La Codorniz Ranch began with a gift: five acres of land in Datil, New Mexico, passed down from my mother. Sitting at 7,400 feet in the high desert, this place is both rugged and beautiful. It has enormous potential, but it also comes with real challenges. My dream is to honor her and this land by building a farm that feeds families, preserves heritage, and models a self-sustaining, regenerative way of life.
Right now, I’m still in Texas, working to secure the funding needed to relocate and start operations full-time on the land. I’ve registered La Codorniz Ranch as an LLC, applied for the Amber Grant, and am piecing together every resource I can to make this dream real.
Why This Matters
Datil is a small, high-desert community where access to fresh, affordable food is limited. Families often drive long distances to reach grocery stores, pay higher prices for food, and many struggle with food insecurity. La Codorniz Ranch is about more than farming. It’s about filling a gap by producing local food, teaching sustainable skills, and celebrating culture.
I’ve drawn inspiration from the old Pueblo way of life and the homesteading traditions of the Southwest. My time in Mexico deepened my love for heritage foods, resilience, and community spirit, and my background in anthropology has reinforced all of this. This farm is a chance to carry those traditions forward in New Mexico. We envision tortillas and fried breads made from heirloom corn and grains, hibiscus tea brewed from flowers grown on our land, and adobe houses built by hand.
What We Already Have
Even before fully starting operations, the land offers resources waiting to be shaped into something greater. We have two cabins—one for living, one as temporary poultry housing. There’s a cistern that can be repaired for water use, a buried cargo container that will become a temporary root cellar, and a composting toilet for sustainable sanitation. Two solar panels are ready to be tested, paired with batteries. Salvaged building supplies from my mother’s property and a vintage Airstream trailer that will become a future farm-stay add to our foundation. Seeds, equipment for filming and storytelling, and a donated vehicle awaiting repair complete the starting toolkit.
With effort and support, these pieces will become the heart of a thriving farm.
The Regenerative and Self-Sustaining Plan
La Codorniz Ranch is designed to operate as a closed-loop system where nothing goes to waste. Chickens, quail, turkeys, goats, and pigs will forage, eat food scraps and home-grown fodder such as mealworms, microgreens, and grains, and in return produce eggs, milk, meat, and manure. Fertility flows back into the soil through deep-litter bedding, worm castings, and compost. Crops like heirloom corn and vegetables, hibiscus, chiles, amaranth, and nopales will feed both people and livestock while preserving cultural heritage. Water and energy will come from rainwater harvesting, a well, and solar power.
This approach reduces outside costs for feed, fertilizer, and utilities, making the farm not just sustainable, but resilient in the long term.
Community Impact
La Codorniz Ranch is intended to be a hub for the community, not just a family farm. We hope to create impact in several ways. CSA boxes will provide fresh produce, eggs, and other foods accessible through SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks. Hands-on workshops will teach adobe building, tortilla making, composting, and regenerative farming. Interns and students will have opportunities to learn both traditional skills and modern sustainable practices. In the future, farm stays and events will allow guests to experience regenerative living firsthand.
What It Takes
The land is here, and the vision is clear. Now we need the resources to make it real. The first steps include installing a rainwater harvesting system and basic solar power, drilling a well when funding allows, repairing the farm vehicle for CSA deliveries, building a modest greenhouse and hoop tunnel, creating composting and worm systems, launching a website and social media, and beginning CSA and market sales.
With additional funding, we can expand: constructing the main adobe farmhouse and community hub spaces, building larger greenhouses and specialty crops, starting adobe guesthouses for farm stays, and planting high-desert fruit trees and nuts.
How You Can Help
This farm is ready to grow, but it needs early supporters. You can help by sharing our story, supporting our crowdfunding or early products, joining our online community, or simply sending words of encouragement. Every bit of support brings this vision closer to reality.
La Codorniz Ranch is where heritage, sustainability, and community come together. With your help, these five acres of high desert can become a place where families eat well, traditions are celebrated, and the land is healed.
We invite you to follow our journey, support our work, and be part of making this dream a reality. Together, we can grow something lasting and meaningful in the high desert of New Mexico.
