I founded Amyo Farms in 2004. My grandfather helped me with the initial capital and my parents let me farm our family’s land. I started with 1.6 acres just across the street from my childhood home in a field that I grew up playing in. Over the years the land had become degraded, hard-packed and barren. It was my dream, not only to turn it into a productive farm, but also to bring back the beauty and wildness that I remembered from my childhood.
Eight years later, we have a beautiful garden with fertile soil, free ranging chickens foraging in a forest of native trees and a small orchard of apples, peaches, pears and plums. I have added four more fields to the farm, two in Bosque Farms, and two in Albuquerque’s South Valley. None of our plots are over an acre. They all resemble large gardens more than traditional plots of row crops. Each has its own personality, strengths, weaknesses and beauty. We take great pride in taking care of the land and all its inhabitants.
We don’t use any chemical inputs or pesticides. People ask me what the secret to growing such beautiful produce is. I tell them “just compost and water,” but of course it takes a lot of love too.
Jesse Daves, farmer.