Post Apocalypse Fire Sale Tomorrow!

Tomorrow Saturday July 11 at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market

We just finished harvesting most of the bruised Chard and Kale and made giant bunches for tomorrow's Farmers Market.  This is super nitrogen charged food, blessed by the heavens and harvested with great humility and gratitude.

Come visit us at our booth near the water tower and get a free hug!

This morning, the summer squash are already full of flowers and our beloved bees are hard at work pollinating.
Thank you for all the messages of love and support we received!  It helped us quickly weather the shock of our garden being creamed by a hailstorm. 

The best message we got was from Brian, a friend, neighbor and dedicated volunteer.


Boy howdy, what a storm. As if one round wasn't enough. I was under the cover of the back patio when it hit. The patio is roofed with cheap tin so the racket was movie theater intense. I was mesmerized by the storm's ferocity and tenacity when my mind went straight to my apple tree. Protect it! 17 apples as big as golf balls. I ran to the front yard, grabbed an empty 32 gallon garbage can and positioned it over my head with one hand like a strange hat as I tried with the other hand to cover the small tree with a trash bag. I had more hail being deflected to the crack of my ass from the garbage can so I blanketed the tree with the trash bag and ran for cover. I got busy again with carpentry and it wasn't til this morning that I walked the front garden landscape and saw the damage. The tree was OK but not the other plants. Then I came inside and read your email.

Farming to you folks must seem like doing penance. I was raised Catholic and penance is good action one does with the intent of making up for a past sin. Atonement. I'm not saying you farmers are sinners but you have to wonder what with your external risks like a raucous and pesty neighbor who happens to be a retired lawyer, a city administration that's not very favorable to your goals, a potential property foreclosure, and the cultural bias that puts farming a notch above gutter cleaning and gun fighting, and the internal risks like squash bugs, a shallow well, too much sun, lack of labor, and HAIL to name but a few, you must wonder when your efforts will be recognized by the benevolent gods that be. But you start thinking that way and superstition gains a foothold. And that is why I'm as much a Catholic today as my tail is residual.

What a fucking storm. I hope your hearts and motivation regenerates, that your plants regenerate as well as can be wished. It's a trite mention but keep up the fantastic work. The small community that supports and understands you obviously loves you and roots for you.

Your pal, Brian

Hail Storm and Bruised Heart

 























I started harvesting early for our CSA this morning. I like being in the garden alone when the sun is rising, especially after rains like we've had. Everything is so vibrant. 

Yesterday, I was on squash bug patrol in our summer and winter squash fields, admiring the growth of the plants, their stretching into the sun, their amazing flowers and their vitality.



When you've been pampering thousands of plants for months, you can't help but visualize the fruits of your labor and devotion. Names like Waltham Butternut, Boston Marrow, Blue Hubbard, Table Acorn, Gila Cliff Dweller (my favorite), Mayo Blusher and Magdalena Big Cheese evoke the peak of the harvest in the fall when a farmer proudly displays these amazing heirloom varieties at the Farmers' Market. 

There's a thrill around this time of the year when everything is exploding, climbing, flowering and showering you with beauty. 

Since mid January, we've been seeding and transplanting thousands upon thousands of plants, in the cold, in the wind, in the dark, racing with time to get everything planted. 

New Mexico has a short growing season. You ought to be very precise with your timing, especially with peppers, eggplants, melons, winter squash and tomato or they never get to mature before the first frost. As you get more years under your belt, you get more proficient with your timing and rotations. Abundance begins to manifest. 

Around this time of the year, when everything is finally planted, you get to relax some and reap the fruits of months of hard labor.



And then comes a hail storm. 

Like today. 40 minutes of continuous hail, shredding plants with a 125mph velocity. 



I remember my first hail storm two years ago, in our second year at Gaia Gardens.  I sought refuge in the tool shed and watched the hail fall. I started crying. I was devastated. All this work for months to get your entire crop shredded to pieces.



Today, I sat on the couch in our shop and watched the hail storm. I was better prepared, having survived two storms in previous years. I was with Dominique and Rachel, our intern. I could feel every hail stone as if it was hitting my own body. I was staying cool in the presence of my partner and intern but truly, my heart was getting bruised just like the plants were.



The storm lasted an eternity. 



When it finally stopped, we saw someone coming down to the farm, obviously looking for us.  Lily, a master gardener who's been to the farm and bought plants from us, was coming to see if she could help cover the plants.  

