Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture

25 producers attended a Noxious Weed Workshop in Virden, NM presented in conjunction with the Southwestern Cooperative Weed Management Area and Southeastern Arizona Weed Management Area. Speakers at the workshop included specialists from NMSU CES, U of A CES, SWNMCWMA members and Hidalgo CES. Topics covered included: Russian Knapweed identification, response and control; Starthistles in Southwest New Mexico, their identification, life cycle and control; weeds to be on the lookout for; Chemical Safety and use in Riparian areas and an overview of NM and AZ noxious weed programs. Card evaluations were used and results indicated that: 100% of participants said information was somewhat or very useful, the quality of information was good or excellent and the participants gained some to much knowledge on the topics presented.

18 home visits were made by the agent in 2009-2010. The agent helped producers and clientele with problems in their commercial fields and home garden/landscape. Problems included: Texas Root Rot in alfalfa, Verticillium wilt in chile, Becterial leaf spot in chile, Fusarium wilt in alfalfa, Phyllostictia fungi in cactus, Pecan tree irrigation, fertilization, selection and planting, Pistachio selection and planting, Pest problems and nitrate screening in sudan grass, landscape and fruit tree pruning, irrigation and fertilization, Alfalfa pest control, irrigation and fertilization, Vegetable planting season and variety recommendation, lawn variety and irrigation and weed control in yards and gardens.

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.

William Wear has signed on to support Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture within Sierra County.

The agriculture agent recorded 901 horticulture contacts for the past year with 546 being in the Farmers Market and Gardening field and 355 in the yard and tree field. Agent feels strongly that one of the CES's greatest services is the one-on-one contacts we provide to farmer’s market producers, orchard managers, urban horticulturists, call ins, e-mail, office visits, CES meetings and workshops. Questions range from recommending species and varieties, insect identification and control, plant identification, and diseases. Clientele ask for organic control methods about 90% of the time. Other questions range from soil test questions, urban wildlife problems.
CES specialists serve as an integral partner with these contacts, in identification and recommendations. The agriculture agent utilizes a scanner for sending pictures of insects and plants to specific specialists and specialists do an excellent job in with identification in a timely fashion. Another benefit of this method is increasing the knowledge of the agriculture agent. The agriculture agent conducted five workshops, presented three presentations, and made 91 home visits to assist home owners with yard, tree and garden questions.
The County Extension Office is unique in offering the general public a place they can walk in or call without an appointment and receive research based information in a timely fashion. Over 350 publications, fliers and bulletins were distributed to Grant County residents regarding horticulture issues.
In the past year there has been an significant increase in the number of farmers market producers, community gardens, and home gardeners due to the fact that our local economy is in such bad shape, Grant County has the second highest unemployment rate in New Mexico. There is now 5 farmers markets in the Grant County, up one from last year and 7 community gardens up one from last year.

10/07/2010

Seed2Need Project

Studies conducted by “Feeding America” based on data by the USDA found New Mexico to be one of the “hungriest states” in the nation with 1 in 4 children under the age of 5 at risk of going hungry every day. In 2005, 238,000 people received emergency food from New Mexico food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens.

With the downturn in the economy and the increase in unemployment, more families are seeking help from local food pantries. In 2009 St. Felix Pantry was providing food to 700 families per week. 2010 shows an even greater number of families needing assistance.

The Corrales Food Pantry Project, adopted as a project by Sandoval county Master Gardeners involves planting one or more vegetable gardens in the Village of Corrales. We are partnering with several property owners who have offered free use of land, water and electricity. Master Gardener’s Roles are to provide seed/transplants and volunteers to clear land, plant, weed and harvest produce. In addition, they also coordinate with food pantries and deliver fresh produce to them.

In 2009 one garden produced 1,600 pounds of tomatoes. That was enough to provide St. Felix pantry a daily supply for two months. Because of the publicity and encouragement it was decided to increase garden numbers and varieties of vegetables. In 2010, some of the vegetables grown included tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, bell peppers, carrots, Chile, onions, melons, swiss chard and bok choy. This year as of September 24th, the gardens have produced over 35,000 pounds of produce. The food pantries served were St. Felix, Rio Rancho, Storehouse West, Rio Rancho, Rio Grande Food Project in Albuquerque and St. Anthony’s Kitchen in Bernalillo, NM.

NOTE: The total value of produce is estimated at $45,000.

This endeavor was made possible by property owners Victor and Nora Scherzinger and Dr. Robert Lynn and Janet Braaziel.

Financial and fiscal sponsors included Sandoval County Master Gardeners, NMSU, Public Service Co., of NM, Rio Grande Food Project, ARCA/La Paloma Greenhouses, Jiffy Lube, Justice Systems, Dura-Bilt, Dr. Stephen Christensen (DDS) and Seidman Family Foundation.

The gardens were harvested by NMSU Sandoval County Extension staff, Master Gardeners, 4-H club members and local school children.

In addition, the garden served as a demonstration on vegetable gardening and several insect and diseases were identified and taken care of. Following are some comments made by individuals about the Seed2Need project.

“This program is amazing. Not only does it provide fresh produce, one of the hardest items for a Food Bank to acquire and distribute, but it raises awareness of the need that we have within our own communities. It also exposes people to the act of gardening, which has become a ‘lost art’ to many people.

The produce that we are able to provide through the food bank isn’t comparable to that which can be picked fresh and distributed the next day. I would love to see projects like Seed2Need implemented in more New Mexico communities. It really could encourage a system of neighbors helping neighbors.” Teresa Johansen, Seed2Need volunteer and purchasing mgr., Roadrunner Food Bank.

“Seed2Need has been a God-send to St. Felix Pantry in Rio Rancho. The fresh produce brought to us has literally saved many needy families from serious hunger crisis this summer.” Sister Claire Kehl, St. Felix Pantry

“The garden is magical. Not only does it provide food for many people, it also nurtures the many people who work in it. It grew so much that is spread its wealthy spirit beyond the Master Gardeners to many others, ranging from boy scouts to grandchildren.” Lydia Allen, Sandoval County CES Master Gardener Volunteer