By Donne Gonzales, NMAA Farm Trainer
On November 18th, 2024, we joyfully wrapped up a successful farm year for our amazing 2024 cohort! From April to November, we worked hand in hand, growing a bounty of beautiful vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Together, we planted with care and watched our garden dreams bloom!
Our “Three Sisters” patch was full of life, though we had a mischievous skunk—who loved to take on our delicious maiz concho! Inside the hoop houses, we had an amazing harvest of turnips, carrots, radishes, kale, chard, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, basil, and more.
The fruit harvest was especially sweet this year! We turned our juicy cherries, apricots, apples, and plums into tasty treats like syrups, pies, jelly, and apple cider.
But it wasn’t just on the farm where the Sembradores thrived. Each member of our cohort also had their own home garden adventures!
- Elba in Albuquerque grew an amazing mix of chili peppers, corn, watermelons, tomatoes, and amaranth. 🌶️🍉
- Juan had a fabulous three sisters patch, plus chili peppers, basil, chamomile, amaranth, garbanzos, and more! 🌽🌿
- Nicholas, with his high-altitude garden, started a little later due to frosts, but he still managed to grow a variety of herbs, flowers, and veggies—and kept the squirrels at bay! 🐿️🌻
- Lali started as a volunteer, but quickly became an inspiring teacher and sembradora! Her enthusiasm and knowledge of lasagna gardening, tribal traditions, and sustainable practices were invaluable to us. 🌍💚
The Sembradores plan to continue cultivating gardens, enhancing soil health, and working closely with the community to ensure the success of gardens, acequias, and farmers’ markets. One of the Sembradores is ready to move forward with envisioning his LLC with a focus on gardening and value added goodies, feeling confident in his past knowledge and skills gained over the past year. Two members are excited to share their newfound expertise with family and friends both in-state and beyond, in places like Nevada and Wisconsin. Additionally, one Sembrador has recently begun working on a soil health project in Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.
I am SO proud of this group! They’ve shown incredible passion, creativity, and hard work, and I know they’ll continue to grow and succeed in gardening, ranching, and beyond!
We will begin our 2025 program in April. If you are interested please feel free to contact Donne Gonzales at Donne@lasacequias.org . We have a Sembradores application form if you feel interested in filling it out, https://forms.gle/cytZNunC6J1TePubA.
Here’s to more learning, more growing, and lots of garden joy!
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