Mal Bilicz

Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe-Pojoaque Soil and Water Conservation District

Mal Bilicz is an aspiring farmer and gardener with a mission to restore soil health, create butterfly and pollinator friendly habitats, and to share the fruits of her labor and Earth’s bounty with the community.

Bilicz became deeply interested in soil biology in 2019 when she came across work of Ellaine Ingham. Since then, she has been incorporating composting, natural manure application, crop rotation, and cover crops into her efforts to regenerate soil one square yard at a time. Bilicz’s operation is 100 percent no-till with no synthetic inputs or chemicals.

Bilicz understands that when it comes to Earth regeneration there is no such phenomenon as an instant transformation. While beginnings are challenging, she has seen several improvements to date:

1. Increased biodiversity in the soil.
2. Improved crop health and product quality.
3. More pollinators and birds on the property.

Some of the challenges Bilicz faces include:

1. Getting all the needed business licensing and permits.
2. Finding the right resources to enhance water retention/reduce runoff and soil erosion.

Water is an invaluable resource in New Mexico, and the quality of the current soil cannot absorb the rare precipitation. Bilicz is in a process to look for available funding to create necessary infrastructure, such as terracing, to optimize soil restoration in her location.

Updated September 2022