Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture (Otero County)

Short-term successes

As reported in County Agents’ impact statements, specialist support of county agents and county Master Gardeners has enabled them to meet the changing needs of the nursery industry and home gardeners in their counties, to develop educational programs in schools and among the public.
Specialist support of county Extension programs have enhanced agent respect within the counties to the point that they are often the primary source of information that cities, counties, and other organizations use for referrals.
With specialist assistance Master Gardener programs in the counties are growing and providing increased assistance to the Extension Service agents as stated in the Agents’ impact statements. Master Gardener programs have resulted in significant teaching opportunities for county residents:


Lea Co. – Waite House – the oldest residence in Lovington was donated to the Historical Society and Museum. The museum then gave access to this house to Lea County Master Gardeners to develop a demonstration garden and access to the house as a classroom. This is a long-term and continuing project that provides landscape design and management demonstrations to citizens of Lea County.
NM Jr. College in Hobbs has been impressed by the Lea County Master Gardener program and has offered to provide classroom space for teaching Master Gardeners, advertising for the Master Gardener classes, and willingness to offer Junior College continuing education credits to people who take the Master Gardener classes. This collaboration began in 2009 and is continuing and growing. The New Mexico Junior College experienced a 60% increase in enrollment as a result of collaboration with NMSU and Lea County Master Gardeners.
Otero - Otero County Master Gardeners provided 6 educational programs to educate local gardeners about techniques for landscaping and gardening in a water conserving manner. They were provided NMSU publications and information. Through the year 49 Otero County Master Gardener volunteers provided 2269 hours of horticultural educational service to their fellow citizens.
Sandoval - A demonstration garden in developed in cooperation with city of Rio Rancho, Sandoval Extension Service, and Master Gardener has been highly regarded locally and nationally. In 2009 Master Gardeners had donated by the time of the county report over 2000 pounds of vegetables from this garden to two charities that distribute vegetables to people in need. The provision of fresh vegetables was a much needed addition to the foods available and the nutrition of program participants.
Master Gardeners provided well-attended plant clinics to answer gardening questions from 200 citizens annually. They conduct numerous educational programs for 500 county residents utilizing Master Gardeners, County and State Extension professionals as instructors. These have resulted in ongoing changes in gardening practices in Sandoval County.
Over 100 active Master Gardeners have contributed more than 5,000 hours of educational service to Sandoval County.
Bernalillo- About 200 active Master Gardeners assist the Bernalillo County Extension Program in offering horticulture education programs to the public. Many contribute more than the required 40 volunteer hours due to their commitment to the success of the program and desire to teach their fellow citizens. Volunteer activities exceed 10,000 hours in providing gardening information at libraries, the Downtown Growers Market in Albuquerque, 4-H Seeds program, the Organic Demonstration Garden, Tomato Fiesta, and various joint activities with the Albuquerque Council of Garden Clubs.
Valencia- Twenty-one Master Gardeners contributed 1, 297 volunteer hours in support of the Valencia County Extension horticulture educational program. The Master Gardeners maintained a demonstration water harvesting/container garden at the Valencia County Extension office using information provided by the NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist and the County Agent. Master Gardeners conducted 50 plant clinics to provide educational outreach to Valencia County residents.
Los Alamos- Forty-two Master Gardeners volunteered 688 hours of a variety of horticultural educational service to county residents.

C. A demonstration xeriscape garden has for several years been a very visible and effective means of landscape water conservation. It has been highly regarded locally and nationally. In 2009 the Sandoval County Master Gardeners received the 2009 Search for Excellence Award at the International Master Gardeners Conference in Las Vegas, NV for this demonstration xeriscape garden they have maintained for many years . The demonstration garden was also featured on the “Gardening by the Yard” television program hosted by Paul James and broadcast nationally by the Home and Gardening Network.

Long-term successes
A. In a conversation with Jim Brooks, proprietor of Soilutions (a composting and landscape waste recycling firm in Albuquerque), I was told that his $ ¾ million business was the result of Extension an NMSU Extension project begun in the early 1990’s. In response to a request from the City of Albuquerque Waste Management Department, as Bernalillo County Extension Horticulture Agent I began a Master Composter Program attended by Jim Brooks. Although he was already composting, the course taught by NMSU Specialists, local experts, and me provided new information at a depth that improved his knowledge of composting. In addition to knowledge he gained in the classes, he told me that a person to whom I introduced him became his partner in the formation of Soilutions. In addition to the direct economic benefits of job creation and income to the company, the company economically and environmentally benefits the City of Albuquerque by recycling landscape wastes (under contract to the City). These waste materials are used to produce valuable soil amendment rather than contributing to the filling and eventual moving of the municipal landfill to a location farther from the city (increasing costs to city taxpayers and rate payers). These citizens have access to an economical soil amendment to improve their garden soil and reduce irrigation needs. Jim Brooks continues to be a local resource teaching composting and other environmentally wise activities to people in the Albuquerque area and all New Mexico, to work with state and municipal agencies. This continuation of information dissemination was the reason Master Composters were formed. Jim still remembers and discusses the importance of NMSU Extension Programs in this area. (Master Composter education has been incorporated into Master Gardener training since I left Bernalillo County, but in the past year there has been a citizen based effort to reestablish the program and Bernalillo County Extension has been a partner in this process.)

