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Impact Report

For plan Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture (Sandoval County)
Date October 18, 2010, 9:28 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report SEED STARTING: In 2010 Sandoval county Master Gardeners received training in seed starting. Many gardeners experienced trouble getting plants to grow. Most of the problems related to depth of the seed being planted. 25 master gardeners took the training and as a group started tomato plants. The lessons they learned 1) How addictive seed starting can be 2) Justification for purchasing/building a grow light set 3) Reasons not to fertilize with fish emulsion when growing plants inside a poorly ventilated living space. COLD FRAMES: 2010 Master Gardeners wanted to experiment with cold frames. After a workshop attended by 15 master gardeners they had 2,500 plants that needed protection so they built a cold frame with straw bales on top of an existing concrete slab covered with shade cloth during the day and frost cloth at night. It worked and straw bales were used as mulch through the growing season. WATER SYSTEMS: 2010 Sandoval County Master Gardeners wanted to experiment with different watering systems. They have been taught about drip irrigation, soaker hoses, spray emitters and flood irrigation. The acre they were working on no longer had flood available. It was suggested by agent that they try t-tape as they had all had experience with drip and they had bad luck with soaker hoses. The group is pretty well convinced that for vegetable gardening t-tape is the most efficient, promotes plant health and is easy to roll up after the season and store. This knowledge was presented to other master gardeners and general public that visited the garden on tours. TREE INVENTORY-CITY OF RIO RANCHO: 2010 Sandoval County Master Gardeners were asked by the city forester if they would assist in participating in doing a tree inventory of all the parks. It was agreed that we would help identify tree species, maybe point out declining trees. But we would not make any recommendation as to which trees should remain or which ones needed removal. This we felt was the Foresters job. A total of 30 parks were inventoried with 1266 trees being indentified. In appreciation for their efforts the master gardeners received a certificate of appreciation at a Rio Rancho City Council meeting. CORRALES MAIN STREET PROGRAM 2010 – Sandoval County Master Gardeners were invited to participate with Corrales Main Street program to conduct the first annual Corrales Garden Tour. Master Gardener role were to assist at different gardens and provide information to self guided tours. The tours were a great success. They even had to print out more tickets on tour day to accommodate the participants. The Corrales main street organization was very grateful for our participation and sent a thank you card. They plan to continue this event as they made a great deal of profit. Master Gardener’s enjoyed the tour as it gave them a chance to visit the gardens also.