Seed The Future Spring Luncheon |
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From upper left clockwise:
Our hosts Mat and Nina Ladegaard pictured with Mary Dixon of Green Tractor Farm;
Straw hats – a sure sign of approaching summer; Development Chair, Lisa Kantor with Maureen Vosburgh of Remy’s Good Day Foundation; Katie Rietman (cello) and Jeffrey Smith (violin) offered lovely Early Music selections; Longtime Institute and Market supporters Keith Anderson and Barbara Lenssen; Ann Lavine delighted guests with her remarks on the DUFB Program; El Bosque Garlic Farm Owner Stan Crawford speaks about the impact of the Microloan Program; Development and Communications Director Janice Mayer and Volunteer Rebecca Tobey welcome Nathaniel Earls, Board Member and Trustee of The John C. Griswold Family Foundation; Patrons Marsha Jones and Linda Osborne pictured at the luncheon; Mat Ladegaard conducts a tour of his farm while guests David Snead and Charles Butler look on; Andrea Fisher Maril introduces Program speakers; Board Chair Michael Knight lift his paddle in the fundraising portion of the afternoon; Doug Conwell and Sallie Bingham share a story; Institute Board Member Robert W. Jones and Board Vice Chair Pam Walker visit; Gruet Winery, our generous wine sponsor pictured with table decorations created by Arella Hordyk of Green Tractor Farm
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Mathew and Nina Ladegaard opened their beautiful two-acre Ground Stone Farm in Nambé, New Mexico to nearly 50 patrons of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute on a recent sun-drenched Sunday afternoon. The occasion was the kick-off of the Institute’s year-long 20th Anniversary celebration.
This event – the first of its kind at Ground Stone - featured a three-course luncheon curated by Adobo Catering with produce and products from a dozen of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market vendors, including many items coordinated by Nina’s Squash Blossom Local Food.
Guests enjoyed New Mexico’s finest wines from Gruet Winery and enjoyed signature nonalcoholic “Sparkling Ground Stone” Blueberry-Mint Lemonade (recipe below). Violinist Jeffrey Smith and cellist Katie Rietman performed musical selections by Dario Castello and Antonio Vivaldi to the delight of the guests.
Board Chair Michael Knight welcomed the guests, and Board Secretary and Green Tractor Farm’s Mary Dixon, thanked Mat and Nina for hosting the group. Ann Lavine shared her perspective on the Double Up Food Bucks Program gleaned at the Information Booth where she volunteered for the past year. Veteran farmer and author Stan Crawford of El Bosque Garlic Farm described how the Institute’s Microloan Program benefited his business, explaining how a four row garlic planter purchased with a low-interest microloan “saved us time and labor costs during the autumn, the most intense season on the farm.”
After speakers profiled the Institute’s program impact, Board Treasurer Kyle Burns announced a $25,000 contribution from The John C. Griswold Family Foundation expedited by fourth generation Griswold Trustee and Board Member Nathaniel Earls. This donation provides the basis for a three-to-one 20th Anniversary challenge campaign. The Institute received an anonymous $20,000 donation toward the challenge, and the paddle-raiser led by Stan Crawford at the event brought the nonprofit organization more than halfway toward achieving the $100,000 goal.
The lovely afternoon was capped off with a farm tour led by Ground Stone owner Mat Ladegaard. Board Vice Chair Pam Walker observed, "When we sit down to enjoy a meal, how often do we pause to consider the farmers who grew the food and where and how they grew it? Mat and Nina's guiding us through their plots of vegetables, their hoop houses, and their washing and packing station gave us glimpses of the enormous work that farmers do day in and day out, and in all weathers, to bring us good food. But just as much as revealing the great labor involved, the tour showed us something else, too. It showed us the even greater love that inspires such labor: love for nourishing the earth and love for nourishing the community it feeds. Our community."
To contribute to the 20th Anniversary campaign, please donate through our secure website here. You may also mail a check made payable to:
Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute
Attention Janice L. Mayer, Development and Communications Director
1607 Paseo de Peralta, Suite A
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Please specify 20th Anniversary Challenge in the memo field.
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- Equal parts of macerated blueberries and sugar to make a syrup
- 1/2 part of freshly squeezed lemon juice to balance off the sweetness
- Serve over ice and top off with sparkling water, as needed.
- Garnish with fresh mint
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Seeding The Future with Plant Starts |
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One Straw Farm sells plants at the Saturday Santa Fe Farmers Market, and Sundays at the farm in Dixon. They also sell plants through their website (www.onestrawfarmnm.com) for pickup at the farm or the farmers’ market. In June, the farm starts selling produce, and their focus switches to farm crops for the rest of the season. They offer a wide selection of vegetables, herbs and flowers from the same varieties that they offered as seedlings earlier in the year. They also produce organic powders from our tomatoes, garlic, onions, garlic scapes and sweet peppers. Season’s Muse, Tania’s business, creates beautiful custom arrangements made from flowers grown on the farm and wildcrafted items.
