veghippy hero / December

Hillery Duran!

This month's veghippy hero is the manager of Red Willow Farm in Taos Pueblo, NM. Hillery has become a bridge for old and new, young and old, by continuing a legacy of food, farming, and education in her community. She has an inspiring story to share with us about her experiences growing up learning traditional agricultural ways. Check out our interview below!

Sunshine: So Hillery, can you tell us a little bit about the history of Red Willow Farm?

Hillery: The farm was officially added to the Red Willow Education Center (2003) in 2007. When this land was for sale, there were 2 people who had the same dream to establish a place where the community can come together and give a place for the youth to gain skills for the future. When these 2 people came together, they bought it! When the farm was built they started a co-op, the Taos Pueblo Red Willow Co-op, and they started networking with different farms and applying for grants to buy these two greenhouses which are right behind me now. Actually, one of the founders is my mom. I'm happy to continue her legacy and I think she's happy to know that I still work here too.

Sunshine: When did you start working here?

Hillery: I started here in 2006 when the building for the farm was in its beginning stages. They had different classes for high school students that taught traditional agricultural techniques used in the Pueblo. That's how I first got involved, through school.

Sunshine: And what is your position at the farm now?

Hillery: Before, I was just working here, pulling weeds, planting, farming basically! But now my title is farm manager, which involves all the number crunching and everything that comes with running a business. I'm learning a lot, like learning when to say yes and when to say no, how to negotiate with people and such. Sometimes it's a lot of pressure. Luckily I have a lot of help so it makes me feel better. Bill Brockbrader has been helping me a lot, being my right hand man, my handyman. Cause to be honest I don't personally know how to fix broken windows or how to fix...anything else that goes wrong! The site had a few issues when we started growing this winter. The pumps shut off and the plants froze. Then we had to replant everything all over again (sigh). It get's crazy sometimes!

Sunshine: Oh no! But I noticed the Farmer's Market still kept on! You're doing a great job Hillery.

Hillery: Yes, well I'm proud to say that the Red Willow Farm has a year-round market. We are one of the few farms in the Taos area that grow crops even during the winter time.

Sunshine: What's it like to run the Farmer's Market?

Hillery:  It's really neat to grow in the winter time. Inside the greenhouse its about 75degrees and then you go outside and there's a couple feet of snow on the ground! The farmer's market started in 2010. Back then we had a lot more farmers than we do today. Unfortunately, one of our struggles now is finding farmers in our community who still grow food and still believe in growing their own food. We've had such a loss of that since I started. Before, we had about 9 different vendors. They were all older members of the community and they did farming in the traditional way like using the sequias, the ditch water that we get on the Pueblo. There are a few that have passed away already. Now only about 5 of the original farmers are still here and still part of the co-op. Out of that, only 2 of them still sell their produce with us.

Sunshine: Hillery, can you give us some perspective on what makes Red Willow Farm so unique?

Hillery:  With everything we do here, we pull our traditional agricultural ways that we've known forever and mix it in with modern day technology like the heating system, the irrigation system, and the solar panels. In 2011 we got the garn and we have solar panels that powers our buildings.. It's great to be running in a sustainable way. 

The diversity of people that this farm brings is also very special. We have many people who come out and volunteer. A lot of people from town come to our market, although we're trying to get more people out here and connect with them. Many of the youth that start out with us end up coming back years later. I think it's awesome that the kids enjoyed working here so much that they come back.

Sunshine: Can you share more about how the greenhouses are heated?

Hillery: Yes. In the east greenhouse, there are 2 barrels with fans inside which sucks up the hot air during the day, and at night it releases the heat into the ground. There are also another set of pipes that run under the greenhouse which is moderated by the garn. Now, what the garn does is it circulates 3300 gallons of heated water to create radiant floor heating. In the west greenhouse, it's a little different due to the scale of the greenhouse. It is a lot bigger in there so there are larger pipes to encompass the entire space. The garn also provides the hot water to the Farmhouse as well, which is all wood-fired heat. We build a fire 2-3 times a day and the tank temperature is kept to 120-160Degrees during the winter. We get our wood from members of the community, or sometimes the ward chief's office brings wood over for us if they have to cut down any trees. It's great because when the fire gets to the high temperature, it becomes smokeless. It's called "gassification." The smoke was a concern for us because we were worried about creating harm to the environment. But it's eliminated due to that process. We also make sure to use wood that hasn't been stained like Elm or Pinon or Red Douglas Fir.

Sunshine: Hurray! Thank you! Now, education seems to be very intertwined with the farm. What kind of programming do you offer for the youth?

Hillery: Working with kids and teaching them is probably the most fun part of my job. Each year, I hire 6 Greenhouse Interns to work with me. It's a paid internship. During the school year, they come in from 3:30p - 5:30p in the afternoon. But this coming year, we got some more funding so I can hire 12 kids now! They are usually kids from the Pueblo. In the summer, they're here a lot longer from 8:00a - 12p. I take them around to neighboring farms in the community to show them who is growing what, and to give them a sense of mentorship among the elders. This way, they can know who else they can go talk to if they have any questions about farming. It also offers them an opportunity to do different kinds of farm work. We keep them pretty busy. They help us harvest for the market, and while they're weeding we teach them about the plants that are growing. A few of them help us with marketing too. Last week they came to the radio station to do some advertising. We've also done programs with Headstart, and we have an entrepreneurial program in its pilot stages right now for the older kids (age 18-30). As you can tell, we definitely keep the youth involvement strong here.

Sunshine: How did you get into farming Hillery?

Hillery: My grandparents were farmers. My family would always be involved in planting or fetching water from the sequias. I grew up with it in my life so going into college, I applied for a work-study internship through Stem which focused on agricultural work and studying the plants in the area. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at that time but then I ended up interning here at Red Willow for a year and a half. After that I just kept coming back, checking in, even though I wasn't working there anymore. When I graduated, I got a call from Ryan, the other founder of Red Willow Farm, and he asked me if I wanted to work here full time. I live like right across the street so I literally ran over to meet him and the journey started from there. Me and the manager - who actually turned out to be my cousin Angelo - redid everything. It was exhausting because doing all this stuff just between the two of us was very difficult. We implemented the internships and extra farm help after that, especially during peak season!

Sunshine: What do you enjoy most about farming?

Hillery: I enjoy the freedom I have working outside or in the greenhouses. I love being with everyone here, helping each other, teaching the kids. I love learning what we can still do with our land, and working with everyone to build a healthier and happier community!

Sunshine: Anything we can look forward to for the future of Red Willow Farm?

Hillery: Oh my gosh, I am so excited for the Spring. I've already been planting. As far as produce goes, we'll have spinach, kale, swiss chard, and hopefully my tomatoes will make it through the winter! There's gonna be a lot of new activities like beekeeping, and installing our flower garden. I'm really interested in connecting with a wellness center for people with diabetes or cancer because I believe a healthier diet can help people. I'm gonna do some research for that over the winter and see what we can get started this coming year.

Sunshine: Can you give us some inspirational words before we part? :)

Hillery: It's only up to you, yourself as a person, to take a good step towards the future and a better stronger community.

Red Willow Farm

885 Star Road

Taos Pueblo, NM

87521

If anyone is interested in volunteering at the farm - even if it's just for 30minutes - the Red Willow Farm is always welcoming new people to learn and be a part of this blossoming community!

The Red Willow Farmer's Market is open every Wednesday from 10a - 5p, rain, sleet, or snow! Please go to www.redwillowfarm.com or LIKE the Facebook page [here] for more information!