Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge this sacred land and the breath of those who came before us.
We acknowledge the Indigenous roots of the land we’ll be experiencing together.
The place we call Santa Fe is recognized and known as Oga Po’geh, White Shell Water Place.
History of Synergia Ranch
Synergia Ranch has been operating as a Center for Innovation and Retreats since 1969. The ranch was purchased as a quarter section of the old Byrne Ranch that was acquired in 1926 as part of the Homestead Act, the original Warranty Deed having been signed by Calvin Coolidge. The original ranch of 640 acres was operated as a dairy farm. It passed through the hands of a couple of owners and then was purchased by Charles Taylor who, in 1967, split the section into a 160 acre parcel with the 480 remaining acres being formed into what is now the Silver Hills Ranch Subdivision. Taylor used the existing original barn and building facilities as a quarter horse ranch.
Synergia Ranch was purchased from Taylor in 1969. Utilizing and transforming the considerable existing structures, the ranch as it stands today was built during the seventies.
In the early days the ranch hosted, among others, resident and guest artisans who were interested in producing “biotechnic” products. These products were successfully sold from the ranch, in Santa Fe, and all over New Mexico. As well as large meeting spaces, there were several workshops and studios for the production of fine wood furniture, cabinets, doors and other architectural items. There was also a printing press that was the beginnings of present day Synergetic Press. Llamas and sheep were raised on the ranch to supply the wool used in the production of textiles and various woven goods
The Orchard
The four and a half acre orchard is unique due to its ecological design and its location on high desert (6300 ft) of clay soil. It was specially designed to minimize water usage and produce the tastiest fruit. The orchard was operated in an organic manner from the outset and has been certified organic by the New Mexico Organic Commodities Commission (now the New Mexico Department of Agriculture) every year since 2000. To minimize water usage and give the trees a healthy soil, under each tree a compost heap three feet in diameter and three feet deep was dug. The compost materials came from the Ranch’s animals and horses at the then functioning nearby racetrack, nearly two hundred tons of horse manure went in at the start! In addition, the orchard has a drip irrigation system, both minimizing water losses to evaporation and not over watering to keep the fruit packed with flavor. Synergia Ranch fruit has come to be recognized as the some of the best tasting fruit in New Mexico.
Synergia Ranch started its orchard in 1976 on a wind-swept high desert plateau south of Santa Fe. Now over fourty later, the four hundred fruit trees planted (apples, peaches, apricots, pears, cherries and plums) have flourished.
Today we have been bringing our peaches, apples, and pears (which comprise most of the trees in the orchard) to local farmers markets, fine restaurants and bakeries, and to natural foods wholesalers in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. We have early and late Elberta peaches, some white peaches, six varieties of apples, and three varieties of pears.
Synergia Ranch is also working on ecological conservation and enrichment of our local ecology since it began in 1969. Most of the 130 acres are left to recover from decades of early overgrazing in the years after the land was first homesteaded. Hundreds of trees have been planted as windbreaks and soil-holders around the Ranch to prevent continuing wind and water erosion and help create an ecological oasis. Two windbreaks of Russian Olive and Honey Locust trees were planted in 1985 on to prevent any soil erosion down slope from the orchard. An adjoining area was setup with micro-catchments supporting trees to prevent soil erosion up slope from the orchard. Over the nearly forty years at Synergia Ranch, we have produced hundreds of tons of topsoil by composting animal manure, helping to replace and enrich the eroded soils that were originally here. Around the orchard and Ranch we now see a much improved ecology from what it was when we started. Native grasses and shrubs have come back strong, and the tree program has helped create a micro-climate much more favorable to plants, animals and people alike!
