Growing Food
on the Pueblo
A family processing corn on the Pueblo de San Ildefonso sometime around the 1930s. Credit: Pueblo de San Ildefonso.
Most people who grow food on the Pueblo today learned from their parents and grandparents.
They learned how to plant seeds, what time of year to plant, and which animals were good for the garden.
They spoke Tewa with their relatives while learning to grow food.
Leon's
STORY
Click play buttons to hear Leon tell these stories.
I learned most of my gardening work from my grandpa. He lived until he was 96 years old. Grandpa had a field every year. We helped him a lot. My cousin and I were the only two boys. We would wake up at 5:30 in the morning and start working on the big field. It was about two acres. It was fun. He would water two rows at a time. We grew corn, squash, melon, popcorn chilies, tomatoes, onions, and radishes.
I enjoyed planting with my grandpa because I learned more of my language. He spoke to me in my language only. I learned things like certain bugs that are good, and also certain snakes that are good for the field.
My grandfather taught me how to sing to the plants to grow, how to talk to them, and how to give them thanks.
My grandfather gave me tips for understanding when to plant. For example, we have two crops of squash: one you plant in May and the other in early June. I learned all of my garden and planting techniques from my grandpa when I was 10 to 18 years old.
Grandpa used to say, when you hear the frogs, it's time to plant.
My grandpa also taught us the dos and don'ts of how to plant and where to plant. For example, you do not always want to plant the seed in the middle of the row. He also taught us how to take your time to plant. If you are planting gourds, we make sure the seed is planted in a certain way so that the gourd comes out the way you want for ceremonial use.
Martin, Larry, and Joseph Aguilar’s
STORY
Martin
Hear Martin talk about preparing the fields for planting:
Hear Martin talk about planting corn:
Hear Martin talk about other foods he grows:
Hear Martin talk about growing wheat when he was young:
Hear Martin talk about how kids learned to farm in the old days:
Hear Martin talk about the importance of water for growing food:
joseph
Hear Joseph and Martin talk about how farming is a year-round process:
Hear Joseph and Martin talk about preparing the fields in 2023:
Larry
I learned to farm from my father. My father planted alfalfa and corn. He used to plow the field with a wagon and horses.
I learned when to plant different plants from the elders and my grandparents.
Khoh’Ay Povi's
STORY
My mom and dad would pass knowledge about farming and a lot of other things that we needed to do to learn to survive.
It is important to teach kids our language; without language we have nothing. They should be taught the way our ancestors planted.
They should plant in tall mounds and water on the side in the trenches. They should be taught how to sense if the plants are getting enough water, they should be taught how to sense if it's going to rain so that you don't overwater. They should learn the wind patterns to predict the rain. Teaching which food to grow is important, why we are growing certain foods. There are certain cultural ways and cultural practices to share with people and to share the food that is grown.
Lefty Martinez’s
STORY
Hear Darryl Martinez read what his father, Lefty, shared with Tim Martinez in an interview.
We would help my dad and grandpa in the fields, we plant corn, wheat, alfalfa and other vegetables. We would irrigate, plow and weed fields. We also re-line the rows so water can flow even. We also help harvest corn, wheat and alfalfa. When we harvest the corn we would put them in piles and when we finish I would get the horses and wagon ready, then we go out to the field, put corn in the wagon and bring them to the village, put them outside in piles in the wooden shed. Then we clean corn, take them apart. We put them on the rooftop of shed to dry.
When corn is dry, then we take them to our Spanish friends to make flour for bread and cornmeal. Then back to the field. We cut all corn stalks, pile and use them to feed our horses.
This is our way of life. Thanks again for asking me. It’s about sharing history; that’s how we all learn, by sharing. Come Back.
Farm Calendar
Pueblo people traditionally know when to plant and harvest depending on which birds and animals they see and hear at different times of the year or the phase of the moon. For example, a farmer knows to plant their fields when they begin to see and hear the mockingbird. This information, shown on the farm calendar, has been passed down by elders for generations.
We use cycles. We start tending to the garden area in the middle of March – this involves digging and plowing. In April to May we put seeds into the ground. We use the same cycle that my grandfather passed down. In May to August we tend to the plants. In September we start pulling plants that have grown. The land heals in the fall and winter.
KHOH’AY POVI
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This work was supported by Abt Associates.
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