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Nothing points to the arrival of spring more than the appearance of plant seedlings at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. Whether you refer to them as starts, seedlings, or baby plants, they are in abundance at the Saturday Railyard Market this month. Ric Gaudet of One Straw Farm, a CCOF certified organic six-acre farm in Dixon, NM, has been raising plants for Santa Fe home growers since 1996. In 2021, he met Tania Marines, and they “have been farming and raising a family together ever since (Hannah and Luis). He shared some information on his timeline, process, and what makes his plant seedlings so in-demand.
“Most plants are started in the greenhouse or in our grow room inside the house. Onions and lisianthus are started in late January. We usually don’t turn the greenhouse heater on until late February, so during the early period we only plant things that can take some frost at night. Most crops are also germinated on heat mats, and are usually covered at night with plastic. We start our main summer crops—tomatoes, peppers, chiles, eggplants, flowers and many herbs—in March, and have 2-3 staggered plantings of those crops. Later in April we start cucumbers, melons and squash. Every crop has somewhat different requirements, and we try our best to do what the plants need. Almost everything started in the greenhouse and grow room will get moved to the hoophouse, which has minimal heat, and eventually outside to the shade structure or to benches in the direct sun.” Read more...
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In Praise of Heritage Grains
---Christine Salem
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The Tibetan Purple Barley is more than ready for the combine. |
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A mini-combine, imported from China, is better able to maneuver in northern New Mexico’s small fields. |
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Volunteers helping to hand-harvest Rebel rye. |
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Northern New Mexico was once the breadbasket of New Mexico with over 300 small mills in operation around the state. In 1892 New Mexico brought 230 varieties of wheat to the Chicago World’s Fair.
Today most of our flours and grain products come from hybridized dwarf modern wheat, which is bred primarily for high yield at the expense of nutrition, flavor and biodiversity. It is grown mainly in the upper Midwest and sold on the commodity market. Modern wheat is dependent on chemical inputs and increasingly degrades human and soil health as well as farmers’ incomes.
In 2018 a small group of farmers, gardeners, and bread bakers formed Rio Grande Grain with the idea of returning grains to their roots. We have trialed small quantities of over 60 varieties of heritage and ancient wheat, rye, and barley in small plots near Alcalde. We have collected qualitative and quantitative data on each variety over six growing seasons and discovered a few that are strong performers in our high desert region-- khorasan, Sonoran white, einkorn, emmer, Turkey red, and spelt wheats; Rebel and Swiss Mountain rye; and Tibetan purple barley. Since many of these varieties are rare, we continually increased plot size until our fall 2021 harvest yielded hundreds of pounds of seed, which we shared with small farmers ready to try crops that regenerate the soil and fetch higher prices than commodity grain.
Rio Grande Grain is now focusing on assisting farmers with harvesting and processing know-how and equipment. We also help create a market for the grains among consumers, home bakers and commercial bakers through events and outreach. And we are working to form what we call the Grain Chain by connecting farmers with millers, maltsters, and brewers who can store, process, and distribute these grains.
Fortunately, the environmental and locavore movements are strong in northern NM and are paving the way for locally-grown, heritage grains to return to our fields and our foods.
Part of our outreach involves addressing the myth that gluten is our enemy. Biochemists are discovering that foods made with whole heritage grains offer high fiber and support healthy gut microbes. It’s the way modern wheat is produced and processed that aggravate wheat sensitivities.
Rio Grande Grain will offer freshly milled heritage grains at Reunity Resources on June 2, July 7, August 4, and Sept 1 from 3-5. In addition, join us for Harvest Festival at the AgriNature Center in Los Ranchos, August 20. For more information, see Rio Grande Grain and find us on Instagram.
Christine Salem is a lifelong gardener, sour-dough baker, and co-founder of Rio Grande Grain.
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Tour the Santa Fe Farmers Market
Like an Insider!
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Tour leader Mary Dixon (far left) introduces a recent tour to her farmers from Green Tractor Farm. Naturalist, birder, and award-winning writer and tour attendee Priyanka Kumar(far right) illuminates the gift of the land as she takes readers on journeys to “historic and wild fruit orchards, to ancient forests, and along pollinator corridors,” in her forthcoming book |
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FREE Seed The Future Market Tours on Tuesday morning, every first and third Tuesday of the month through November 22, 2022. The one-hour tours begin at 9am in the Market Pavilion.
Over coffee and breakfast sweets, learn how the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute supports local small-scale farmers through impactful programs, and assists neighbors by providing reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Join a knowledgeable Guide on a Tuesday morning stroll through the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. See the wide variety of what’s growing locally, and talk with farmers about their crops and experiences.
Each tour will be limited to ten guests, so register early at eventbrite:
The free tours will end on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
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The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute’s mission is to advocate for farmers, ranchers and other land-based producers; provide equitable access to fresh, local food; own and operate a year-round venue for the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market; and manage programs to help sustain a profitable, locally-based agricultural community. |
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THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS! |
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These lead sponsors help ensure the sustainability of the northern New Mexico food system as well as nurture the agricultural community and the customers that make the Santa Fe Farmers' Market so successful.
Support the businesses that support your community!
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