The Legacy of Women in the Fields and Gardens of Los Poblano

ruth mccormick and Rose Greely

Los Poblanos has a long and varied history of visionary women that created the foundation and the future of our cherished farm, fields and gardens. Beginning in the 1930s, Ruth Simms was instrumental in laying the groundwork to build an experimental farm that pushed the boundaries of farming and gardening in the New Mexico desert. By bringing Rose Greely to Los Poblanos to design the formal rose garden and surrounding areas, Simms firmly established that women were vital to the vision of the farm's future. One of the first female landscape architects in the country, Rose Greely made a permanent statement with her design contribution to our historical gardens.

In the mid-1970s, the late Dr. Armin and Penny Rembe purchased Los Poblanos, and Penny raised her family while engaging in farming and gardening herself - something she remains passionate about to this day. In the mid-1990s, she expanded the farming operations at Los Poblanos by working with Marie Nord, the former nun who founded and brought an early CSA project to Los Poblanos. To this day, the community farming practice that the late Marie Nord began still operates in the South Valley. In the late-1990s, Penny and Armin began the experimental lavender fields which still flourish, providing essential oils and hydrosols that fragrance our artisan lavender products, which are created by our women-led production team. 

Over a decade ago, the talented and treasured Judith Phillips began sharing her landscaping vision with Los Poblanos. A respected author, researcher and landscape designer, Judith has been engaged in garden and landscape consultation with Los Poblanos for many years, working on plant selection as the property grew - first with the addition of the Farm Suites and again when the dairy barn buildings were renovated for Campo and the Farm Shop and the Field Suites were built. Judith's inspired vision was to create plant-filled spaces that would beckon guests (including birds, bees and butterflies) into the gardens to engage the senses, capture seasonal changes and to ensure the planting schemes were copacetic with a hotter, drier present and future. 

Today on the farm, our team is filled with many talented women who play instrumental roles in furthering the legacy of Los Poblanos Ranch. Judy Hartline leads our vegetable operation, Jamie Lord is our lead distiller, Eva Zafarano and Madeleine Granath assist in distillation, flower harvesting, greenhouse operations and tending the fields, and Shannon Hall works in landscaping, assists with flowers, our seed packet production and more.

As you can see, women have played pivotal roles in the creation and continued evolution of the Los Poblanos Ranch. Follow along this month as we tell more stories of women on the farm. Attend the March 9 lecture, How Women Made the West, given by Professor Virginia Scharff. Join us for a Women of Los Poblanos tour, offered every Saturday morning this month. Stroll through the Farm Shop to peruse the work of many local female artisans. And if you're lucky, you just may see our founder, Penny Rembe, making her rounds during your visit. Check out our calendar for more going on this month, and join us in celebrating Women's History Month.

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