Reunity Resources in Santa Fe
a farmstand and so much more!
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Spring has finally and fully landed here in Northern New Mexico, after a surprise hail and snow storm last week. Days are getting warmer, acequias are flowing, and farmers are planting.
This is the season that markets open across the state. One of the most well known is the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and for good reason. Situated in the Railyard, the SFFM hosts hundreds of vendors and it’s a great place to find both food and keepsakes.
But there’s another market on the south side of Santa Fe that’s well worth a visit, and it’s part of an innovative ecosystem that embodies sustainability and community. Reunity Resources is a true treasure!
Reunity Resources was founded in 2011. I learned about them in 2019 when they won a Piñon Award from the Santa Fe Community Foundation, which honors local nonprofit organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the community. In their words,
Reunity Resources was founded with the knowledge that community-scale change is necessary for continued climate resilience. We create effective closed-loop systems that allow our community to participate in active solutions. We further these practices through environmental education, community engagement, and local food systems advocacy to sow seeds for broader scale participation in and replication of these principles.
Back in those days, Reunity Resources was a relatively small operation. The main part of it was the state-of-the-art composting equipment which transformed food scraps from homes, schools, and restaurants into rich soil.
It’s come a long way since then. Now it’s home to a soil yard where community members can buy compost, mulch, worm casings, and much more; a two-acre farm that grows a diverse array of local vegetables and plants; a farm stand that features not only the produce grown onsite but other products made by local folks; a Community Fridge where anyone can leave extra food and anyone in need can take home what they need – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What’s really at the heart of Reunity Resources is community, learning, and fun. Over the past few years, they’ve launched an education program and Farm Camp so that kids can learn how to grow plants and discover how much fun it can be to make and eat healthy foods. The smiles on their faces tells you how successful the program is!
That’s not all. Reunity Resources now offers a full schedule of summer events and you can enjoy music, storytelling, and even kid- and family-friendly raves in a beautiful outdoor setting.
How to experience Reunity Resources
There are so many ways to enjoy this amazing community resource. Whether you live in the Santa Fe area or are visiting, treat yourself to a visit and consider other ways to be involved in their good work:
The Farm Stand is open every Saturday, 9 am to 1 pm, from May to September. After you’ve done your shopping, treat yourself to a cup of coffee and homemade baked goods and enjoy sitting under the huge cottonwood trees and make new friends!
Stop by any time to donate your food scraps to their collection bins, and have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve reduced waste and contributed to the creation of soil. You can also join Reunity Resource’s Doorstep Compost Collection program.
Visit the Soil Yard and pick up some compost and amendments for your garden
Enroll your kids in Farm Camp!
Make a donation to the Community Fridge.
Wish you were here!
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Farmers markets are such great community resources. Here in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago we are lucky to have 2, one in the center of H. Park and one just south of us in Woodlawn, at the Experimental Station. That is a resource that serves a year 'round purpose, holding some markets in winter indoors as well. They also host various community groups, a project that teaches preteens and teens to repair bikes, which they can then take home for use, and other projects. They grew out of a local Resource Center which a pioneering Hyde Parker named Ken Dunn established, doing recycling/composting/repairing and re-use of all types of things. He established a recycling business back in the 1970s long before the city was ready to get onboard the movement, with his own truck designed to pick up recyclable materials. He gave people from the poorer neighborhoods to the south and west jobs at his recycling facility and established a center for people to share resources they had and take things they could use. Many Chicago teachers have used it for supplies for their classrooms, finding things for projects their pupils could do, paper that was donated for students to use for drawing, etc. The farmers market became a part of that enterprise when he partnered with them to help start the classes such as the bicycle repair.
I love learning about projects like Reunity Resources that are dedicated to sustainability. Our Locavore in Hilo is a mini version of the same, dedicated to selling local produce and locally made items.