December Newsletter Contents
- You’re Invited! Winter Open House Dec 16th
- Last Chance to Take Our Survey
- Our New Aquaponics System
- Winter Classes & Workshops
- New Membership Benefits
- What Is Eco-Social Work?
- Principles Make a Good Farmer
- Film Review: Sustainable
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You’re invited to
Rio Grande Community Farm’s
WINTER OPEN HOUSE
SAT DEC 16th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
- Explore our barn, greenhouse, and small space garden demo
- Pick your own organic herbs, microgreens, lettuces, and arugula
- Learn about our purpose and programs
- Craft with Devil’s Claw
- Take a Hayride Farm Tour
- Enter to win a 6″ organic Mexican Oregano plant
- Enjoy hot cider
- Watch the migrating water fowl
- Take home cozy beanies and hoodies
- Sign up for membership and volunteering
- Participate in our community survey
ADDRESS: 1701 Montaño Rd NW (from Montaño Rd, turn onto Tierra Viva Pl NW.) Park in the parking lot and walk to the red barn. Dogs are not allowed in the fields and must be on leash. Dress warmly and we’ll see you there!
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Last Chance
Take Our Stakeholder Survey by Dec 31st
Please take our anonymous community survey and help guide us into the future.
Complete nuestra encuesta comunitaria anónima antes del 31 de diciembre de 2023 y ayúdenos a guiarnos hacia el futuro, por favor. Para obtener una versión en español de nuestra encuesta comunitaria anónima, comuníquese con nathan@riograndefarm.org
TAKE THE SURVEY HERE
(Estimated time: 5 – 10 minutes)
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Winter Offerings
Classes & Workshops:
THIS SATURDAY! FREE!
Compressors and Air Tools Workshop
Wondering about Compressors and Air Tools on your farm? Here’s the free hands-on workshop you’ve been needing! Register today!
Saturday, December 2nd
1 – 3:30 pm
Last Chance to Register Click Here
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FREE!
Composting Workshops
Master the art of composting in our New Mexico desert climate with Rio Grande Community Farm’s own certified Master Composter, Rich Adeyemi. Which materials are safe to compost? When to turn? What ratios of carbon to nitrogen are best? How to deal with scavengers? All your questions answered!
Second Saturday of Every Month
9 am – 11 am (Weather dependent)
Email to save your spot: rich_a@riograndefarm.org
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Build a New Zealand Style Compost Bin
Our Master Composter, Rich Adeyemi, guides you through the process for constructing this beautiful and functional composting system!
Saturday Dec. 9
9 am – 11 am
Email to save your spot: rich_a@riograndefarm.org
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Our New Aquaponics System
We are excited to announce the progress being made by students from University of New Mexico’s Engineers Without Borders. The innovative group has begun installation of the structures for our new greenhouse aquaponics system with floating grow beds!Aquaponics is a form of agriculture that blends aquaculture – raising fish in tanks of circulating water, and soilless plant culture, or hydroponics. The living fish fertilize the water upon which he living plants are floating and the plants purify the water for the fish.
Drop by and see the wonderful work they’re doing!
(Read more at aquaponicssource.com)
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Announcing
New Membership Benefits
After taking a break for recruiting members, Rio Grande Community Farm is announcing a new structure for our Membership Program with even more perks and benefits! Consider your membership as an easy way to support programs that provide affordable farmland and sustainable farming education for diverse and underserved communities, while stewarding the Los Poblanos Fields Open Space for resource conservation and native wildlife.
Levels of Membership & Benefits
SEED (individual) $25/year
- 1 Membership card
- 1 Sticker
- 1 Tote
- 1 Class
- 1 Newsletter subscription
- Earlybird discount on all festival tickets
- First to know about all special events and offers
ACEQUIA (individual) $100/year
- 1 Membership card
- 2 Stickers
- 1 Bandana
- 2 Classes
- 1 Newsletter subscription
- 2 Festival tickets
- First to know about all special events and offers
HEIRLOOM (individual) $500/year
- 1 Membership card
- 3 Stickers
- 1 T-Shirt
- 3 Classes
- 1 Newsletter subscription
- 4 Festival tickets
- 1 Sponsored Community Garden row for a grower-in-need
- First to know about all special events and offers
FLOCK (Family of four) $1,000/year
- 4 Membership cards
- 4 Stickers
- 4 T-Shirts
- 4 Classes
- 4 Newsletter subscriptions
- 8 Festival tickets
- 1 Sponsored 1/8 acre MicroFarm plot for a grower-in-need
- First to know about all special events and offers
All merchandise must be picked up at the Farm Office at 1701 Montaño Rd NW in Albuquerque, NM 87107 by appointment. Festival tickets will be made available at the box office. Show your card at all events and classes to claim your benefit.
Request an application with the contact form on our website here
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What in the world is
Ecological Social Work?
by Nathan Kunkle, Social Work Intern
Rio Grande Community Farm
There is an inherent connection between the health of humans and the health of the environment. Social workers have long dealt with environmental impacts on communities, particularly those that are marginalized. It is with this view that eco-social workers try to nurture a sustainable environment so that humans live their best lives within it. They do this work in various settings such as community organizations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. In these places they advocate, educate, and study with the hope that they can enrich communities and individuals through their work.
The ongoing climate crisis has amplified the need for this scope of practice and in recent years there has been more awareness of ecological social work. It is becoming more important for social workers to engage with clients and communities on this subject while advocating for environmental justice.
Ecological social work aims to understand the intersection of people, communities, social issues, and the environment. Practitioners use a variety of interventions to help clients with diverse problems by helping them connect to the earth through farming or gardening. As a social work intern, it is my belief that Rio Grande Community Farm is involved in ecological social work practice by doing everything it states in its purpose –
“Providing diverse and underserved communities with equitable access to urban farmland and education in sustainable agriculture – prioritizing food justice, biodiversity, and climate resilience.”
Hardcore principles are
What Makes a Good Farmer
by Rich Adeyemi
Head Farmer & Educator
Rio Grande Community Farm
The term “good” is relative, but in this context I mean the characteristic of being strong in principles. A farmer has a tremendous responsibility to the ecosystems and communities with which they interact. In a world where the pressure of putting profit over people is pervasive, it will take a person with hardcore principles to continually do what is right when no one is watching. Having laid the foundation, let me try and build on it. Here are some of the characteristic traits of a good and principled farmer:
- A good farmer needs to have hardcore principles to care about the environment and the soil and the community they feed.
They should have taken a pledge to never use any material in their garden that could cause harm to life. A good farmer uses cultivation methods that are environmentally healthy. It is worthy of note that human diseases cannot be destroyed at the source without good farmers working hard for the health of their communities.
- A good farmer loves their soil. Soil is their product. Fruits and vegetables and grains are incidental by-products. A good farmer is conscious of the fact that they are the steward of soil and land and their principles tower above sales and profit.
A good farmer makes the soil productive by constantly introducing a variety of helpful microbial cultures thereby making plants healthy and resistant to disease and pests. They do this because they understand the inevitable connection between the soil and those who consume what it produces. They understand that the health of the consumer is a direct product of the health of the soil.
- A good farmer also cares deeply about the children in their community.
They know that due to the small size and weight of these children, they are maximally impacted by toxins. A good farmer knows that children have an infectious enthusiasm for nature, a gift that, when cultivated at a young age, will last for the rest of their lives. Hence, a good farmer invests some of their time and energy in igniting that love.
What other hardcore principles make a good farmer? We would love to hear your thoughts! Let us know at info@riograndefarm.org
Insightful article! Thanks for sharing.