Our Story

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Red Earth Gardens officially began in 2015, but the journey started much earlier. My family farmed in the 1970s to about 1985, after that year, a university campus opened up in Gallup NM, The University of New Mexico and all the adults went back to school. We gradually stopped farming overtime, and our livestock numbers dwindled. The fields that once fed us were soon left untouched. My grandmother, Helen Cornfields who raised me, would often talk about how things could have been if we had continued farming and raising animals.

Then on til 2013, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This diagnosis changed everything. I had to take control of my health, so I became more active and more conscious of the foods I consumed. But what really pushed me forward was remembering my grandmother’s words about the land. Before she passed in 2012, she would gaze out at the old cornfield and wonder if the soil was ready to be planted again. So, we decided to test it. Together, we planted 15 corn stalks in the one arce cornfield just east of her house, and they grew well. This was a sign that the ground had rested and was ready for new life. But one day, the sheep managed to get into the field and ate the corn. Even so, my grandmother reassured me the soil was rested and ready for planting.

After my grandmother passed, my parents urged me to move back to her home in 2013. It took me two years to gather the strength to organize the house where I grew up. In 2015, I finally did it. While sorting through her kitchen cabinets, I found an old ceremonial water pail with a cotton sack. Inside were seeds— her collection of seeds. I separated them and ran germination tests on the seeds. To my amazement, only a handful of the white corn seeds sprouted. I immediately sowed them in the backyard, and they grew strong. That was the start of Red Earth Gardens and my renewed mission to improve my health while honoring my grandmother’s legacy.

In 2016, I connected with other growers while earning my certification as an organic grower and instructor through Northland Pioneer College with the help of Tolani Lake Enterprise. After, what began as a small 40ft x 40ft plot has now grown into 2 acres, complete with a 100-foot greenhouse.

As a kid, I remember Tł’oh Tsahii Tah (The land our clan occupies, one mile west of Ganado) —it was a special place for me and still holds a lot of significance. The soil there is a deep, rich red clay. When the sun rises and sets, the whole landscape at times glows a fiery red, almost like the planet Mars. As children we’d play there for hours, pretending we were on another heavenly body. The ground is tough to farm, but it’s full of viability and history. Over time, I’ve learned to labor with it, appreciating its stubbornness and strengths. That’s why I named my farm Red Earth Gardens—after the land that shaped my childhood, my family’s history, and everything I’m working to rebuild. 

My ultimate goal is to create a space for an agriculture demonstration site that focuses on ancestral, traditional, and modern techniques. To reinstill a strong Ke' (relation) system, we once had as Dine' people. Providing a learning space, moving toward a more sustainable and regenerative existence with mother earth.