She believed...

Hi! My name is Tracy Chapman and SowThankful Farm is my dream come to life.  People often assume that my husband, Jeff, is the primary farmer but that is not the case. Jeff works very hard alongside me, but I am the Lead Farmer at SowThankful Farm. While I've always loved gardening and growing things, I have never had any "farming" experience or formal education. Neither of us have. In fact, I'm pretty sure Jeff thought I was off my rocker (crazy) when I first suggested we farm without a tractor and without tilling the soil. He had no idea what a no-dig, regenerative farm was at that time. Don't worry, he caught up quickly and now he understands why we DO NOT disturb the soil and why we DO NOT use synthetic fertilizers or synthetic pesticides. You see, our beautiful goats and chickens produce amazing manures that help build our soil and the chickens assist in controlling the grasshoppers and other pests. We love our animals very much and treat them well.

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Our farm is small. At just 2.5 acres, some would call it a micro farm. While it's definitely not paying all the bills yet (starting a farm is expensive, labor intensive, exhausting work), it's definitely not just a hobby. I choose the plants we grow and I start 99.9% of all our veggies, fruits & flowers from seed. For the 2021 growing season we sold plant starts at the Farmers Market in Cedar Crest--a legal limitation to selling plants without a license in the State of New Mexico. Late this Fall, we obtained our license from the State of New Mexico to sell plant starts wherever we'd like within the state for the 2022 growing season. We are looking forward to offering a wide variety of heirloom plants--veggies, fruits and flowers--that you won't find at the big box stores or commercial/retail nurseries.

Farming in the New Mexico high desert is extremely challenging and sometimes overwhelming; but that makes it even more rewarding when we have successes. And we've had more than a few. The failures  though many are simply lessons to grow from. Literally. As the Lead Farmer, I try to do something to grow every day. Whether it's starting new seeds, learning new propagation/cultivation techniques and methods, starting a new compost pile, or collecting seed from a successful crop, I push myself to learn something new every day.  At the end of each day, I'm grateful for all I've learned and for my husband, Jeff,  and his continued assistance and support. Quite simply, this is the best work I've ever done.