Cultural Ties to Conservation Practices
Oregon farmer, Uriel De Leon, utilizes NRCS programs including EQIP and CSP to grow and expand his urban operation providing culturally significant produce to support local community needs.
When Deily “Uriel” De Leon Gomez couldn’t find chipilín – a Guatemalan staple – in Oregon grocery stores he decided to start farming and growing it himself. The Latinx community throughout Oregon is as diverse as the crops that are grown in the state, but while the diversity of crops is impressive there isn’t always access to cultural foods that immigrants like De Leon grew up with.
Chipilín is a popular herb in Salvadorean and Guatemalan cuisine. The legume native to Mexico and South America is used in tamales, soups, teas, and a variety of other dishes. It is a leafy green that is said to taste like spinach crossed with clover or green beans. De Leon started De Leon’s Farm in Aloha, Ore. in 2020 to meet the community need of growing fresh fruits and vegetables. Since starting, he has grown the farm business to have a regular presence at the Beaverton Farmers’ Market, providing produce to the Oregon Food Bank, and providing fresh produce to area restaurants.
De Leon’s 1.5-acre farm expands every year as he plants new crops, rents other available land in the area, and improves his operation. Current produce includes more familiar items like basil, peppers, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, beans, and chard. But found at the farm are also some more exotic produce options like the chipilín, chayote, tomatillos, amaranth, edible nightshade, and uchuvas – also known as ground cherries or pineapple cherries.
“If you can’t go back to your country, we bring a piece of your country to you,” said De Leon. “We are a multicultural farm.”
Conservation Practices Help Protect Resources
Part of De Leon’s ability to grow his operation has come from partnering with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and utilizing technical and financial assistance programs. He was first connected to NRCS through an organization called CAMPO. The CAMPO Collective combines member knowledge to advance agroecology and has established 125 beds on their property for no-till vegetables. They manage an on-farm internship in sustainable agriculture for native Spanish-speaking beginning farmers in the Portland region. De Leon was introduced to NRCS through this internship and contracted with NRCS to cost share a high tunnel for better managing plant productivity, controlling pests, and managing water. He continues to work with NRCS on a second high tunnel contract for his farm. His wife also contracted with NRCS to build a high tunnel to grow cut and edible flowers so together they can offer customers a variety of options.
“The NRCS has been a great part of my farming experiences,” said De Leon. “It moves me up to the next level. It is an investment in me and my operation.”
De Leon works with NRCS Soil Conservationist, Eliot Ewers, for technical assistance and in creating a conservation plan for his property. Together they discuss the importance of plant productivity for a sustainable business and how conservation practices can help with that productivity. Ewers enjoys seeing that the conservation practices can also have significant cultural ties. He sees different farming strategies all applied on De Leon’s farm. For example, De Leon diversifies his farm with chickens. The chickens are put into the high tunnels at the end of the growing season. They help eat and clean up the leafy green matter that hasn’t been harvested. The chickens eat any pest insects that might be present. Then the chickens scratch and aerate the soil and also leave behind valuable nutrients for the health of the soil and next year’s crop in the way of manure.
“Working with Uriel has been great,” said Ewers. “We focused his conservation plan on targeting resource concerns like mulching for water conservation.”
Future Plans
Previous cost share practices on De Leon’s Farm have been funded through NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Moving forward, De Leon is in the process of contracting with NRCS through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP provides an annual base amount of funding to help support the continued implementation of good conservation practices. It also allows for enhancement practices.
One of the biggest limiting factors on De Leon’s farm is that they use city water and using 3,000 gallons of water per week can get very expensive throughout the summer months. Adding mulch to the growing beds will help insulate them and reduce moisture loss through evaporation. Mulch will also provide other benefits like adding organic matter to the soil that can help hold and retain soil moisture. Through the CSP contract De Leon is also planning to install a pollinator hedgerow that will provide multiple benefits to this compact and productive farm.
“Farming is not a job to make you rich,” said De Leon. “It is a lifestyle.” When asked what advice he had for others looking to follow in his footsteps he said, “Start small with what you know and have. Grow from there.”
NRCS helps producers with operations big and small and has specific benefits to those groups who might be classified as historically underserved. The 2018 Farm Bill legislation and USDA policy define historically underserved as farmers and ranchers who are beginning, socially disadvantaged, veterans, and limited resources. Benefits to individuals who meet the definition include, increased financial assistance for conservation practices, dedicated conservation funding, and access to advance payments for conservation practice implementation.
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Story and pictures by Will Fett