruit, she and husband Ron decided to open a tea room in their home and serve their own jams and jellies. And what jellies! Gayle has made all the usual jellies and jams, but also produces jelly from purple-hull peas, crowder peas, ground cherries, onions, garlic, red corncobs and dandelions. She wants to try sugar-cane jelly but Ron hasn't planted the sugar cane yet.
Gayle, a "city girl" from Louisiana, met Ron, who comes from a farming family, in Pueblo, Colorado. They didn't start out farming, though. They put each other through college, had two kids, and joined the National Park Service first. They worked at the Painted Desert, Tano and Lake Meredith, then spent 17 years in Santa Fe before settling in Alcalde eighteen years ago. Then Ron got itchy one year and had a man plow up the whole back yard and planted too many tomatoes. By Year Two they were taking all the extras to the farmer's markets and planting more veggies, herbs and fruit. And lots of flowers! Gayle loves flowers and they grow in profusion on the farm.
So, apparently, does everything else, because almost everything the Ices serve in their tearoom comes from their own farm. Gayle and her good friend Loyola Trujillo run the tearoom three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) in the sunroom of Gayle's home. They can seat a maximum of fifteen guests each day but Gayle likes to limit it to ten or twelve. Ron gives a tour of the farm for guests that want it, then there is a juice "toast" followed by hors d'oeuvres, salad or soup, sorbet, a plate of sandwiches and fruit, and dessert, all served on Gayle's heirloom china and silver. The only thing guests get to choose is their tea, but there are no complaints!
Gayle, Loyola and Ron bring all the extra produce to the farmer's markets along with their unique jams and jellies, a few bedding plants and, of course, Gayle's beloved flowers. Ron does the Los Alamos market and enjoys the relaxed pace of the market and all the familiar faces.
The hardest part of farming, says Gayle, is getting al the work done. And, this year, "the mosquitoes! We're down by the river and they're worse than they have ever been - the non-whining variety and ENORMOUS!" The best part is going to all the markets and seeing all their friends, and meeting nice people from all over the world at the tearoom.
For tearoom reservations, call (505) 852-2589.