Our Awesome Volunteers Speak Out

Our volunteers, apprentices, and interns are the heart of Taos Land Trust. This season, two of them shared their experiences in their own words. Read on to hear from Diego Salazar, our Garden Apprentice, and Andrea Montoya, our Healthy Soils Intern.

My Time as a Garden Apprentice at Taos Land Trust

By Diego Salazar, September 28, 2026

Hey there, I’ve spent the last 7 months as a garden apprentice at Taos Land Trust, and I want to tell you about my experience! I spent ten hours every week (along with my fellow garden apprentice Chiara) learning and practicing organic and regenerative gardening, helping out with goats and turkeys, engaging with the community, forming lots of new wonderful connections, and many other helpful tasks. We began with early spring bed prep and sowing all the way to Fall harvest. Despite one of NM’s driest years on record, I was amazed at how with the proper sustainable and regenerative techniques we were able to overcome that and have a largely successful season. I will always hold dearly the lessons I learned and memories I made this season as a garden apprentice and continue to carry those on to my future endeavors.

In the garden I learned all about growing many types of vegetables and flowers. We learned how to best prep garden beds using a no-till method. We directly seeded some plants, transplanted others from the greenhouse, some we companion planted, and we would let beans grow just about everywhere because of their nitrogen fixing capabilities. We made compost and applied it to our soil to get a healthy, living soil biome. We got to feed the goats our garden weeds and the turkeys our garden pests. After a long season of hard work we got to learn how to harvest the fruits (vegetables in this case) of our labor and process them correctly using food safe methods so the delicious veggies could be shared to more folks.

Volunteers

I could go on and on of all of the different regenerative farming techniques I learned over the season. I feel very well equipped in my gardening skills and hope to put them to use in the community for years to come. I’ll always be very grateful for Nora and everyone else I learned from at Taos Land Trust.

Other than gardening, Taos Land Trust was very fun to work at because of the community. There are several ‘regulars’ who I got to befriend that would walk by and chat about the garden nearly every day I was there. Also, there was the occasional out of towner or a local who’s never been who would stop by and I’d get to tell them about everything I do and some of the rest of the cool stuff going on at the Rio Fernando Park.

I also got to assist/host several community events including goat days, children’s workshops, and summer camp visits. I learned so much about goat care and I loved having them nearby while I worked so I could take breaks and hang out with them. It also brought me so much joy seeing how it brightened people’s days (of all ages) to walk by and say hi to the goats.

I oversaw a group of kindergarteners from TISA in planting two 50 foot rows of green beans. Those green beans did amazing and tasted delicious. I also helped out with a few workshop (Landlab) days for youth. The kids and I all got to learn a lot during these experiences, and we had a ton of fun!

Volunteers

Of course I also got to know a lot of the staff, interns, youth corps members, and volunteers at Taos Land Trust. It was great to form some new connections in the community and to get a lot of important work done while doing it!

My Summer as a Healthy Soils Intern

By Andrea Montoya

Are you an inside person or an outside person? I am definitely an outside person.

I am Andrea, a sophomore at the University of Chicago studying Environmental Science and a proud Norteña from Northern New Mexico. This summer, I returned home and joined Taos Land Trust as a Healthy Soils Intern.

When I started looking for internships, I knew I wanted hands-on scientific field experience. My previous work had focused on environmental policy, so I was excited to find an opportunity that would let me work directly with land restoration and ecological monitoring.

I had first discovered Taos Land Trust through a quick Google search for environmental organizations near my home. What began as an email soon turned into a summer of opportunity to learn about soil health, wetland restoration, native plants, and land management.

Throughout the summer, I developed both technical and practical skills. I gained experience with vegetation surveys, native plant monitoring, weed mitigation strategies, soil restoration practices, ArcGIS Pro mapping, tractor operation, trailer hitching, and seed planting.

If you cannot tell, I craved working outside. This summer, I spent much of my time collecting data across four 30-by-30 meter grids, two in the wetlands and two near the pollinator garden. My job was to compare the tested and control plots and monitor the presence of noxious weeds.

One day while collecting data near the pollinator garden, an older man stopped and asked if I was building something. When I explained that I was studying noxious weeds, he immediately started talking about how much he hated them and how important it was to find a way to control them. I could not help but to chuckle, but he did have a point. His comment stuck with me and reminded me the importance of my work, inspiring me to further test different weed mitigation strategies throughout the summer.

While I gained valuable scientific experience, the people I met made a lasting impact. The highlight of my internship was not just the fieldwork, it was the people. I spent time with the Youth Conservation Corps, went rafting, worked alongside some very mischievous goats and silly turkeys, and had countless conversations about college, community, and the future.

Volunteers

My summer at Taos Land Trust showed me what environmental science looks like in real life. I learned many valuable skills, but also I learned the importance of community and caring for the places I call home. It is a summer I will never forget.