"There’s two properties. There's the one where we have most of our vegetable production, and then there's another property. It's about an acre where we will be growing more food crops this year, where we have the goats, and we rotate them around on pasture or surrounding the field. I think my favorite spot is this back corner that's really lush pasture. There's a lot of shrubs and trees. It's just a really beautiful and abundant green space. That makes me think about what's possible in the desert. Also, since that is the pasture we rotate the goats through, it's been really cool to watch how the plant communities have changed with the goats being there. We have a lot more diversity instead of just grass. More clover, dandelions, and other things coming up and watching that change and seeing how animals are having this positive impact on that space, that's really lovely."

Can you share what motivated you to start your farm and the story behind it?

"It has been a curious road to get where we are. I have been farming for around 15 years, for a while. I started farming at Chispas Farm and I managed a farm at a Cottonwood Gulch. Then I was managing and became the director of the Desert Oasis Teaching Garden. It was during that time that I was thinking a lot about feed, so that's really my work; that's really the focus of our farm, in many ways, the seed stewardship. Really thinking about; What does it mean to have a resilient food system and feeling like we can grow lots of local food, even if we don't have a strong seed network? If most of our seed is coming from other parts of the country or other parts of the world, is that really a resilient food system? What does it mean to grow regionally adapted crops? What does it mean to steward and really intentionally bring in the culture, the history, and the traditions of this place? What does it mean to intentionally steward and adapt new crops? How can we actively be working on new varieties of things that are from this place? That was really the initial idea of what the farm would be. Then I met my partner, Stuart, who is deaf, so accessibility, especially language accessibility, and thinking about disability and justice on the farm also became an important part of what we wanted to do. We didn't have land for the first two years. We were growing other places, but hosting community events. Then in 2020, we started growing on a different property in the South Valley. We grew there for two years before then we moved to Vermont for three years. We kept farming in Vermont. We have continued to farm, we have continued to save seed, and we've continued to do all of these things, but we haven't been in one place. We moved back to New Mexico in the summer of 2024. Now, the 2 properties that I mentioned, we are in those spaces. Still up growing and saving seed since we've been back. We've also been able to lean in a little more to education and that works towards language justice and disability work. With the support of another group, we were able to have a paid intern for 5 months. A young deaf woman who was really curious about learning about agriculture and learning about teaching agriculture. That sort of model is what we're really excited about. How do we keep doing seed work? How do we keep education as a big part of our work and how are we bringing in focus on language justice and disability?"

What are key practices you use to farm this land?

"Regenerative is a term that often comes up, and for us there's many reasons why I prefer not to use that term. A lot of the practices we are thinking about includes thinking about, how can we steward with intention? Are we keeping the ground covered? Are we promoting biodiversity? Are we maintaining living roots? Really trying to have that biology, so the diversity above ground is fostering diversity of organisms below ground. A lot of what we do is pre-tending the soil and the plants that we are able to grow or are there because of the soil. We do a lot of cover cropping, no till, we use broad forks. We're trying to maintain as much crop residue in the field. We mulch and put things back in place. We leave that there and try to build organic matter that way. We have goats, and we rotate them on one of the fields that we have. Goats also create a lot of waste, and that becomes the foundation of our compost. We are making all of the compost that we use on the farm, which is really exciting. Stuart previously worked at Soilutions at another point in his life. He is really an expert compost maker. Those are some of the key things. It's interesting to now have lived and grown in very different environments. Vermont is completely different. Soil health there is absolutely essential, like the key piece. Something that's particularly important to name as we think about soil health within an arid region is to think about how building organic matter in the soil is also increasing our water holding capacity, which is another essential part of growing in these desert landscapes. Another piece there for us, is that we're not disturbing the soil, we are trying to actively cultivate more mycelial connections and fungally dominated soils because mycorrhizal fungi are able to support and help transport water through different systems. The water, as it relates to soil, is really important. Another key part of our practices, that is worth just uplifting, is thinking about variety is the crops that are adapted to this region. Some of the foods that we are growing, people have been growing these crops for thousands of years. So, the crops have the genetic memory and are able to withstand the fluctuations, temperature, and precipitation. There are a time and a place to have seeds in storage. Seeds don't belong in a museum. They need to be grown. They're living and learning, and to adapt crops to our environment means that they have to grow in it every year. That's another important piece about what we're doing. We grew some crops from Vermont last year just to see. I had made new plant friends in Vermont, and I wanted to keep growing them, but it was so interesting to notice how well they did, or not. The times when they struggled, compared to the plants that are from here and it's 110 degrees out and they are fine. That tenacity and adaptation of those plants just astound me every time, even though I've been growing them for ten to twelve years."

What perspective do you want the next generation of farmers to gain from your farm?

"One that really stands out to me is seed stewardship, and the connection between seed sovereignty and food sovereignty. It's really important to have those conversations. I hope to have and hold a space that we can really explore together with those ideas. We are doing education work. We love sharing the farm. We love thinking about how people are learning. As a young farmer, I wish that I early on had more opportunities to talk about food systems. The young folks weren't just any of the folks that came to our farm, some of them maybe became farmers. I love the conversations that we have that are broader food systems aligned. There are so many different ways to plug in. We need distributors. We need people who are making and processing. We need people who are involved in advocacy. We need people who are cooking food and feeding the community. We need storytellers. All of this is part of our food system. I want the farm and what we bring to young people and others to be more of that conversation. The other big piece for us is farming. Generally, the broader narrative around farming is very ableist and wanting to have a space for conversations about different ways of doing it. Stuart is deaf and has that experience. I live with other disabilities that also impact how I'm able to grow and there was a period of time where I didn't think that I belonged anymore because of those disabilities. Being able to have conversations about how there are so many different ways to be involved, how to continue to grow and imagine new systems. That's another big piece that I want to pass on and share.   We all belong. I am a geographer in my training, so I think a lot about how we can design things in different ways. We can have pathways that allow for wheelchairs but also allow for strollers or walkers. Do we have multigenerational spaces? Who are we building spaces for and how are we cultivating a sense of belonging? Not ‘you could be here,’ but you belong here. You deserve to be here. We want you here."

In what ways is the community involved in your farm? If not, what would that community involvement look like to you?