West Haven Farm

Carlos Aguilera and Lorena Mendoza grew up in central Mexico, in a small agrarian community in the hills of the state of  Michoacan eating what the land provided for subsistence.  In 2002 Carlos came to the United States to work  as a farm worker and Lorena followed in 2006. After a few years as farm workers and becoming leaders of a small group of latino farmworkers in central New York, We missed and realized what  we  had back in Mexico as kids and decided to try to recreate a similar life  for us,  and our  children in the United states.  In 2012  we purchased a small piece of land in Ovid, New York and began cultivating organic fruits and vegetables for subsistence and started selling them  at the Ithaca  farmers markets, Syracuse Regional market and at a local CSA. Soon we realized that in the United States the game is very different. Food security is a very small part of running a subsistence farm, but rather it’s dictated by the bureaucracy and the “invisible hand and fist” of free markets and capitalism.  After failing at  running a small farm due to the lack of capital, infrastructure and a stable market, Carlos got another job in HR for the dairy industry in New York,  while Lorena cared for the kids and had a job at a local farm. In 2019 West Haven farm came up for sale and both of us still wanted to get back at farming, we were very skeptical since we knew first hand how hard and challenging it would be.  We bought the   10+ acre farm that is Certified Organic by NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC, and is located on a beautiful hill two miles from downtown Ithaca, NY on the land of Eco Village at Ithaca. The land we farm is protected by a permanent conservation easement so we can continue producing food here indefinitely without pressure from development (through the Finger Lakes Land Trust). We market all of our produce directly to consumers through the Ithaca Farmers' Market, local stores and restaurants. West Haven Farm is Ithaca's longest running Community Supported Agriculture program (since 1992).  We have never been interested in putting our produce in a box and shipping it to unknown people in far-away places—we value the relationships we cultivate with those who eat and produce the  food we grow, and feel good about knowing the people for whom we grow food. Being so close to Ithaca allows us to provide a multitude of educational experiences on the farm, and we regularly host tours of school children, college students, and local, regional, and international farmers. We grow organically because we believe that the healthiest farm ecosystems should mimic the resiliency and diversity of natural ecosystems. We rely on compost and cover crops to feed our living soil, which in turn provides our crops with gentle, healthy nutrition. We don't use bagged chemical fertilizers as they degrade the soil and contaminate our water supply. Just as the healthiest human diets are based on whole foods instead of supplements, we believe that plants too should be given a balanced and healthy environment in which to thrive. Our pest control depends first on recruiting the good bugs who are naturally abundant in a healthy, non-poisoned system. We also use row covers to prevent unwanted pests from gaining access to some crops, and judiciously use biological and botanical controls to moderate insect and disease problems. Weeds are prevented from competing with our crops through the use of cultivation rather than chemicals. Our attention to good crop rotations and field practices ties it all together by getting plants the nutrition when they need it, breaking pest, disease and weed cycles, minimizing erosion, and maintaining long-term soil health. Farming is a complex and challenging trade, one of the ways we’ve learned is true collaborations, relationships  and sharing knowledge with other  farmers. This is especially important with climate change uncertainties and the challengers that minorities and beginning farmers are facing. We