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by Richard Bernard
What does a farm in the upper Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico do during the cold winter months? Many would think that it gets a well deserved long sleep. It might look like this, especially when a layer of snow (that never stays for long) blankets the valley; but in fact all the fields have been cover-cropped with blends of cereals (triticale, spring oats, winter rye) and legumes (hairy vetch, Austrian winter pea, clover) and by late winter our greenhouse is already hosting our first onion and perennials sowings.
Before the acequia (main ditch) brings us irrigation water from the Rio Grande, we have no choice but to use our well water which is extremely alkaline. It can induce toxic reaction with some young seedlings, especially peppers. To remedy this problem, we have connected the well with our water catchment tanks that collect monsoon rainwater from our barn roof. A 50/50 blend gives us a perfect pH that allows us to safely water our greenhouse. Cleaning the ditches and burning weeds and leaves keeps us busy outside during the calm and bright sunny days of what has been a mild winter. Our average night temperatures have been in the mid twenties with temperatures going up as far as the mid fifties in the middle of the day. The spring winds have even started to blow certain afternoons.
This is also the time when we select from a large pool of qualified applicants to our internship program. We plan to have 4 or 5 interns this year, starting in mid-April and finishing up as the growing season winds down in mid-October. The interns will focus on projects around soil improvement, variety trials, seed selection and food distribution. We are also in the process of implementing a permaculture-based landscape design around our farmhouse and we are hoping that at least one of our interns will be interested to participate in this project.
So, everything looks calm in appearance here under the old cottonwoods, but things are shaping up for the coming season and we all look forward to it…
IFOAM Coming to Santa Fe
Seeds of Change will host the first IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) Conference on Plant and Animal Breeding in Santa Fe, New Mexico from August 25 until August 28.
Both organic plant and animal breeding are in the early phases of development, although they have a great deal in common, primarily socio-economic aspects, but also genotype-environment interaction, genetic diversity, and robustness. Organic breeding includes the efforts of professional companies involved in the organic market, university-based researchers, as well as participatory initiatives between farmers and professional breeders.
The upcoming conference will encourage dialogue between commercial and subsistence farmers; scientists and practitioners; professional farmers and home-scale gardeners/livestock keepers to promote the lively exchange of experiences and perspectives on organic breeding. Our hope is that each field will inspire the other to develop and build upon successful strategies. Even though technical aspects may differ dramatically, organic farms ideally utilize integrated systems while maximizing the use of limited resources. Bringing both animal and plant breeding together in one international conference explicitly highlights the important interdependences and holistic approach of organic agriculture.
The conference will be divided into three sections for both animal and plant breeding: methods, socioeconomic aspects, and legal aspects. We will also be offering two tours as part of the conference: Picuris Pueblo and the Inter Tribal Bison Program on Tuesday August 25; Seeds of Change Farm & Gardens on Friday August 28; Santa Fe Farmers Market on Saturday August 29.
New Faces at Seeds of Change
As we continue to work towards strengthening our presence in the organic seed market and emphasizing education outreach programs at our farm in New Mexico, we are delighted to welcome 3 new associates to our Research and Development Team.
Terry Allan is our new Product Development & Sales Coordinator focused on professional growers on the West Coast. She is based out of Sebastopol, CA.
Lindsay “Gypsy” Dozoretz, one of our former interns, joins us as Marketing & Education Coordinator, Sustainability Lead. She is based out of SOC Farm & Gardens in New Mexico.
Eero Ruuttila brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the award winning Nesenkeag Farm in Litchfield, New Hampshire to his new position as Research Farm and Gardens Manager in New Mexico.
Terry, Lindsay, and Eero were gracious to share their fascinating stories with us, read them here.
Richard Bernard,
Seeds of Change Research Director
Photo Captions: (1) Our greenhouses allow us to start seedlings, evaluate pre-treatment conditions of difficult-to-germinate species, and evaluate best management practices for greenhouse transplant production. (2) Thousands of onions have already been planted in the Research Farm's greenhouse.
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