Through 2025 and 2026 the Village of Los Ranchos doubled the staff at the Larry P. Abraham Agri-Nature Center, upgraded its kitchen, bathrooms, irrigation and fencing, and hired a program director and a farm manager. Only after all that did it hire a landscape architecture studio to write a long-term plan.
So the plan is being drawn around a farm that is already busy. The Village says the master plan will tie the center's "current programs, projects, and infrastructure" into one long-term direction, and the Board of Trustees will adopt it as official policy. In practice, the classes, beds and grazing trials running at 4920 Rio Grande Boulevard NW this fall are the raw material. Residents still have time to weigh in on which of them last.
Twenty-Five Acres of Winery, Then the Fields to the North
The center started when the Village bought the former Anderson Winery on 25 acres. Later it added the Anderson Fields to the north, and today the property covers more than 40 acres used for soil, wildlife and pollinator habitat, plus native, heirloom and climate-adapted seed. It is named for Larry P. Abraham, who was mayor of Los Ranchos from 2004 to 2018. The dedication ceremony was held on Sunday, July 8, 2018.
The Village's Edible Trail is the easiest way to see the whole farm at once. It has 12 demonstration stops: orchard, lavender, cover crops, bees, compost, raised beds, vineyard, hops, community garden, livestock, heritage grains and acequias. Think of it as a guide to what the farm demonstrates, not a planting list for this season. Even so, it shows how wide the brief already is.
The Year the Basics Got Fixed
The 2026 changes are easier to follow in order:
| When | What changed | Where it's recorded |
|---|---|---|
| December 16, 2025 | Board confirms Erin Callahan as Agricultural Program Director and Andrew Thran as Farm Manager | Village Vision, Mar/Apr 2026 |
| Early 2026 | Mayor's report says Ag Center staffing has doubled; kitchen, bathrooms, irrigation and fencing improved | Village Vision, Mar/Apr 2026 |
| March 2026 | Staff farm plan lists orchard irrigation upgrades, an acequia-only crop trial, relocated beehives, a secure sheep enclosure and community-garden expansion | Citizen Portal, March 17, 2026 |
| May 2026 | Ten food-processing workshops with Three Sisters Kitchen scheduled under an NMDA Specialty Crop Block Grant | Board packet, May 19, 2026 |
| August 2026 | $526,425 Water Trust Board irrigation grant in design with Wilson Engineering | Board packet, August 18, 2026 |
| September 19, 2026 | First master plan community open house | Village master plan page |
The March items come from Citizen Portal's report on staff's plan for the year. Read them as goals the Village set, not finished work. The direction is still plain. In one year the farm went from being run on a thin crew to having named leadership, a working kitchen and a funded water project.
Water Came First, and It Still Does
On a farm in the valley, the rest of the plan depends on irrigation. The center already uses SigFlow water sensors, has switched many fields to drip irrigation, and draws on the acequia network managed through the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.
The August 18, 2026 Board packet shows the plumbing that is already in place. Village fields can now take water from two different canals. A water-rights transfer means well water can also be used. Two supplemental irrigation pipes have been finished, including 900 feet of 18-inch underground line in the West Fields. The packet says fencing and driveway work at the north end of the property was nearly complete.
The $526,425 Water Trust Board grant builds on that work. Design with Wilson Engineering has begun, the project covers infrastructure repairs as well as irrigation, and the Village says construction can start once the design is done, before the next irrigation season. The same report says the master plan design will go to public review "soon after." In the Village's own paperwork, the water, fencing and access work comes before the plan.
The acequia-only crop trial on the 2026 list belongs to the same story. A Village farm testing what it can grow on ditch water alone is collecting the kind of evidence a long-term plan needs.
What the Plan Will Be Asked to Hold
The Village picked Surroundings Studio, a New Mexico landscape architecture and design firm, to write the plan. A Master Plan Advisory Committee chaired by Gil Benavides supports the work, along with Village staff. The plan has to fit everything already happening on the property, and the 2026 calendar is full.
- Community garden beds. Beds measuring 35 by 3 feet were offered at $60 for 2026, with orientations for early-season growers from mid-February through April. The Village says surplus from the garden goes to a local food bank.
- Healers Garden. A quarter-acre of medicinal herbs, with eight weekday-evening and four weekend workshops led by Atava Garcia Swiecicki of Ancestral Apothecary.
- Food preservation. The Three Sisters Kitchen series, plus classes in flower picking, seasonal gardening, herbal medicine and fiber and wool.
- Livestock and soil. Rotational sheep grazing, biochar made from pruned branches, and an olla-making program with the New Mexico Youth Conservation Foundation, according to the Village's 2026 newsletter.
- Partners on site. A May 2026 report lists beehive work, Wednesday Master Gardener activity, Nature Niños visits, Youth Conservation Corps volunteers, and a Bernalillo County Extension waterwise workshop.
That list is the strongest argument for planning after investing. Each program is a test already underway, with real costs, real attendance and real water use. The open house on September 19 ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center. For anyone who missed it, the Village's online survey asks the same questions.
Saturday, October 17, Is the Easiest Way In
The free Agri-Nature Center Fall Festival runs Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 2 to 6 p.m. at 4920 Rio Grande Boulevard NW. The Village lists local produce, apple-cider pressing, chile roasting, pumpkin carving, food trucks, arts and crafts, and music. It is also a chance to see the fields, fencing and gardens the master plan will cover, during the same weeks the survey is open.
Other fixed dates fill out the season on this stretch of the valley:
- Wednesday mornings, 9 a.m. to noon. Regular volunteer hours at the Ag Center.
- Saturday, November 14. The last regular Saturday of the Los Ranchos Growers' Market's 34th season, 8 to 11 a.m. From December through April, the market moves to second Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon. Loose Leaf Farm, featured in the Village's 2026 newsletter, has been coming to the market since winter 2015.
- Friday, November 6. A Kermit Lynch wine dinner at La Quinta at Los Poblanos, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Down the road, the Campo menu is moving to winter squash, root vegetables and hearty greens as the season turns.
A small timing detail
The Village is launching a new website on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Registration pages, program hours and the survey link listed here may move during the switch. The Ag Center page asks visitors to be patient while it changes over.
Adrian has always paid close attention to how land is used in the North Valley: the acequias, the open fields and the long lots that set Los Ranchos apart from the rest of the metro. If you own here and want to know how a nearby Village investment like this one figures into your property's story, Adrian Montgomery can walk you through it over coffee. You can also start with a Home Valuation request.