Farm logo featuring a stylized evergreen tree, representing sustainability and agriculture. The design emphasizes a clean, modern look with bold typography.
Shop
Farm logo featuring a stylized evergreen tree, representing sustainability and agriculture. The design emphasizes a clean, modern look with bold typography.

About Us

After studying controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) at the Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) under renowned aquaponics expert R. Charlie Shultz, Nate Downey, a local permaculture-landscape designer/contractor, started Lettuce Etc in 2018. As the author of the award winning-book Harvest the Rain and a monthly column about permaculture in the Santa Fe New Mexican, he’d thought he was taking the class to add a tool to his permaculture toolbox, but the classes changed his life.

With the hope of quickly finding the ideal parcel for an urban aquaponics farm, in December of 2020 Nate finally found one—a gradual south-facing slope within 12 miles of 50,000 homes. But city zoning can be rough on a farm. As per our code, commercial greenhouses need permission from their neighbors in almost every circumstance.

We now have the building permit and are about to start raising funds for the phase-one farm. In the meantime, we are continuously learning about how to grow and distribute local food thanks to our partnerships with Santa Fe Community College and Communities In Schools New Mexico. For the latest about our progress, please follow us on social media, click on our News page, or fill out the newsletter sing-up boxes below.

See Our Products
Young woman smiling while holding a chicken in a barn, showcasing a connection to farm life and animal care.
A person in overalls and boots sitting on a wooden fence in a rural field, with a pitchfork leaning against the fence and green grass in the foreground. The scene is set against a backdrop of trees and a clear blue sky.
Black cows grazing in a sunny pasture with a clear blue sky and rolling hills in the background, showcasing rural farming life.
Woman tending to baby chicks in a rustic chicken coop, featuring feeding and watering stations, with warm lighting and wooden structure.
A flock of white chickens foraging in a grass-filled environment inside a poultry greenhouse, showcasing sustainable farming practices and animal welfare.
A group of black pigs foraging in a grassy field, surrounded by tall grass and trees in the background, showcasing their natural habitat and behavior.
Chickens foraging in a grassy field, showcasing healthy and free-range poultry in a natural environment.
Chickens foraging in a grassy field, showcasing healthy and free-range poultry in a natural environment.
Chickens foraging in a grassy field, showcasing healthy and free-range poultry in a natural environment.
45

Our Practices

Aquaponics: Our produce is grown using aquaponics, a farming system that mimics nature by raising fish and plants in a closed-loop ecosystem. We feed fish, fish excrete wastes that are converted into plant nutrients by naturally occurring bacteria, and the plants filter the water for the fish. The end result of aquaponic practices is that people love how they taste!

Some people call aquaponics “soilless agriculture,” but that’s only because soil particles in our system water are just too small for the human eye to see. For more info, please see our FAQ page and regenaquaculture.com. Better yet, sign up for a class at SFCC, where they have one of the best programs in the world.

Four Permaculture Principles: Our practices are grounded in four principles derived from permaculture, the ethical basis of which is care for the earth, care for people, and reduce unnecessary consumption:

1. Cooperation, not competition is the driving force of nature

We cooperate with our subscribers and ask them to let us know what other regionally produced items they'd like delivered.

2. Every element in a system should perform more than one function.

The fish not only provide protein for people, but they also provide nutrients for plants. The plants not only give us food, but they also clean the water for our fish.

3. Make the least change for the greatest possible effect.

We deliver within a 12-mile radius instead of from 1,500 miles away.

4. The yield of a system is limited only by the creativity of its designers and operators.

We believe the potential to reinvigorate regional farms with a farm-to-home model is significant. In New Mexico, with so many great farms that might appreciate home-delivery sales, we encourage farmers to contact us for information about how we can partner.

Seven Values: Changing the world requires a set of values. Here are some of ours:

  1. Ecological Responsibility: Use less carbon, less water, and less packaging while we protect wildlands (by growing on a vacant urban lot), discharge no waste, and never apply toxic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.
  2. Food Security: Work to decrease local hunger, support regional farmers, and deliver products that nourish local people. (Hey, got nothing against tourists. We just prefer to focus our efforts on folks who live here.)
  3. Friendliness: Strive to provide happy, swift, and authentic customer service, create a positive work environment, and spread good vibes and a zest of humor whenever we can.
  4. Community Building: Give food to neighbors in need, make it easy for others to do so, sometimes foster connections among neighbors without even trying, and support others doing good deeds for the betterment of our community.
  5. Animal Welfare: Ensure our fish live in optimal environments and get all the thanks and praise they deserve.
  6. Food Safety: Abide by strict food-safety guidelines and unmatched traceability.
  7. Hours-Fresh Food: Harvest at dawn. Deliver before noon.