Greetings to you on this beautiful snowy day!
I recently attended a Biodynamic preparations workshop in Colorado where we made Horn Manure which is the basis for soil fertility and the renewal of degraded soils. I have been using various Biodynamic preparations since we started the farm, in particular the Field Spray which aids the transformation of organic materials already in the soil into humus, and the Compost Starter used for creating healthy, effective compost. But getting the "transmission" from Lloyd Nelson was extraordinary. Needless to say that this winter, I will be busy reading Steiner's major writings on agriculture!
It's been a while since I found the time to write anything substantial on this blog. For one thing, the farm being prevented by City codes to operate with groups of volunteers has kept me quite busy to say the least! And in addition to running the farm, I have inherited the management of the property as the owner now lives in Colorado, and have been dealing with the many building repairs imposed by the City.
If you've been wondering how we've been doing, I am happy to report that we are doing quite well. As much uncertainty as we are in regarding the fate of the property and our ability to continue operating as a farm, we've been proceeding as if we will indeed do another farming season here. As the harvest season came to a near stop (we still have chard, kale and collard growing), we have been busy putting the garden to sleep. During the winter, much activitiy goes on underground and nourishing the soil with both compost, cover crops and love is essential to building the soil health that next year's plant will depend on. During the summer, we made over 30 yards (over 9 tons!) of compost from food scraps donations from the Food Depot and coffee grounds from Dulce. All that yummy compost has been turned in the garden beds and they've been mulched with straw. The straw keeps the soil protected from the damaging effects of UVs and in the early spring, keeps the weeds from growing. I find all that work winterizing the garden very nourishing, as if putting a child to sleep. Along with the garden, I get ready to go underground, dreaming of the sun's return and slowing down after a season that had the furious pace of a marathon!
Despite all the hurdles thrown at us by the City and neighbor, two hail storms and some major crop failures (cucumbers in particular) we managed to double the volume of food we grew last year. In our tiny 1/3 acre farm, we managed to grow some 10,000lbs of the most delicious and nutritious produce.
This fall, we've been creating some new beds on the farm slopes. They will benefit from a better and longer sun exposure and some (berms) will only be watered with rainfall. We used corn and sunflower stalks, garden waste, horse manure and recycle potting soil from the Santa Fe Greenhouses nursery to build the bulk of the soil in these new areas. Some of the berms edges have already been seeded with wild flowers.
Remember Brian DeBenedetti (left), my friend from Seattle who helped us build our first greenhouse last year? Well, he's back in Santa Fe and is busy building our new luxury walk-in chicken coop (formerly an old root cellar) with the assistance of Kim (right), one of our beloved volunteers.
Speaking of volunteers, ever since the City restricted us to using only 2 volunteers at a time, our volunteer help has dwindled. I am not one to ask for help very often but we need to beef up our circle of volunteers to support and nurture our project if we want to have a successful impact on urban agriculture in Santa Fe. Any help is appreciated. We are always busy building, preparing beds, sorting seeds, organizing, turning compost, tending to our feathered friends, writing grants or magazine articles and even making a documentary! If you have any time and energy to spare, we can always find something interesting for you to do. Our intention in this grand adventure is to share our experience and knowledge with our community in order to make it more resilient and self-sufficient. If interested in volunteering, please email Dominique.
The City also prevented us from lodging interns (wwoofers) in a trailer. In June, the workforce that we were planning to depend on for the operation of the farm was taken away. We receive a lot of requests from young people interested in urban farming and we want and need to be able to accommodate them next year. Because we don't have the facilities to lodge them, we are looking for host families for next season. Wwoofers usually stay from one week to a month. We provide them with a bicycle and give them a $40 stipend a week for food. If interested in hosting one of our wwoofers next year, please contact me ASAP as we already have a waiting list of interns for 2014.
The situation raised by our project has revealed the inadequacy of Santa Fe's codes to support urban farming. An ordinance specifically tailored to urban agriculture is in the works and in the hands of the Santa Fe Food Policy Council which has just released the draft of its Food Plan.
Thanks to our input, they've incorporated the following goals in their draft:
- Work with Santa Fe County to incorporate land use allowances for agricultural activity into the Sustainable Land Development Code. Potential Partners: Santa Fe County Growth Management and Land Use Department, Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners, Water and Soil Conservation Districts, local farmers and non-profits
- Develop a Residential Agriculture Home Occupation Permit to protect neighborhood and farm interests within the city by setting policies for uses, traffic, infrastructure, employees and visitors. Potential Partners: City of Santa Fe Land Use and Zoning Department, Santa Fe City Council, neighborhood associations, non-profits, farmers, and community members
I've never been particularly interested or involved in local politics but with a 2014 Mayoral election and several vacancies on the city council, I have been attending house parties, labor movement gatherings and other meetings to gauge the position of mayoral and city council candidates on the issue of urban farming. I will soon post my recommendations for the upcoming elections on this blog (Please make sure you are registered to vote. We need to elect a good Mayor and city councilors)
Last year, the Santa Fe chapter of Architecture for Humanity chose Gaia Gardens as the recipient of its Design Santa Fe grant. With the help of many volunteers, they built a beautiful structure that will be used as a future (when the new urban agriculture ordinance passes!) classroom, meeting room, farm stand and food preparation area. Thank you AFH for your kindness and generosity!
We have begun a conversation with a variety of individuals and organizations about the prospect of purchasing the Gaia Gardens property and preserving it as a trust for urban farming. If you have the financial means to help us acquire the property, please contact us.
In closing, I want to express my gratitude to all the people who have supported us and believe in the work that we do. First and foremost my heart goes out to my beloved partner Dominique who keeps an undying faith in our mission and nurtures the land with so much beauty and joy. To Jay Tallmon, the owner of the property, who from the beginning has thrown his faith in our cause. To the children who bless our land with their giggles. To the Santa Fe Farmers Market, the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute (on which Board of Directors I now serve), our CSA members, volunteers, generous donors, our fiscal sponsor the New Mexico Community Foundation, the Los Chamisos Homeowners Association, our neighbors, our attorney Kyle Hardwood, our architect friend Wayne Lloyd who helps us negotiate with the City, David Craver our mechanic who keeps the farm truck running, Aromaland for donating water barrels and Scrapper the cat who keeps us entertained day in and day out.
Thank you all for being part of this wild and fabulous adventure!
Happy Holidays!
PSST!. Gaia Gardens is a non-profit project of the New Mexico Community Foundation, a 501(c)3. Consider donating here.
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