Recognizing Outstanding
Santa Fe Farmers’Market Vendors

2019 Farmer All-Star: Malandro FarmSitting on 2.5 acres next to the Rio Chama in Abiquiu, Malandro Farm is known for their early-season heirloom tomatoes and giant cabbages. Lisa’s guiding principle is to grow what she likes to eat. It’s why you won’t find eggplant at...

2019 Farmer All-Star: SunStar HerbsIn 1978, when Dave and Becky Thorpe moved south-west of Madrid to an isolated spot in the Ortiz Mountains, they began their journey of living sustainably and off the grid. They produce much of their own food by raising goats and...

2019 Farmer All-Star: RZ’s BeesRicardo has been tending bees since 1990. He didn’t plan on becoming a beekeeper. In fact, he didn’t even know that he was going to become a beekeeper when it happened. But his father-in-law did. As he tells the story, “I would help him...

2019 Farmer All-Star: Special Honors – Senator Tom UdallSenator Tom Udall has an intimate understanding of the critical role that agriculture plays in New Mexico’s cultural identity because of his deep personal and family connections to the land and farming. His...

2019 Farmer All-Star: Second Bloom Farm Second Bloom makes goats milk soap, lotion bars, and body care products, and is home to anywhere between 40-60 Nigerian Dwarf goats. “They’re the little guys. They stand at about 28 inches at the shoulders,” explains Austin...

2019 Farmer All-Star: La Mesa Organic FarmsMesa Ruiz of La Mesa Organic Farms primarily grows blue corn and apples, from which he creates apple cider, pupusas, posole, and deliciously rich atole (a hot drink thickened with corn and flavored with just about anything...

2019 Farmer All-Star: Jesus Guzman ProduceJesus Guzman and his partner, Kate, currently farm about seven acres in Nambe. Jesus primarily grows several different kinds of beans, corn, and chiles, and, he mostly works alone. “My favorite thing is being by myself. Doing...

2019 Farmer All-Star: Special Honors, Matt YohalemIn 1996, Chef Matt Yohalem opened Il Piatto to an Esquire Top 20 Best New Restaurants in America Award. Matt’s love of the food industry started early. “[As a kid in New York] I used to save up all of the packets of...

2017 Farmer All-Star: One Straw FarmOne Straw Farm is a fixture at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. Owner, Ric Gaudet, started farming 21 years ago. He settled in New Mexico after attending graduate school at St. John’s College. He began farming, and eventually settled...

2017 Farmer All-Star: Jubilee FarmFor 12 years Brett Ellison worked with the Channing Brothers at Gemini Farm. When they started, fellow Farmer All Star, Ric Gaudet of One Straw Farm, was “quite an inspiration to us. We would see his stand and just be amazed at the...

2017 Farmer All-Star: Nambe OrchardsDave Vigil, and his parents, Longino and Sophie (d.), have been vending at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market since 1971. The Vigil’s have been working the land around Nambe since the 1650s. Dave’s grandfather purchased about 40 acres in...

2017 Farmer All-Star: Special Honors, Deborah MadisonDeborah Madison is a chef, writer, cooking teacher and consultant, and home gardener who has been in the food world for over 40 years, with 27 of those spent in New Mexico. Her interests lay with issues of...

2016 Farmer All-Star: Revolution FarmAlex Pino’s mom grew up on a Wisconsin farm that his grandfather started in the late 1920s. Farming skipped a generation, but Alex took it up and has been farming and selling at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market for eight years. He and...

2016 Farmer All-Star: Santa Cruz Farm and GreenhouseDon Bustos has been farming since he was a young child, on the land his family has farmed for 400 years. Don still uses traditional practices, while incorporating new technology and using nothing but solar energy, to...

2016 Farmer All-Star: Cedar Grove NurseryJoel Daeschel started farming right out of high school, and worked at different nurseries in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He and his wife, Marie Daeschel, started Cedar Grove in 1998, focusing on cultivating annuals and...

2016 Farmer All-Star: Special Honors, Pam RoyWe are proud to announce that at this year’s Fall Fiesta we had special honors for Pamela Roy, Executive Director and co-founder of Farm To Table, for her outstanding work promoting local agriculture. Pam Roy has worked...

2015 Farmer All-Star: Dave and Loretta Fresquez of Monte Vista OrganicsYou know you’re at the Monte Vista Organics’ booth when you’re greeted by smiling faces, kind words, and bins full of bright red, orange, and pink tomatoes. They also wow customers with a diverse...

2015 Farmer All-Star: Greg Nussbaum and Patty Pantano of Camino de Paz School and FarmCamino de Paz School and Farm is a private Montessori middle school for grades 7 through 9 in Santa Cruz, New Mexico. Camino de Paz improves the students’ academic achievement...

2015 Farmer All-Star: Jose Gonzalez and Maria Mandujano of Gonzales FarmDon’t let Jose Gonzalez’s youthful appearance fool you. He grew up on a farm in a small village in Guanajuato, Mexico and has over twenty-five years of experience in agriculture in this country!...