Gallina del Sol Farm is situated on the rolling plains between Edgewood and Stanley. Partners Barbara Mann and Wendy McGuire raise open-pollinated, heritage nursery starts along with a little bit of produce, herbs and flowers, and over seven hundred varieties of iris. As if that weren't enough, they also raise chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, pheasants, peacocks, geese and pigeons. They started with a bare patch of land ten years ago after moving away from careers in Santa Fe and built the farm from the ground up.
Barb says, "I grew up in Los Alamos, in a notably non-farming family - I didn't even know anyone with a farm to visit". She pursued graduate studies to become a professional medical technologist, but also developed an interest in horticulture. "I'd go to Med Tech continuing education courses if I had to," says Barb, "but meanwhile I took every gardening/plant course that came my way." When Barb retired from medical technology and Wendy stopped teaching college, they started looking for land for a small farm, and it wasn't until they got clear down to the windswept area outside Stanley that they could find what they needed for an affordable price.
The farm was originally intended to grow lots of produce, herbs and flowers, but the weather and grasshoppers conspired to make in-ground growing very difficult. Barb and Wendy put up a greenhouse and Barb switched over largely to the production of nursery starts. In the meantime, Wendy got a couple of turkeys as pets and now raises a few hundred birds a year for pets, eggs and table. And Barb continued and expanded on her hobby of growing fancy iris. Not only does she raise hundreds of named varieties developed by other growers, she has hybridized and introduced her own new iris. "The best part," explains Barb, "is getting to spend half the week quietly with the plants and then going to markets and enjoying the company of my fellow farmers and my wonderful customers." She says the worst part is taking care of the birds in the deep cold of winter, and the next worst is dealing with grasshoppers and other voracious bugs.
Barb brings vegetable, flower and herb starts to Los Alamos every week, along with iris rhizomes, several kinds of eggs, a little produce, and some feathers and feather fans. "The customers are really enthusiastic", she comments, "and seem dedicated to supporting all of us. And for me, it's a way of staying connected to my childhood home town."
Barb says the most important thing for people to know about the farm is that "we're small, but sincere. We are not certified organic, but we grow as closely to organic as possible and never use any chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Our birds are heirloom varieties, and we treat them as if their happiness and comfort matter, because of course they do." She concludes with "-even with the hard parts, this is the life that makes me happy, and that's why I still do it."