through a roadside museum of art just picked from the fields. There are mosaics of chili peppers, garlic and mesquite beans; magnolia leaves, statice and Virginia creeper; gourds, Indian corn and husks. These natural wreaths and ristras have a distinctly Southwestern flavour, but their aesthetics cross borders and seasons. Numbering more than 1,000 on any given day, they celebrate nature's bounty anytime. The wreaths and their creator, Loretta Valdez -- a tiny woman of Hispanic descent -- are considered state treasures.

But her natural art is shipped far and wide. They have been owned by celebrities such as Dennis Weaver, Don Johnson and Frank Sinatra and have been exhibited at the Hurd Museum in Phoenix, the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos and the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe. They have won awards for craftsmanship and have been featured in National Geographic. And they are great gifts. Their beginnings go back some 30 years, when Loretta Valdez, wife of Herman, wanted more in life than housework and motherhood. She found it in a book. "Before we were married,'' she recalls, "I was an insurance secretary. When we had our second child, I wanted to stay at home. But by the fourth child, I wanted something else. People ... that's what I yearned for.'' She began spending time at the family fruit stand. First she made fruit baskets. Then she canned jellies and jams and sold up to 100 dozen jars each spring. After the Valdez' fifth child was born in 1967, she sought still another creative outlet. "It was too much canning,'' she says. "I also tried crochet and embroidery while sitting in the stand.'' Then she recalled a novel she had read as a child, "Ramona'' by Helen Hunt Jackson. "In the novel,'' she says, "there are two mentions of putting together wreaths of natural ingredients. Allesandro was a young sheepshearer who leaves Ramona a gourd, an ear of corn or other fruits at her window sill to let her know where he would meet her. Their love was forbidden by the woman with whom Ramona lived. "I began remembering that and looking at the fruit and corn and chilies from our orchards. These things could be married, I thought, and my wreaths would be Ramona's love letters.'' Ramona's "love letters'' have grown to a dizzying array, all coming from the generous nature of Mrs. Valdez, who creates the ideas and teaches young locals to make them. Today, there are at least 1,000 wreaths hanging in the Valdez Fruit Stand, representing at least 50 designs by Mrs. Valdez. Dressed in jeans and T-shirt, Mrs. Valdez welcomes visitors as if they had come to share a meal. She guides them from row to row where large wreaths of red chilies, white gourds and Indian corn greet summer and early autumn. Garlic wreaths and braided garlic ristas come later. Then, for the holidays, glass Christmas ornaments decorate wreaths of white corn husks. The design of a Menorah is incorporated into a wreath for Yom Kippur. Though a price tag of $150 isn't unusual, most of the wreaths are in the under-$50 range, starting with a cluster of chili pequin, miniature gourds and Indian corn at $15. Mrs. Valdez says with proper care her decorative pieces can last indoors for 10 years. All are sprayed with acrylic to keep them looking fresh longer. Because of the preservatives, none is edible. For a brochure write or call: Herman Valdez Fruit Stand, P.O. Box 218, Velarde, N.M. 87582-0218, (505) 852-2129. When ordering, allow at least two weeks for wreaths in stock, longer for large or custom designs.