I was deeply touched by her concern and her coming to help. I told her it was too late and that covering the plants can crush them under the weight of the hail.




Lili, Rachel and I walked the garden, inspecting the damage. Chard, summer squash and winter squash leaves are very tender. They get completely shredded by hail. Sunflower leaves were pretty sad, basil will turn black because it is so sensitive to cold, tomato fruits and young squash will be bruised.

  Dino Kale and Collard are robust and did not show any sign of damage. Russian Kale gets pretty beat up in a hail storm.



As I walked the garden, a deep sadness came over me. It is so difficult to make a living as a small farmer. Last year, our best year, I barely made $10,000. Imagine if I had kids to feed! I make less money that a dishwasher at MacDonald. 

I work from sunrise to sunset seven days a week every day of the year.

  After 5 years of farming, I am coming to some difficult realizations. Small scale farming like we practice, in the desert, on less than an acre, without machinery and with very little water (our well is shallow and doesn't produce enough) is unsustainable. I work all the time and am tired all the time. I don't have any life outside the farm.

 
I feel like we were handed a mission in attempting to establish an urban farm in Santa Fe. The previous administration nearly managed to sink us by their utter lack of understanding and sensitivity.

  The current administration, under the leadership of Mayor Javier Gonzalez, has invited us to help created a vision for a sustainable Santa Fe and shape a comprehensive urban agriculture ordinance.



As difficult as it's been, we've made a huge impact on the city and hopefully have opened the way for more food production to take place in Santa Fe (as it once was!). 



We've just completed a beautiful documentary (Bringing Food Home, soon to be shown at the CCA) that took two years to create and have inspired many people though our tenacity, commitment to service and willingness to embrace all the challenges coming our way-a neighbor and administration bent on destroying us, the uncertainty of being on a property on the brink of foreclosure and relying on a well that should have run dry many year ago 

I feel sad. 

I feel the predicament of all farmers on this planet. Especially indigenous people. I understand why farmers in India are committing suicide, in shame of not being able to repay their debt and feed their family.



I worry. 

I worry about the future of farming. I worry about climate change.



I chuckle when I hear people say "let's grow with hydroponics or aquaponics". Yes, we will need to grow indoors as climatic conditions become more and more erratic but can we grow wheat, corn, potato or winter squash indoors?  

And where would I get the money to built a hi-tech year-round indoor hydroponic growing facility? 



When people tell me that the prices at the Farmers Market are high, I want to scream. The question for me is on whose back is the low price we get at the grocery store and who makes the profit? The answer is simple. Undocumented, immigrant workers slave away in large commercial farm operations and endure terrible working conditions, extremely low wages, no security, health hazards and abuse, while the stock holders of large agro companies reap large profits.



Isn’t ironic and sad that the people who grow our food are the lowest paid workers on the planet when they provide some of the hardest work?




We ought to understand (and educate our friends) the meaning and implications of buying at the Farmers Market (vs. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, etc.) as a way to keep money circulating locally and keeping agriculture land in production. If farmers cannot make a living, their children will not take up farming. Agricultural land will fall in the hands of developers, agricultural water rights will be lost and the local farming tradition will soon disappear.


Please support your local farmers. Buy at the Farmers Market and tell all your friends to do the same. 


After the storm.....

Add caption

 



 

Catching Up-Pics and Ramble

Our main propagation house where plants get started in January

Time flies!  We've been so busy this year that posting on this blog has taken a back seat...

After resting for a couple weeks over the Christmas Holidays, we started seeding greens, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants on January 20th.   Around 13,000 plants were started this year, religiously following the Biodynamic Calendar.  Half of them got planted at the farm, the rest have been sold at the Farmers Market or planted at the school gardens that we manage.

The crew that helped stretched the greenhouse plastic

A new greenhouse was built in February to accommodate our increased production.  1,500 tomato plants were nurtured in the new greenhouse between March and June, and we're happy to report that we sold them all!


Winter is when we make Barrel Compost, a Biodynamic soil amendment invented by Maria Thun.

Mixing fresh cow poop with egg shells, basalt and Biodynamic preps

The barrel where mixture gets buried for 6 months

Dominique rototilling the winter rye/hairy vetch cover crop

Creating a new perennial flower and herb garden in front of our farm stand

Harvesting greens at the Monte del Sol Charter School garden

Dominique and Rachel repairing the Horno

Dominique and Marlene transplanting young seedlings

Nanda and Rachel unloading horse compost

At the Master Gardeners Fair in May

Our double booth at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market on Saturdays

This season, we've increased our plant production and have been selling a record number of plant starts to discriminate gardeners. It is part of our strategy to maintain a year-round presence at the Farmers Market.  The sale of plant starts accounts for 40% of our revenues.

