Photo by Ella Scott, 2010
I’m Steve Heil. I grow greenthread native herbal tea and teach art to children ages 3 to 12 at Onate Elementary School in Gallup, NM. Gallup is a small town in McKinley County, on the edge of the Zuni and Navajo reservations. I grow, harvest, package, distribute and retail my native herbal tea, build and maintain the website, create the graphics, design the package, and stamp the boxes by hand, and I love every aspect of the project.
Here on the Colorado Plateau a wide variety of peoples enjoy a diverse natural world. The garden where I first grew greenthread was in the Puerco River Valley on Rehoboth land, known as Tse Yaaniichii in Navajo, meaning, “where the red rocks end.” The picture below shows the crop early in the season of 2003, sandwiched between the rail road and route 66 in a valley which 1,000 years ago grew corn for Ancestral Puebloans.
Having lost that site to development I am now starting over on a 5-acre piece of rangeland west of Gallup among the Jurassic hoodoos.
Steve hauls in the greenthread harvest
Of course, if you know Gallup, McKinley County or the reservations, you know this region has its share of social ills. My wife researches and writes about this sort of thing and she could tell you the figures on poverty, broken families, substance abuse and dependency. I would point out the overgrazing, poor watershed management, abuse and neglect of natural resources. Many of our local and regional leaders think the solution to these problems lies in the development of extractive or service industry. I’m optimistic about a return to agriculture in order to support families on the Colorado Plateau.
My part-time persistence in working with greenthread as a regionally specific crop is inspired by essays such as Christianity and the Survival of Creation by Wendell Berry. I am impressed with the work of the Center for a Sustainable Environment at Northern Arizona University under the direction of Gary Nabhan, working toward regional, sustainable food systems. I am awed by the work of Wes Jackson in developing soil-building, natural systems of perennial food crops at the Land Institute of Salina.
I have really enjoyed getting in contact with small farmers interested in greenthread and its potential as an herb crop around here. Thanks to those of you who connect with me by commenting on posts or contacting me otherwise. Please visit the contact page to connect. Thanks!
