Three friends, Margarito, Hugo, and Porfirio, started Santa Rosa Farm.
Margarito grew in Acapulco, Mexico. His parents grew corn, papaya, mangoes, watermelons, and coconuts. After moving to the United States, Margarito started farming again with his friends. They all enjoy being outdoors, and they want to keep their farming tradition alive.
This is Santa Rosa’s first year working with MFA. In Mexico, chemicals were always the answer. Now Santa Rosa is liking the idea of learning natural ways to overcome pest and disease problems.
A challenge Santa Rosa faced this year was not having access to the right tractors and tillage equipment. New funding will allow for the purchase of a tractor and other needed equipment.
Santa Rosa is selling their product through Big River Foods. They farm 1.5 acres and grow tomatoes (slicer, grape, heirloom, Roma), tomatillos, jalapenos, and Thai and Hungarian wax peppers. Their future plans include selling their products at the Saturday morning Farmers Market in Bloomington.  |
