Gardening

In this segment of Voices of the Northern Rio Grande StoryBoxes, Daniel Carmona of Cerro Vista Farm reflects on wanting to be a farmer since he was five years old.

Daniel Carmona
Daniel Carmona has 47 years’ experience farming in the high-altitude-short-growing season of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Taos, NM, in Cerro, Arroyo Hondo, Las Colonias, and Lama. He has been growing and selling organic food in Taos since 1977, in the roles of farmer, restaurant owner, co-op grocery store manager, and farmers market manager.

He grows as much of his own food and seed as possible each year, so he grows the best tasting & cold-hardiest varieties that he can find. While he enjoys the grocery and restaurant businesses, he knows that, in the near future, for restaurants and grocery stores to remain a relevant and successful part of our culture, that they must begin working in close partnerships with local farms.

Thank you Daniel Carmona, for sharing your memories and experiences in this place; it is a gift to those listening now and in the future. Your memories add to our understanding and appreciation of farming and agriculture in Cerro and the surrounding areas. (This story is part of a longer interview from Spring 2025 that will be posted in its entirety soon.)

We’re listening together to the voices of our neighbors; every week we share a different short story from our community. Join us for the StoryBoxes at Questa Farmers Market on Sundays this summer or here, on our website.

Big thanks to our collaborators at Questa Farmers Market. We are also grateful to our funders! Voices of the Northern Rio Grande is made possible by support from the Taos Community Foundation, Chevron Grants for Good and donations.

In this segment of Voices de Aquí, long-time resident of the Latir area Cathy Hope reflects on thirty years of high desert gardening, arriving in a new place and moving on. Cathy moved away from the area in 2021 and we are grateful she was willing to share some of her reflections on living here.

Thank you Cathy Hope, for sharing your memories and experiences in this place; it is a gift to those listening now and in the future. Your memories add to our understanding and appreciation of Latir and Questa areas.

We’re listening together to the voices of our neighbors; every week we share a different short story from our community with Voices de Aquí. Join us for the short broadcasts at Questa Farmers Market on Sundays this summer or here, on our website.

Huge thanks to our collaborators at Questa Farmers Market, Gaea McGahee and all the musicians at the market for allowing us to plug into their sound system to broadcast the Voices de Aquí weekly segments.

We are also grateful to our funders! Voices de Aquí is made possible by support from the LANL Foundation Community Outreach Grant, Chevron Grants for Good and Taos Community Foundation IMPACT Grant.