Producer

Nova Market Garden is a bio-intensive market garden situated on three acres of irrigated land in Aztec, NM. It is run by Betsy and Donal Kinney, who have gardened together for more than 30 years. They call their operation a market garden, because they utilize intensive growing practices on permanent garden beds. Nova's focus is on nutrient dense, wholesome food. 

Nova Market Garden uses some specific techniques in order to make the most of their relatively small lot located along the Animas River. Due to the limitations in the planting area they make use of a dense planting scheme using transplants started in the greenhouse. This allows them to produce more crops throughout the year by making the most of the time the plants spend in the soil. This also requires the development of healthy soil to plant in.

Over the last few years since purchasing this land, the Kinneys have undertaken a project to help the land recover from years of intensive horse grazing. This has included planting grasses that helped to build the biomass of the soil as well as relieving the total soil compaction. This work to make the soil more healthy has great benefits to the land and to their customers as it allows them to avoid using chemical sprays on the crops by naturally preventing disease as well as improving supply of nutrients in the produce. Furthermore, Nova farm works to implement minimal dig principles that help maintain soil structure in such a way that carbon can be captured in the soil and remain there, improving plant supply as well as helping the environment as a whole.