Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture

In 2008, we enrolled 60 new students in our county Master Gardener classes. Of these, 10 paid extra to take the classes without becomming volunteers. Over the 13 weeks of the class, we lost 5 students. A simple evaluation tool administered on the last day of classes yielded the following information:
47 people responded. Of these, 100% indicated they learned new information and/or skills; 100% indicated they would use this new information/skill set; 25.5% felt the new information would be "quite" useful to them, while 74.5% indicated the information would be "very" useful to them. 100% indicated they would recommend the program and the presenters to other people. I also asked for commentary on my direct role as one of the instructors (I teach approximately 25% of the classes in this county). Comments received tended to sound like the following direct qoutes:
"One of our better speakers, most interesting"; "Has always been available and extremely helpful. Very approachable. Excellent interpersonal skills."; "He is very knowledgeable, entertaining and makes lectures more interesting - he should present more often."; "Joran is as good as it gets - an excellent presentor, enourmous knowledge in the field, personable and entertaining as well as informative - a true expert whose enthusiasm shows - inspirational! 5 stars"; "Very practical, down to earth information and relaxed knowledgeable presentation style."

Ollas
For several years I have taught use of ollas (buried, unglazed clay jars) as means of efficient irrigation and adding interest to landscapes. This information was presented in newspaper articles, news releases, and various publications, presentations to county agents, Master Gardeners, and various gardening/civic groups. The result has been the development of a new small industry in a disadvantaged sector of Albuquerque society.
East Central Ministry in Southeast Albuquerque has developed a growing market for ollas, providing employment and work-skills training to low income and underemployed residents of the area of Albuquerque known as the “war zone”. John Bulten, director of East Central Ministries, told me that this project provides 4 part-time jobs in which workers are trained to hold jobs. The ollas are being sold in California, Colorado, and by several New Mexico Nurseries (many are then shipped out of state), and Whole Foods is negotiating to sell the ollas in 20 stores.
The concept was taken by a friend on a trip to South Africa. Her purpose on this trip was to plant gardens and teaches gardening in poor villages of South Africa. She took information I had written about ollas. Later additional information was requested by organizers of the project for expanded implementation in arid regions of Africa.
John Bulten said that another person has taken ollas to teach container gardening to low income people in Mexico.
In addition to newspaper articles and news releases, this information was published in the Proceeding of the Desert Green Conference and in a quarterly publication of the Colorado Xeriscape organization.
I continue to receive requests for olla information and for public presentations to teach use of ollas in landscape water conservation.


Gardening public and Professionals

When I overheard my name mentioned during a break at the Eddy County Master Gardener classes, I asked what was being discussed. A man, now seeking to be a Master Gardener, said that he had previously attended a xeriscape workshop that I presented. As a result, he xeriscaped his front yard and was now expending the xeriscape to his back yard. He attributed his change in gardening practices and resulting great savings in water (over $100 each month in the growing season) to the earlier xeriscape workshop. He also said that he was now growing plants more successfully as a result of selecting appropriate plants as recommended in the workshop.

A Valencia County apple grower, beekeeper, Master Gardener, community leader, president of the NM Beekeepers Association, president of a local Growers Market annually hosts a tree care workshop because “Extension programs have improved everything I do and I want my neighbors to share in this information.” (Quote from Ken Hays, Bosque Farms, NM)


Master Gardener Program.
In 1995 (when I assumed responsibilities as Horticulture Specialist) there were 4 Master Gardener training programs in New Mexico. One of these was only classes and did not involve the students as Master Gardener Volunteers. In 2007 there were 15 counties with Master Gardeners, 13 counties teaching the classes. I also assist the Navajo Tri-State Extension Master Gardener Program as well. In 2006 a survey of the 15 Master Gardener counties resulted in 9 responses. From the responding counties it was determined that there were 560 active Master Gardeners. These Master Gardeners provided at least 22,808 volunteer hours of service to their counties (10.92 FTE). This benefit which accrued to the 9 reporting counties is valued at $411,456 (based on value for trained volunteers from Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Gardening public and Professionals
Fifty- two weekly newspaper garden columns were published in numerous New Mexico publications and web sites (including the NMSU College of Agriculture web site) and 26 bi-weekly articles were written for The Albuquerque Journal. The impact of these articles on readers is made evidence by numerous weekly requests for information in which the articles are mentioned, and new questions for the question and answer articles.
In 2006 presentations were made to 8 garden clubs and public venues 6 New Mexico counties. I am frequently asked to return to give additional presentations because the garden club members state “your information is so useful to us”. At these return engagements, I learn that the information from previous presentations has been employed successfully by the garden club members as we discuss their successes.


NMSU Extension Agents
Twelve New Mexico Counties included Urban Horticulture in their plans of work. Each of these counties has requested and received assistance from the specialist. In addition, 14 counties that did not include Urban Horticulture in their plans of work also requested and received assistance from the specialist. This indicates the desire for even rural counties to have attractive landscapes that use water efficiently. Eleven appointments with county agents in the specialist office or the specialist on-site in the county were recorded. A greater number of unrecorded contacts resulted from telephone contacts and request for assistance.


Master Gardeners
The specialist drafted guidelines for starting a Master Gardener Program and core curriculum for Master Gardener classes. This draft was given to County Agents with new Master Gardener Programs (or considering programs), new County Agents with existing Master Gardener Programs, and selected other people for their comments.
The specialist advised new agents and agents considering establishment of Master Gardener Programs in their counties. In each case, the time commitment involved and the need for volunteer commitment was discussed and used in making the final decision. The result was redirection of some existing programs in some counties and development of a series of gardening programs in others to evaluate community interest and need. Master Gardener programs may develop in the future in some counties as a result of these “pilot garden series” programs.
The specialist taught Master Gardener 23 classes in 10 New Mexico counties and 3 classes for Navajo Nation (Master Gardeners and Master Growers). Following the classes the specialist supported agents and Master Gardener volunteers through e-mail, telephone, and on-site visits as they served their public. PowerPoint presentations were provided to county agents as requested.
The impacts of Master Gardeners in the counties were reported in Agent Impact Reports. Four counties reported number of volunteer hours (19,661) and two counties reported the dollar value of Master Gardeners volunteers in their county ($60,376). A great diversity of volunteer service to the public and communities was reported by the agents.

Impact: In February of 2007 Lea Extension and NMDA hosted its 17th Annual Pesticide Applicators Training. This program has two purposes 1) assist clientele in maintaining there pesticide license by obtaining there CEU's, and 2) training future license holders and preparing them for the tests that they will have to take. Presenters for this program are specialist from the university and employees of the NMDA. Each year there is about 80 participants in this program. With majority receiving their CEU's. Preparation has begun for the 18th annual workshop which will be held in January.

In the last program year of 2006-2007 57 news paper articles were written and published in at least two newspapers, some articles were published in others. The total impact of this is unknown because the agent has received e-mail communication asking questions from other States and counties. The agent answers these questions but also gives the client the name and phone number of their local county agent so they can obtain accurate local important information.

The agent has conducted one on one education activities with over 8,000 contacts logged. These do not include the inquiries that occur while shopping or after church. The result is better water, weed, and pest management.