Meet Your Local Farmers – Andras Godina and Tessa Bianchet of Fossil Face Farms
Meet Andras Godina and Tessa Bianchet, farmers at Fossil Face Farms in Northeast El Paso! Andras and Tessa have been managing and building Fossil Face since 2019 with the help of many hands who have made it what it is today. The farm is a non-profit under Homewatch Caregivers and Modesto A. Gomez Inc.
Andras grew up in El Paso and has always been around plants and farming. Their grandfather was a part of the Bracero program and always shared his experiences as a farmworker. A self-proclaimed “plant nerd,” Andras grew up in the desert and mountains and started a cactus and rock club in high school, eventually obtaining a degree in horticulture and landscape management. Tessa is originally from Connecticut and grew up in a farm town. Family roots in agriculture and gardening planted the seeds that would later develop more as an adult as she studied sustainable agriculture in college. When she first moved to El Paso, she managed a community garden at the Bowling Family YMCA as part of the Americorps program. Through her friendship with Andras, she came to Fossil Face.
Nestled in a neighborhood in Northeast El Paso, Fossil Face is a unique operation. With a stunning view of the Franklin Mountains, where the “fossil face” name comes from, the farm is a social enterprise located on the site of an assisted living center. Utilizing the urban space, fresh, healthy, and diverse food is grown for the residents, in addition to the broader community. According to Andras and Tessa, Fossil Face is not commercial per se, but rather, the goals are to build community, provide educational opportunities, and increase food access. Tessa notes that “there’s nothing more important than food” and everyone deserves good, healthy food.
Both Andras and Tessa are incredibly knowledgeable about the biodiverse farm they manage at Fossil Face. Everything they do takes time and is done by hand and with the greatest level of care. Talking with them, you’ll hear about the complexities of their compost and fertilization processes, as well as the vast amount of varieties they grow seasonally. Fossil Face is more focused on biodiversity than quantity, and they continue to expand and increase their crop selection. You can find standard crops for each season, such as peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, squashes, kale, lettuces, fennel, etc. Their edible and medicinal flowers are next level. They continue to experiment and as climate change increases, they continue to create and nurture the microclimates growing in this urban landscape.
Community is central to their operation in more ways than providing resources and accessible and healthy food. Fossil Face was another farmer mentor site for our inaugural farmer fellowship, and Andras and Tessa provided incredible support. They’ve also developed strong relationships with local businesses like Juicy Day, Old Sheepdog Brewery, and Cookie Method. Bartering and trading is central. For example, grains are a major component of their compost. They use waste from Old Sheepdog Brewery, and, in turn, the brewery is making a beer with their beets. Fossil Face also works closely with Inanna’s Delight, providing Valerie Rivas with herbs for her tea blends.
Andras remarked that farming has saved their life and that to grow food and give it to your community is a healing act. As a society, we don’t talk enough about how farming and our connections to the land are healing processes. At Fossil Face, to be a farmer in the Chihuahuan Desert means to be resilient and non-conventional, and they envision more dignified wages and respect for farmers as necessary facets of our community.
When asked what they want to communicate about Fossil Face to our community, Andras said they want to see more welcoming spaces for the LGTBQ community. As folks, especially youth, continue to face unwelcoming spaces within farming, Fossil Face is a farm where queer youth can feel safe and accepted and learn about farming in urban spaces in our desert region. Both Andras and Tessa are working to create a friendly space at Fossil Face for education and dialogue for everyone. As they emphasize cultivating a local food system, they note, ”We need all hands and minds to work together.”
Fossil Face produce can often be found in our weekly Farm Fresh farm boxes! To learn more, check out their website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