Our First-Monday-of-the-Month Community Potlucks continue to be well attended. Next potluck is Monday July 6 @ 6:00pm

Volunteers preparing one of our tomato beds

Our 91 Toyota truck is now equipped with a rack over the hood to carry all our goods to the Farmers Market.  Thank you Steve from Dulfer Metal for the great addition to our farm truck! 

Judy, Audrey, Dominique and Kim preparing a second tomato bed

 Seed balls making party

We just finished harvesting our garlic and it is selling fast!  You can order yours now for $10/lb.  We also have garlic braids ranging from $17-$25. 

Poki and Dominique practicing Qigong!

Property purchase update

To date we've raised $26,000 in donations, have another $80,000 pledged by two Foundations, and we are willing to match this with our own savings to purchase the property.  We anticipate that the bank will want a minimum of $350,000.  A real estate attorney is helping us and the property owner find the best possible strategy for making an offer to bank before the property goes into foreclosure.  

We've been approached by, and have had several conversations with a group interested in starting a private elementary school that would use the farm as its classroom. The idea of having an alternative school at the farm is very attractive to us. 


UPCOMING EVENTS

Plant Sale
Sunday July 12
11:00am-1:00pm

Basket Weaving Workshop
Sunday July 12
1:00-3:00pm

Plant Sale July 12, 11:00am-1:00pm

 

















We still have lots of flower, herb and vegetable starts

Come tour the farm on July 12 from 11:00am-1:00pm and get incredible deals on plant starts

FLOWERS
Amaranth (Burgundy)
Amaranthus (Love lies bleeding)
Bachelor Button
Blue Statice
Bottle Gourd
Calendula (Resina)
Chinese Lantern
Chrysanthemum (Edible)
Cosmos (Psyche White)
Four O'Clock
Foxglove (Apricot)
Marigold
Hyssop
Larkspur
Lobelia trailing
Nicotiana
Portulaca
Red Amaranth (Edible)
Rudbeckia
Snapdragon
Sunflower (Autumn Beauty)
Sunflower (Mammoth)
sunflower (tarahumara)
Zinnia (Cactus mix)
Zinnia (California Giant)
Zinnia (Fantasy)


HERBS
Bloody Dock (Red Sorrel)
Borage
Catnip
Cayenne Pepper
Chamomile
Chervil
Comfrey
Feverfew
Dill
Marjoram
MUGWORT
Oregano
Plantain
Savory
Spearmint
St. John’s Wort
Wormwood

VEGETABLES
Russian Kale
Dino Kale
Curly Kale
Collards
Kohlrabi
Parsley
Sorrel
Summer squash

Basket Weaving Workshop Sunday July 12 1:00-3:00pm

 


















Facilitated by Dave Thorp from Sunstar Herbs and Horned Locust Goatscaping.

Commercial farms like Gaia Gardens use a drip irrigation called T-tape. These irrigation lines usually get replaced every 3-5 years and are thrown away. However T-tape can be weaved into beautiful and long-lasting baskets.

Join us for a fun and creative gathering with herbalist, goat herder and authentic New Mexico homesteader Dave Thorp.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend.   Potluck. 

Suggested donation $10

Location: Gaia Gardens   Directions 

 

Planting Party Sunday May 24

11:00am-2:00pm

Sunday is a fruit day in the Biodynamic calendar 
We'll be planting Squash, Zucchini, Scarlett Runner Bean, Cucumber, Tomato and more
Consider joining us for a fun day at the farm
Kids always appreciated
Musicians always tipped
LUNCH PROVIDED

Please RSVP if you plan to attend so we know how many people we need to feed

We'll also have plant starts (vegetables, herbs and flowers) and tomato plants for sale during that event.

Hope to see many of you.

Dominique, Rachel and Poki

Documentary Growing Cities playing tonight Wed. May 20 at the Violet Crown in Santa Fe

The documentary Growing Cities playing tonight May 20 @ 6:45pmat the new Violet Crown Theater in the Railyard

Gaia Gardens will be on the panel discussion following the movie

For info and tickets see here