Today we’re talking with David, of Jemez Valley Live. Jemez Valley live utilizes a hydroponic greenhouse system in the Jemez Valley to bring us lettuce and tomatoes year-round! Here’s what he had to say about his farm.
Tell me about your farm.
We have a sixty-foot greenhouse. We also have acreage, but I can grow in one acre with our system over one million pounds of produce a year. And if we were going to use an acre [outside] to grow this same lettuce, you could only grow ten thousand pounds.
What do you grow on your farm?
Everything is heirloom: tomatoes, romaine lettuce, buttercrunch, basil, beets, string beans and green beans.
How did you get started farming?
We actually left for Dubai, and we ended up in New Mexico. I have a business in Dubai and we had gotten rid of our house – everything but five suitcases. But the deal went sideways, so we bought a camper. We were heading to Sedona and ended up in the Jemez Valley and never left. I’ve always grown tomatoes all over the world, and feeding people is important – year-round, because we eat year-round – so I decided to design this greenhouse system that will grow year-round up in the mountains.
What makes you so passionate about food?
I’m tired of all the disease and chemicals and killing mother earth. We use one tenth of the water with our system, and we don’t use any chemicals. I actually just sold one of our systems to Dubai – so now we’re getting in to showing other people how to grow beautiful produce. It’s fun. Our goal is to teach people how to do it. So now we’re working on feeding the whole Isleta Pueblo… and I think New Mexico could be the new food hub of the country. It’s a small goal, but that’s one of our goals.