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Amyo Farms LLC & Owl Peak Farm Foundation

Albuquerque, New Mexico

	MESA Notes – Public
	Website :	http://www.amyofarms.com
	Blog, Online Newsletter, etc. :	http://amyofarms.wordpress.com
	Public Contact Information:	[email protected]

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About the Placement:

Detailed Placement Description

This placement is owned and operated by a family.
Production Acreage : #4
Number of Full-time Employees: 2
Number and Type of livestock: At Amyo Farms we have small chicken flock (15 birds) mainly for household egg consumption. Owl Peak Farms also has chickens as well as guinea hens for egg and pest (grasshopper) control.
My farm/organization is : Certified Naturally Grown.
Educational Acrivities : We will visit 2-3 indigenous farming projects in New Mexico and 3-5 other farms so stewards can learn about traditional New Mexico farming practices. We have contacts throughout the Southwest United States and will take advantage of them to provide stewards with sight visits and tours to learn about agriculture in an arid climate.
Social Environment: Amyo Farms is comprised of myself, my wife and two small children, as well as extended family. We also have a live-in exchange student from Guatemala who is attending the University of New Mexico. We are friends with numerous farmers within the Albuquerque area. We would welcome Stewards into our family to share time and meals with as well as recreational activities.
Owl Peak Farm consists of six full time employees who are responsible for various aspects of the farm. Interns will be working closely with this crew in all aspects of the operation and be housed in the canyon property close to the warm springs. There are community meals on Friday’s in La Madera which attract community members from throughout the valley and adjacent communities.
In addition to participating in the daily activities and work of these two farms we will be arranging trips throughout the region to visit other interesting farming and agriculture operations and other cultural events.

Primary Production :

Vegetables, Berries, Tree fruits

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About the Internship

Training Hours:

40 hours per week.

Training Expectations :

We offer Seasonal training, ideally between April and October.
Sales/Marketing operations: Stewards will have the opportunity to attend local Farmer’s Markets to sell product. They will learn about preparing product for direct market and the set-up of a successful market stand.

On-Site Training, Steward’s primary activities :

Stewards will be involved in every aspect of the farms operations. This is a unique opportunity because Stewards will be splitting their time between two distinct farm operations, Amyo Farms in Albuquerque (urban) and Owl Peak Farms in La Madera(rural). Activities will include seeding, planting and cultivating crops. All plant starts are done on sight in our small greenhouses. We direct seed as well as transplant. Harvesting and processing will be a large part of the process as well, including a large garlic harvest in June at Amyo Farms and potato harvest in July. Harvesting from the Market Garden will be ongoing at both locations. Soil preparation, cover-crop seeding will also be ongoing as well as irrigation through drip and flood at both locations. We also grow crops for seed, so seed cleaning, threshing and fermentation will also be activities that Stewards will be involved in.
Stewards will have the opportunity to attend local Farmer’s Markets to sell product. They will learn about preparing product for direct market and the set-up of a successful market stand.

Climate and Location Description

Average temperature/Typical weather: Seasonal temperate climate. Cool in the spring to mid 30s C in summer. Generally cools off at night. High altitude, very low humidity and lots of sunshine. Monsoon beginning in July. Cool again in fall, but sunny.
Proximity to nearest town/city: Amyo Farms is located within the Albuquerque City Limits. Owl Peak Farm is located in a rural community approximatel 1 hr from the Santa Fe city limits and 2 hrs from Albuquerque.
Geographic Location:
New Mexico is a semi-arid/ desert state at relatively high elevation in the Southwest region of the United States. Amyo Farms is at about 1500 meters (5000ft), while Owl Peak Farm is around 2000 meters (6500ft).
Amyo Farms is small farm with plots on disconnected properties within an urban environment. I live with my wife and two small children on a parcel slightly smaller than 1 acre. My mother-inlaw lives right next door on a connected property. Our operation is based out of this property. We have a large market garden here with small greenhouses for propagating our starts, a larger cold frame for season extension and a variety of fruit trees and berries. We have our packing house here also which houses our walk-in cooler. The property is directly connected to the Bosque (forest) property surrounding the Rio Grande River which flows through Albuquerque. Our property has a gate with access to this open-space. Stewards will live with us on this property in temporary housing. While we are only three miles from Downtown Albuquerque the backdrop of the Bosque makes the property seem larger and set within a natural, rather than urban, environment. Albuquerque is a medium sized city. We are close to bus lines which provide easy access to the rest of the city. @amyofarms on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter for pictures of our farm.

Owl Peak Farm is located in La Madera, New Mexico, about two and a half hours by car north of Amyo Farms. This is a small rural village in Northern New Mexico. The main property is split by the Rio Tusas and has numerous greenhouses, an office and other outbuildings and improvements including a stone root cellar. Additionally, Owl Peak Farm has two other properties. A large property of 8 acres of farm land which will be rotated through cover crops for soil building and a property up the canyon which has a natural warm springs which is collected into a large swimming pool and also used for irrigation of three larger parcels within the canyon. The property is close to National Forest land and has plenty of river access and hiking opportunities within the properties. @owlpeakfarm on Instagram, Facebook.

Compensation :

$150 / week, Free, daily food, Transportation from/to nearest int\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’l airport and placement

Accommodations and amenities provided :

Accommodations:
We have a Yurt on-site as well as a travel trailer. Yurt is heated with a woodstove. Trailer is heated with electric heater. Optional living quarters based on Steward’s preference in main season/summer: large tents with beds. Bedroom is private and bathroom is shared.
Lodging is Rustic, may have outdoor shower and/or toilet.
Amenities : Electric or gas heat, Only a wood stove for heat, Free, daily internet on-site, Telephone (Free local calls only; must buy own calling card for non-local calls), Easy access to public transportation on days off, Food provided by host to cook your own meals(meals shared with host and other interns, Free, seasonal farm products (Example: fruits and vegetables)

Preferred start date :

2016-04-04

Preferred length of internship :

8 months

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