David Lemus

Permaculturist and Diesel Technician

Yakama Valley Indian Reservation, WA

September 7th - September 12th, 2025

As we sit in our circle of chairs underneath the canopy he built with his wife, David Lemus, our host, tells us the story of his land. We are flanked by a small garden full of produce, backdropped by the mountains of the Yakima Valley. He’s wearing a blue button down shirt, nondescript gray pants, and a cowboy hat. He is soft spoken, in a way that draws you in and calms you down. David purchased this property 20 years ago with his father, around the time us students sitting in the circle were born. He is an exceptional host and his intelligence is clear. While he works as a diesel technician, he spends a large portion of his time working with permaculture on his farm. He tells us how his wife Jill, and their two kids, have really helped him reconnect with farming in his own way, after he grew up hating it as a laborer. From horses to land retention experiments, to an organic co-op, they’ve done a lot. David is certified in permaculture design, and tells us how he sees it as part of the solution to climate change, as a way to heal the land.

He tells us about the wild parts of the valley. He talks about how in the spring, wildflowers brought by the sheep that used to graze there, bloom across the foothills. The next morning, we are fortunate to be taken up to the foothills, where we see herds of wild horses galloping across the brush. This beauty contrasts with the sparseness of other life that we see in the area. David tells us how the horses are so numerous, that they’ve become a real problem for the valley’s ecological system. The question of how to fix that problem, is something that looms in the background for the duration of our stay on his property in the Yakama Indian Reservation.

by Jeremiah Harder