Donne Gonzales’ heart belongs to the small community of Chamisal, New Mexico. She has been fortunate to care for summer gardens and small livestock with her family, which instilled a great sense of querencia for gardening, community, and traditional practices. Donne was given the opportunity of being a (NMAA) Sembrando Semillas participant for over 10 years. Her current position is farm trainer for Los Sembradores farm training program and she loves teaching others about the land and being outside with mother earth and all her elements. Donne has a good understanding of soil, seeds, bugs, remedios, and food. She loves to bake sweet treats, celebrate life with her family, and learn new things with her daughter.
Listen to their story below.
Farmer Donne Gonzales runs an acequia-irrigated vegetable and poultry farm in Chamisal, New Mexico, a historically agricultural village. As the director of the New Mexico Acequia Association’s youth farmer training program, Las Sembradores, and a farmer who says she has built her farm with “a lot of love,” Donne’s space has become a community center for young people to gather and learn both traditional and modern farming techniques. In this segment, hear how Donne succeeded in obtaining an Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) grant to fund a high tunnel on her property, so that she is able to offer more learning opportunities (and food to eat) to her community.