B. John Bulton, director of East Central Ministries (a non-profit faith-based organization), recently told me that the olla production facility that his ministry operates supports 1/3 of his ministry to a disadvantaged community within Albuquerque. This ministry was established in a multi-cultural community with gang violence, drug problems, and chronic unemployment/underemployment. John established the ministry and olla production facility to teach employment skills, provide food support (food pantry) and a clothing closet for the community. This has grown to include a low cost apartment living facility in which life skills are taught, a community garden, an affordable middle school, and a health clinic. All this is supported by donations and the olla production facility. A related consequence is that the production of ollas has improved landscape water use efficiency in numerous residential landscapes in New Mexico and many other state in which East Central Ministry sells ollas. To date I am not aware of any other major producers of ollas, although I have spoken to people who expressed an interest in starting production.

Otero County CES Advisory Committee

The Otero County Agricultural Agent, along with the County 4-H, and 4-H Home Economist/County Director met with our 17 member (8 agricultural members) Advisory Committee. After introductions and sharing of general information that would be of value to all members, we broke into groups according to our County appointments. After a brief update of the Agricultural Agents work of the past year, members discussed with one another and gave their suggestions to the Agricultural Agent on issues they perceived were not being addressed or could be improved upon.

An advisory Committee member, and local cattle grower felt there was a great need for the education of people moving into the area from urban locations who are having extreme difficulty with basic livestock issues like fencing, predators, feeding, worming and vaccination programs, etc.; basic gardening; fruit and nut trees, and growing of pasture and forage. He thought it necessary and prudent that the County Agricultural Agent set up some educational programs for these people.
In response, the county agricultural agent: 1) in conjunction with the Lincoln County Agricultural Agent, NMSU specialists, and Otero Master Gardeners presented a six hour “High Altitude Gardening” program at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in Capitan. 2) presented a “Gardening in Otero County” program to the Sertoma Club. 3) Informed and encouraged local cattle growers and all interested persons to attend the “Bovine Trichomoniasis” program presented by Woods Houghton, John Wenzel, and others in Hope, NM. 4) advertised and presented the Pecan Growers Field Day, 5) advertized and presented the Pistachio Growers Workshop 6) Gave out packets of NMSU publications on gardening, watering, fertilizing, starting home poultry flocks, edible Native Plant ornamentals, etc. to visitors to the extension office saying they were new to the state and wanted information on growing, or livestock, or poultry, etc.

Another advisory member, local cattle grower, fair board member, and businessman felt the Agricultural Agent needed to better advertise the services available from the County Extension Service office through radio, newspaper advertisement, information website, and newsletter.
In response, the agricultural agent provided a live interview in late June informing the public of the services available at the Otero Cooperative Extension office from the Home Economics program, the ICAN program, the 4-H program, and the Agricultural program going into detail about the upcoming Farmer’s Market, Master Gardener’s classes, Pecan Growers Field Day, Pistachio Growers Workshop, and the vast amount of free information available at the Cooperative Extension Office. In addition Otero Master Gardener Bev Eckman-Onyshow is a free lance journalist and wrote several articles publicizing the Otero CES services in general, the Master Gardener’s program, the Farmer’s Market, and various 4-H and Home Economics programs.

Farmers’ Market growers had just been told (before our last advisory committee meeting) by the Environmental Department that they could not sell prepared foods without those foods being prepared in a certified inspected kitchen and their possession of a license that accompanied that certification. Advisory Committee member growers therefore were interested in the possibilities of acquiring a grant to build a community kitchen for the use of those people selling prepared foods at Farmers’ Market.
In response, the Agricultural Agent spoke with NMSU Foods Specialist Nancy Flores, the Environmental Department, the New Mexico Farmers Market, and the Otero County Director on the feasibility, benefits, and drawbacks associated with a community kitchen. The agent reported back to the members that such an endeavor would require a group or individuals willing to take on the administration of the kitchen. As of yet such a group has not been identified. However, the recent rule change by the Environment Department was happily received by our growers and should hopefully take care of this issue.

Urban Horticultural Inquiries to the Cooperative Extension Office.

The agricultural agent recorded 1,208 agricultural inquires for the past year and feels strongly that one of the Cooperative Extension Service’s greatest impacts is the one-on-one service we provide to urban horticulturists who walk in, call in, or E-mail the office with questions on varieties that grow best here, insects, plant diseases, weeds, urban wildlife management, plants’ water needs, our alkali soils, and damage done to plants by ignoring the factors that make up our particular growing environment. Certainly more people are reached in public presentations but, these programs cannot come close to the value of the personal attention and abundant information provided by NMSU and the Land Grant University system that is now available at the touch of a computer keyboard to the agricultural agent serving those clients that contact the Cooperative Extension Service office. Even to those clients who are not new to the county, if a weed, or insect, or plant disease is not know by name it is almost impossible for the client to find any information on the Internet or elsewhere, but because of the training provided for the agricultural agent and resources made available, especially the ready access to the NMSU Extension Specialists, problems can be identified and quickly researched to provide timely University-research-based information for the urban grower as well as the larger production grower. At no other place can a person walk in without an appointment with a insect, plant disease, or weed, have it identified and receive a virtual library of information for its management in their garden/landscape environment within minutes. With the growing interest in cultivating home gardens to stem the tide of a tenuous economy, the ready availability of the agricultural agent at the Cooperative Extension Office is invaluable.