Three Sisters fundraiser
By Sally High and Rose Chavez | Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership
The Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership (GGP) invites the community to our biggest fundraiser of 2023 on Nov. 11 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association Clubhouse.
Live music, prize-winning photography, and great food highlight the celebration of the Three Sisters — corn and beans and squash.
The term “Three Sisters” refers to these three plants, grown together for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples cultivated the Three Sisters across the North American continent. Here in the Four Corners, successful varieties were selected through countless generations of pre-Colombian farming. European newcomers quickly recognized that the Three Sisters are easy to grow in the short-season high desert.
You are invited to share your favorite recipes that feature corn, beans or squash, or a combination of these native plants. Pumpkins are squash. Whether you have a new recipe you want to try or a treasured family recipe from generations past, you are encouraged to celebrate the Three Sisters with the GGP community.
Guests will bring their favorite dishes for others to taste. All guests will enjoy a taste of the array of dishes. Expert tasters will award prizes for favorite dishes in a variety of imaginative categories. The GGP will serve a savory succotash stew with a green salad, and sweet pumpkin cookies and muffins. All guests share this feast and share ideas and recipes.
The first Native woman-owned brewery, based in Albuquerque, N.M., will be featured at the GGP’s Three Sisters event.
The GGP will also offer blue corn meal for sale at the event. This blue corn meal is grown from non-GMO heirloom seed. It’s a real delicacy. This gourmet blue corn meal is rarely offered in stores.
Live music will be provided by local favorites Brooks-I and Cuatro Cruz. The amazing Pagosa Springs Photography Club will lead the photography exhibit, although photographs from all amateur and professional photographers are welcome. Contact ggp@pagosagreen.org to donate a photograph to benefit the GGP or to volunteer for this event.
The GGP is a homegrown, grassroots, educational 501(c)(3). The volunteer- and donation-driven nonprofit organization operates three dome greenhouses in Centennial Park. Weminuche Audubon’s Native Plants Garden and the Rotary Club’s Xeric Garden share the GGP site. The GGP is truly a partnership.
Proceeds from Three Sisters at Your Thanksgiving Table will benefit the GGP and its ongoing community-service operations. Tickets can be purchased at www.pagosagreen.org and donations can always be made at www.coloradogives.org/geothermalgreenhousepartnership.
Cooks who bring a dish to share are admitted at no cost. A regular ticket is $50 for adult guests. Seniors and veterans are $20. Tickets for children between 5 and 12 years old are $10 and for teens are $20. Tickets for youngsters under 5 years old are free. GGP supporters can sponsor a veteran for this Veterans Day event by purchasing a veteran’s ticket at www.pagosagreen.org.
Contact the GGP at ggp@pagosagreen.org to volunteer for Three Sisters or to donate. The GGP is “Growing Food and Community with Local Energy.”
