Letter from your Agroecology Coordinator - wwoof wwoof

Dear Farm Fam,

You may or may not have noticed a lack of presence from your Agroecology Coordinator this past month and that would be due to the fact that I have not been at Freetown Farm since the day after our lovely Food by Freetown dinner. I began my journey to New Mexico that following Saturday for my ‘sabbatical’ where I will be working at two different regenerative ag farms, a month each, through the WWOOF program (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms)! After moving out of my Baltimore apartment and packing up my car I began my trek across the country with Peter, who some of you may remember as our previous agriculture coordinator in 2022-’23. We saw lush forests in North Carolina, gasped at sun tinged mountains in Tennessee, dipped in hot springs in Arkansas, and ate delicious latin food in Oklahoma City where I said goodbye to Peter and continued to the Black Kettle National Grasslands – or so I thought! I instead found myself raptured by covid and holed away in a hotel until I regained my energy (not in my original itinerary!).​

During my time in isolation I was able to reflect more on what I saw during my travels and noted that every corner of this country has something to marvel at. I have done other partial or full cross-country roadtrips but I was able to take a largely new route on this drive. A few relevant highlights are;

• The Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina and Tennessee offered old growth forest stands (400 yrs old!) filled with loblolly pines, ponderosa pines, and many species of oak trees. I also was gifted with an Eastern newt sighting and the call of an owl which I was not able to identify (sorry Terri, I couldn’t pull out Merlin fast enough!)
• The Memphis River Parks system boasted myriad native species along the Mississippi River in a city-wide effort to diversify Memphis landscapes. I was giddy walking by rattlesnake master, river birch, and blueberries as I treated myself to a cooling ice cream treat. I was also pleased to see a 3rd space such as the river park being used by many on a blisteringly hot Sunday afternoon; basketball, biking, and boating were some of the activities the Memphians were engaged in as we strolled past the historic Beale Street. Go Memphis!​

• The Myriad Botanical Gardens in Oklahoma City offered my weary (and unknowingly covid ridden) bones respite from the midday sun as I dozed under the shade of oak trees, surrounded by native (pawpaw, swamp milkweed, rosemallow…) and introduced (Australian fan palm, Japanese yew, Jamaican poinsettia…) species in the center of a relatively large metropolitan area! This free garden space was the highlight of my time in Oklahoma last time I traveled through the state and remains so this time around as well.

When I finally made it to New Mexico (covid free) I made my way to Loose Leaf Farm in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque; my host farm for the month of September. Driving through what I learned is a historic agricultural reserve in the city, I was shocked at the breathtaking amount of small-scale (~0.5-40 acres) farming taking place in the neighborhood. Situated in the North Valley near the Rio Grande, Los Ranchos has been rooted in agriculture for years and the community is staving off the purchasing of farmland to be developed into houses and neighborhoods.

Contrary to the common East Coaster belief, New Mexico is not just barren desert. It is home to awe-inspiring mountains, like the Sandias, riparian wonderlands, such as Rio Grande Basin, and yes, desert and scrub lands that are teeming with life. There is a strong connection to the land in Los Ranchos - a common thread I have found in my exploration of New Mexico thus far. The farmers markets are flush with local produce from Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos and Esapnola and attended by many. There are restaurants that purchase a majority of their ingredients from local farmers. A food preservation lending library has been established through Bernalillo County Extension Office and UNM where you can borrow dehydrators, canning materials, and food processors (can we get on that HoCo?). And while not as popular as the East there are still many CSA’s to choose from. I am lucky enough to be here during the chile harvest when the iconic red and green New Mexican chiles are roasted at market, filling the air with a smell inextricably linked with autumn in New Mexico. 

Alas, all it is not just chiles and rainbows in this bucolic dream of a neighborhood (although I have been shocked by the number of rainbows bursting over the mountain tops in my short time here). The extreme concentration of wealth and cost of land in this part of Albuquerque make access to long term farming a real challenge - an issue felt by many across the country. Mark and Sarah, the couple who founded Loose Leaf Farm, are well aware of this challenge as they currently lease the ~4 acres they have been working on since 2020. Farming using regenerative practices is a labor of love and requires a lot of time and energy to not only sustain healthy soils but also build new fertile soil. However, when you are investing in soil that you lease rather than own, it can feel like you are setting someone else up for success rather than your own livelihood. This is the case for many who farm in Los Ranchos where wealthy landowners lease their land for others to grow on, allowing those who own the property to cash in on the agricultural tax break. While it is wonderful to be able to take advantage of arable land, it can create challenges when thinking about the long term sustainability of one’s farming operation. And there are also those who still irrigate large green lawns rather than farming – a sight that sorely reminds me of the history of lawns as a status symbol.

During my month at Loose Leaf Farm, I have been trying to learn as much as I can from a farm that focuses primarily on fruit and vegetable production. Believe it or not, this part of Albuquerque is in growing zone 7b - the same as Freetown Farm. This means I have been surrounded by many familiar favorite veggies, although often of different varieties. Some of the familiar tasks I’ve done are saving young plants being choked out by weeds, protecting crops from pests with row cover, planting seeds for fall crops, and harvesting my heart out! Some new territory has been prepping for CSA pickup, mucking the goat pen (an annual task thanks to the deep bedding method), moving the chicken tractor, and harvesting apples for both humans and livestock. 

While I’ll be sad to say goodbye to my Loose Leaf friends, I am looking forward to my October, which I’ll be spending with Chelenzo Farms. I hope to offer more insights into New Mexican agriculture in next month’s newsletter, but until then I hope that everyone has been enjoying the East Coast fall (I am sad to be missing October in Maryland – it's truly a magical time of year).

Ever Growing,
Simon