Agricultural Extension Service for growing & revitalizing
THE FOUR CORNERS POTATO
(Solanum Jamesii)
Utah Diné Bikéyah has teamed with Red Butte Garden and the Natural History Museum of Utah to offer this opportunity in drawing upon farmers’ expertise and facilities to greatly expand production of the Four Corners Potato on indigenous lands. Farmers would become “cultivation partners” by attending a one-day training session in Bluff, UT in late April or early May 2021*. Presentations will be made on what is known about Four Corners Potato biology, archeology, cultural history, and cultivation, along with a sharing of farmer’s experiences with this and other potato species. We will demonstrate commercial ways to grow, harvest, and market this nutritious indigenous food, as well as discuss traditional and scientific knowledge essential to understanding the importance of this species to the people of the Four Corners region and beyond.
Attendees will be provided with modest stipends (cash cards) to cover travel costs of attending the training ranging from $25-$100 (depending on distances traveled). Lunch also provided.
Cultivation partners will each receive seed tuber packets and training materials with the goal of establishing their own Four Corners Potato farms in 2021.
WE HAVE ROOM FOR ONLY 10 CULTIVATION PARTNERS IN 2021, SO APPLY TODAY!
(Submission deadline: March 1, 2021)
*If COVID-19 prevents in-person training, we will find a way to hold a meeting online (e.g. Zoom)