Click the link to read the article on the Public News Service website (Roz Brown). Here’s an excerpt:
December 2, 2024
A 4.5 acre farm surrounded by New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains is where owner Don Bustos fuses centuries of tradition with modern advances to feed local communities. The Santa Cruz Farm has been in the hands of Bustos’ family for more than 400 years. Working with experts at New Mexico State University, the owner said he gravitated to organic farming long before others adopted such practices. The 68-year-old Bustos said he hasn’t used any major chemicals or pesticides in more than 20 years.
“We do 72 different varieties of produce 12 months a year using nothing but solar energy,” said Bustos. “I grow a lot of the traditional corn, the green chili. We still have our same seed, we still have our same corn seeds, the same melons – and then we got a lot into the specialty crops.”
Bustos said he believes much of his success is due to taking risks, leaning on scientific advances while also adhering to sacred family traditions and ancestral farming practices. In addition to solar power, the farm relies on water from a New Mexico acequia – an ancient irrigation ditch – that flows north through the state.
In addition to farming his land, Bustos spent more than a decade working for the American Friends Service Committee – training other New Mexico farmers how to successfully grow organic produce in the middle of winter. Now, he’s well-known for squash, asparagus, leafy greens and other fresh foods.