Latinx couple starts a new pumpkin patch

Granja de los Enamorados is a Latinx farm based in Ferndale, CA, it was started by couple Xochitl Cabrera-Sanchez, 24, and Eric Gallegos, 27. They’re just getting started and are currently raising funds for this new venture and preparing for their Harvest Festival. 

Cabrera-Sanchez is a Fortuna native and current HSU student and Gallegos, an HSU graduate, is from down south in San Pedro but he moved up here to attend HSU.  

Both Cabrera-Sanchez and Gallegos were introduced to gardening at a young age. Gallegos has been into gardening since he was around 5 or 6 years old.

“I spilled some carrot seeds in between some bricks, and they grew all flat, between the bricks and I was totally amazed and pretty much just fell in love with gardening at that point,” Gallegos said.

Cabrera-Sanchez comes from a family of farmers so it wasn’t something that she was initially interested in but as she got older, she appreciated growing her own food and she started helping her mom out in the garden. 

When Cabrera-Sanchez met Gallegos, she became even more interested in gardening because he really enjoyed it. After they moved in together, they started a garden in their backyard.  

Now they’ve decided to make the leap to farming. Their friend, Jacob Ferdman, owner of Five Finger Farms, has let them use a quarter acre of his land to start a pumpkin and squash patch. Gallegos hopes that one day, the farm can become a full-time job for him. 

One of the things that they want to make a priority is crop diversity. Cabrera-Sanchez talked about how corn is a culturally significant crop in the Latinx community but we’re only used to seeing yellow and white corn in grocery stores.

“I feel like we have stranded away from what our people used to grow,” Cabrera-Sanchez said. “The green corns, the blue corns, red corns, corns with all kinds of different colors and it’s beautiful and I think that that’s something that we want to bring back.”

While learning about how crops can be diverse and still work in harmony, Gallegos hopes that those who visit the farm will be able to see how this concept can spill over to animals and people. 

The couple also hopes to create a community space where POC folks can feel comfortable visiting and learning since the farming industry is predominantly white. They also want to make it a space for family and friends to share cultural values and understandings, speak different languages and try new foods.

“We want to provide a piece of our home and our heart…,” Gallegos said.  “We hope that people will see this part of our heart and what we feel is home and find some inspiration.” 
The farm is currently preparing for their Harvest Festival, which they hope to have at the end of September or the beginning of October. If you’d like to make a donation to help with their starting expenses, you can visit their GoFundMe.