Three ranch-style homes are being renovated to provide a retreat to vacationers wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, Oyos said.Īnother goal is to create an educational center where Native Americans cans share their culture and history with the public.

“For many tribal nations, when they can get their land back it helps to bring wholeness to them because the land is what they survived on.”Īlong with farming and selling produce at farmstands, tribal members envision using the farm, along with a 40-acre adjacent property acquired last spring, for vacation rentals. “We purchased the farm for economic resources and to provide for the tribal members,” said Essence Oyos, secretary for the Business Development Corp., who estimated there are 620 enrolled tribal members in the United States, about one-third of whom live on the local reservation. The five board members are working with the tribe on several ideas to draw income from the farm so they can make improvements to their reservation, which is located in several areas roughly north of SR-78, west of SR-79 and south of SR-76. Renovating Golden Eagle Farm is one of the first projects for the tribe’s Business Development Corp., which formed in 2017. These crops will play no small part in helping the Mesa Grande tribe gain economic self-sufficiency and revitalize their way of life, tribal member say. Other crops growing on the 560-acre farm off state Route 78 are sugarsnaps and peas, chili peppers and zucchinis. The property across from the Oasis Camel Dairy sat vacant for a few years, but the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians, who bought it five years ago, plan to revitalize the land, starting with 4,000 strawberry plants that will serve as the foundation for a you-pick-it-yourself venture.

Rows of tiny strawberry plants are gently pushing their way through the soil next to a demonstration garden near the entrance to Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona.īehind the 5-acre garden are sprawling horse pastures formerly used for a thoroughbred horse training and breeding facility run by the Mabee family until 2014.

Golden eagle farm ramona ca