Huerta Sol Feliz (formerly known as Sol Feliz Farm) is a manifestation of agricultural reconnection and home-scale sustainable living. I (Miguel Santistevan) spent most of my summers and holidays with my grandparents here, playing on this land and in and around the acequia irrigation ditch that runs behind the house. My grandpa built this house and was a master of adobe, mud, and plaster, having built many kiva fireplaces for the famous hotels and artists as well as laying the bricks in the Taos plaza. My grandma always had the BEST homemade northern New Mexico foods: chile, tortillas, tamales, posole, frijoles, empanadas, and many other delectable treats. I also have to thank my other grandma who lived across town, Lupita Garcia, who introduced me to chaquegue, caldito, and fideo. These efforts are dedicated to the memories of my beloved abuelitos: Samuel and Simonita Trujillo and Lupita Garcia!
I have lived here since 2001 and have been expanding my agricultural operations with my wife and our daughters. We are working to grow the ingredients of our traditional foods so we can eat the way our grandparents, great-grandparents, and beyond used to eat. We believe that sustainable agriculture starts with our kitchen table. This isn’t just a romantic exercise, we don’t like the way the food system treats the Earth and its negative health effects on the people, and we are working to actualize an alternative. This isn’t really work, however, this is how we live as artists and play outside.
We are there to meet the Earth as she wakes up in the Spring and nurture biological diversity throughout the season, creating opportunities for life and interconnection as much as possible. A central feature of this land is that it is connected to and irrigated by the Acequia Sur del Rio Don Fernando de Taos which has been in existence since the 1700s. We clean the acequia every spring, where the community gets together to share in the work so the irrigation water can flow and then we take turns irrigating throughout the growing season, depending on how long the water lasts…