Tesuque Farms aims to provide food for all 600 tribal members

Gailey Morgan dreamed about beans.

He was harvesting endless rows of them.

“When I woke up, I realized I really do have to go harvest more beans,” Morgan said with a grin. He still had a whole lot of beans to cut at Tesuque Farms after spending a day harvesting them up the road at the Tesuque Pueblo community fields.

Beans aren’t the only produce Morgan works with at Tesuque Farms, the pueblo’s ambitious three-year-old endeavor to feed all 600 of its tribal members by 2008 and educate others about the importance of local food production.

He and other pueblo staff help farm manager Emigdio Ballon transplant 65,000 seedlings of flowers, herbs, berries and various vegetables each year. This year alone they planted 4,000 sprigs of asparagus, a high-market-value vegetable that grows wild along some acequias. They’ve also planted 750 fruit trees — peaches, pears, plums, cherries, apricots and apples.

As part of its efforts, the pueblo also started a Food and Seed Sovereignty conference, which this year takes place Oct. 12-13.

Along with the crops, the farm is also starting to tend honey bees and raise goats and chickens. The milk, cheese and meat would go to the Tesuque Pueblo Head Start children and the pueblo’s elders.

“We’re thinking in terms of a sustainable community,” Ballon said as he walked among the fruits of all their labor.

The farm is part of the Tesuque Agricultural Initiative, which also includes a seed bank to harvest and store non-genetically modified, heirloom seeds. The goal of the initiative, according to the pueblo, “is to generate enough nutritious, diverse and organic food to feed its members ... and to serve as an educational resource for other indigenous and nonindigenous peoples throughout the Greater Southwest.”

It is, essentially, food security.

From weed-choked fields to plentiful farmlands

The farm began in some weed-choked fields on pueblo land west of U.S. 285. Today, about 15 acres are covered by an orchard, row crops and a blue-corn field. Morgan said the pueblo hosted a harvest festival for the elders a few weeks ago. “They were amazed by what was out here,” he said.

The blue-corn field is a particular source of pride. Ballon brought one ear of Hopi blue corn to the farm two years ago. The first year, they planted a 10-foot by 10-foot plot with the kernels. Horses broke into the little field when the corn was ready and decimated most of it.

“We harvested what we could from it and replanted,” Morgan said. “Now we have an acre of it. That amazes me — from one ear of corn.”

Ballon sees Morgan as one of the talented pueblo youth he hopes will take over managing the farm one day. He tries to instill in them not only the hard-work ethic of raising food, but to remind them of the spiritual importance of harvesting and eating it.

“When we eat these plants, we get from them their power,” Ballon said. “We always ask permission to pick and harvest the plants.”

Ballon came to the pueblo in 2005. A native of Bolivia who speaks four languages, including his native Quechua, he is a co-founder of the organic seed company Seeds of Change. Some of the seeds, such as the beans Morgan dreamed about, are sold through the company.

The goal is to create an almost completely local food supply for the pueblo, grown by pueblo members. “We’re thinking in terms of a sustainable community,” Ballon said as he walked among the fruits of all their labor.

The spiritual aspect of raising food is ever present at the farm. Near the orchard is a small dug-out depression in the earth, surrounded by rocks. It is the near the center of the farm, Ballon said, the well-spring of energy and feeling.

When they harvest, they say prayers. “We have to make a tribute to Mother Earth,” Ballon said.

He compares it to the pueblo dances — another kind of offering. “Usually people get everything from Mother Earth and give nothing back,” he said.

Any soil can produce good food once it is healthy, Ballon said. He uses a technique called biodynamics to restore nutrients in soil using compost.

Among the herbs they grow are lemon balm, valerian (used by herbalists for calming the nerves) and mullein (which sometimes helps ease ear infections). They keep some for the pueblo and sell the rest to herb companies in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Ballon said.

“I’m learning a lot about medicinal plants from this man,” Morgan said, gesturing with respect to Ballon.

Thus far, the farm has suffered little damage from disease or wildlife. Ballon estimates about one percent of the crops have been damaged by insects and elk. He sees it philosophically — another way of sharing a little of the bounty with other creatures.

Re-establishing ancient traditions

With the exception of Head Start and the elderly, though, the farm crew doesn’t give away the harvest — not even to the pueblo residents. On a door into the Tesuque Pueblo governor’s office hangs a list of prices for the bounty: $2.50 for a bunch of carrots, garlic or beets. Frozen chile is available for $4 a pound.

“We don’t want to just give it to them because then they expect it,” Morgan said. “We want to encourage them to go out and plant their own crops too.”

He said he’s seen some of his fellow youth starting to work the land after helping at the farm. “We’re trying to get to the kids at the high school and Tesuque Day School,” he said.

Students from the Santa Fe Indian School have been out to help and learn at the farm as well.

In describing its goals, the Tesuque Agricultural Initiative says its work is important for three reasons: first, because it helps to re-establish ancient native traditions of agricultural sustainability and reconnects people with the earth, food and nutrition; second, because it is important for communities throughout the world to live in a sustainable manner and growing and consuming food locally relies less on modern transportation and industry; and third, because the development of various agricultural microenterprises can generate financial benefits for both the pueblo and its members, who may be inspired to implement their own systems ... an important step toward financial independence.”

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.

 BY THE NUMBERS

• 65,000 -- seedlings that Tesuqe Farms transplants yearly
• 4,000 -- sprigs of asparagus planted
• 750 -- fruit trees planted in two years
• 15 -- acres of pueblo farmland covered by a blue-corn field, row crops, trees
• 600 -- tribal members of Tesuque Pueblo
• 2008 -- target date for achieving ability to feed all tribal members