MimoMex Farm (formerly RodriMex Farm) is operated by the Rodriguez Family — Martin & Gaudencia and their 5 children. Family and tradition are very important parts of the MimoMex Farm. Believing in the same healthy practices that they experienced growing up in Mexico, they do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers, raising the produce “naturally”. The farm is not certified organic. However, despite the lack of official certification, MimoMex Farm has a high standard of quality, combining ecologically friendly and environmentally sound practices with old-fashioned family values, to produce a healthy, sustainable product.
Located on 16 acres in the Black Dirt Region in the town of Goshen, New York, MimoMex Farm is about 46 miles from our homes in Williamsburg, North of Brooklyn and West of the Hudson in a valley area known for its extremely fertile soil left over from an ancient glacial lake bottom. Nestled within the bosom of the Northeast Appalachian ranges, this series of valleys is a combination of hilly areas with rocky forest land and valleys of rich cultivatable soil which is chiefly devoted to the industry of agriculture. Populated with many sheep and dairy farms, the area has also historically raised considerable quantities of wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, onions, potatoes, corn and hay. Large quantities of maple sugar are also produced there annually, as the forest land is filled with not only maple trees but pine, hemlock, spruce, oak, beech, and birch tress as well.
Since 2004 Martin and Gaudencia Rodriguez have specialized in Mexican herbs and vegetables grown without pesticides. In 2005, they became the first New Farmer Development Program (NFDP) farmers to own a farm when they purchased 16 acres of their own land. MimoMex Farm grows over 80 different types and varieties of vegetables — Mexican specialties like tomatillos, summer squash, and jalapenos in addition to favorite New York regional staples like beets and sweet corn.
This region of land near the New Jersey border was generally avoided by the Dutch and English farmers during the early years of settlement because the soil, although dark and rich, had poor drainage and was frequently flooded. However, as immigration patterns to this region the early 1700s, immigrants from Eastern Europe, particularly Poles and Volga Germans who had worked similar conditions in their native countries, recognized the agricultural possibilities of the “Drowned Lands” and began large-scale agricultural development, draining the farmland out of the “muck”. The 1800s would see a series of conflicts erupt between industry and farming [known as the Muskrat & Beaver Wars] as the millers who needed the water to flow freely down the local river and its tributaries battled the farmers dependent on keeping it diverted. By 1871, the farmers eventually won control and the industry of agriculture began to dominate the land with many farmers growing acres of the highly-prized black dirt onion. The 1900’s were an agricultural boom time and by the late 20th century the region was producing an average of 30,000 pounds of onion per acre.
Today, due to the changing popular tastes in onions and the different realities of the global market, the type of large scale industrial farming devoted to a single crop that developed is not as profitable as it once was. (And land for residential development is very profitable…) While much of the land is being sold off to development, MimoMex Farm is part of the changing face of farming in that region as more land is cultivated by small family farms.
A multi-generational farming family from a village outside of Puebla, Mexico, Martín & Gaudencia both grew up on farms and have 20+ years of farming experience. They have been on their farm in Goshen for about 9 years, first leasing land, and now owning most of the land they cultivate. To date, they have been selling their produce primarily through farmers markets in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. 2012 is their 4th year participating in the Southside CSA.
Below are two articles that have been written about the farm (previously named RodriMex Farm):
For information about the actual shares received over the last 3 seasons, find the tag “weekly share amount” and scroll through weeks of distribution lists. We also have copious amounts of pictures from last year on the Southside CSA Facebook Page.
Southside CSA 