About GreenFingers Farm
GreenFingers started as a farm in 2014 when novice farmer, Shelley Schweizer, purchased for stewardship a little over an acre of land in the Espanola Valley of Northern New Mexico. Although the land was charted as “not prime for agricultural purposes”, Shelley had the optimism of any grower and began to “feed the soil”. Until the covid epidemic of 2020, Shelley would travel to Maine each summer to continue her small business as an organic landscape flower gardener, returning in the fall to teach in the New Mexico schools. Her land was covercropped over these years as well as put into small production by her son, Nahod.
The summer of 2020 brought change to the farm. Shelley took up residence during the summers and began to seriously tend to the soil, micro-organisms and all. Her background and training in biodynamic agriculture set the orientation of her practices as well as her burgeoning interest in regenerative agriculture. Combining the two best describes today the way in which the soil is viewed, understood, and cared for. Shelley believes that “the soil will save us.”
GreenFingers Farm specializes in annual and perennial flower and herb production with a secondary emphasis on food production. A flock of 15 hens and one rooster bring little feet and helpful beaks to the field during the summer. Their manure is brought into compost production on the farm. Shelley tries to minimize outside inputs but had the great fortune to be a recipient of a NM Healthy Soil Program grant for 2025! Based upon her agricultural plan to increase the productivity of her farm through amending the soil, the land has received the benefits of 44 cubic yards of compost from ReUnity Resources Soil Yard in Aqua Fria Village, Santa Fe, organic fertilizers, and Johnson Su bio-compost from Mother Nature Center in Santa Fe. So let’s see what 2025 brings!
Shelley acknowledges that she stewards the earth with reverence on stolen Tewa land.
The woman behind GreenFingers
Shelley is a biodynamic/regenerative farmer and small business owner who fell in love with New Mexico. She completed Bachelor degrees in Humanistic Learning and Sociology from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Theological Studies degree in Massachusetts. Alongside growing GreenFingers, she worked as a special educator for 25 years. Shelley has a long history of activism, including standing for peace and non-violence through Women in Black and working to establish a US Department of Peace. She has three children, two of whom she birthed at home, two farm dogs she adopted from the valley, and a coop of whacky chickens.