Stanley Crawford

Author & Garlic Farmer

Dixon, NM

10/18/18

The clock ticked forcefully against the silence of the scarlet living room, warmed by the yellow hues of cottonwood shining through a well-centered six-pane window. Adjacent to the neat panes stood a tower of novels, two stories high, each level tilted in discord with the last, elegant in its tenuousness. In every sense of the phrase, Stanley Crawford’s home is self-made. From the adobe bricks to the pinyon pine crossbeams, the house reflects his hard-working and passionate character.

Crawford is a writer, professor, and garlic farmer who owns and operates the El Bosque garlic farm in Dixon, New Mexico, a small town of 800 people nestled between Taos and Santa Fe. Since his arrival in 1969, Stanley has been integrating himself into the Dixon community, serving as a mayordomo (water channel manager), while helping to establish the local co-op. Primarily, Stanley is a garlic farmer, producing many different varieties throughout the spring and summer growing seasons to sell at the surrounding farmers markets in the fall. Stanley also teaches part time in the Southwest Studies department at Colorado College and is a renowned writer of non-fiction. His works primarily focus on ecological issues, including the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory, water management, and of course, garlic farming.

In his parting words to the group, Stanley emphasized the importance of unpacking abstractions, writing shorter sentences, and embracing creativity in writing. Additionally, the students were also introduced to the routines of life on a small farm. Peeling garlic, planting garlic, and eating garlic became our second job. From Stanley, students learned as much about how to live a valuable life as they did about writing and garlic.

By James Baker