Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture

2011 Long-Term Objective Report:

The extreme weather phenomena that Sierra County faced in 2011 provided opportunity for the CES to step in and aide residents and increase awareness in the general public. Landscape techniques were refined and redefined throughout Sierra County and better landscaping choices should become the evident result in subsequent years. Urban Horticulture calls were up by 46% this year and many more people were impacted by indirect contact and informal networks.

2011 Medium-Term Objective Report:

The agent responded to and made recommendations on appropriate watering practices on over 120 water related calls and helped producers manage over 53 tree related care issues. These individuals were briefed as to the appropriate requirements and how tree selection and alternative species will decrease water requirements while maintaining aesthetically pleasing landscapes. The Agent also assisted in over 62 frost related issues that where appropriate care or removal information was shared with residents. If mortalities existed agent made recommendations to plant water conserving replacements that were also more frost tolerant.

2011 Short-Term Objective Report:

The agent responded to in excess of 270 urban horticultural calls from horticultural professionals and the gardening public. This was an increase of 46% when compared to last year. The agent utilized The NMSU Plant Diagnostic Clinic, NMSU SWAT LAB, NMSU Publications, NMSU Extension Specialists, Postal Services, phone conversations, and Direct Contact both in office and at home/garden. All of which allowed him to deliver applicable information on the wide variety of calls, ranging from basic cultural practices to complex deficiencies, rare diseases, and new insect species.

Urban Horticulture:

As the urban population in Dona Ana County continues (over 200,000 residents county-wide, census 2010) to rise there are fewer acres being devoted to traditional agronomic crops. Dona Ana County continues to experience a diverse influx of new residents from all over the United States. These new residents, along with those already here, have created a surge of interest as to what can be grown in Dona Ana County either ornamentally, or as sustainable food crops. The agent of Dona Ana County is taking on the task of developing new programs to meet the needs of his constituents. This agent was involved in activities within his county, and as a result brought not only research based information to the public, but also knowledge of the role and purpose of the Extension Service.

On December 3, 2010 the Agent worked with the Under Privileged Small Farm and Ranch Outreach Coordinator Lalo Medina, and Extension Agent Del Jimenez to build a new hoop-house style greenhouse in Chaparral, NM. This greenhouse is meant to teach area small producers how to extend their growing seasons to increase their agricultural production profits through season extension principals developed at NMSU. There were about 15 people present to help build the greenhouse and learn of its value in seasonal produce extension, health benefits, and increased revenues for farmers.

On March 12-13, 2011 the Agent and Master Gardeners returned to the Las Cruces Home and Garden Show as the key horticulture component. This year the Home and Garden Show was held at the new Las Cruces Convention Center where the beauty of the facility, and the wide open spaces allowed for larger crowds to gather. As a result of this new venue the Agent and Master Gardeners were able to visit with over 1,024 people in the two days to answer their horticultural concerns. The agent also organized lectures on horticultural topics that were given throughout the Home and Garden Shows days.

This past year the agent organized and provided the first Apple and Pear Workshop, March 29, 2011 for apple/pear growers as requested in Dona Ana County. The class had approximately 15 apple producers present who were educated on the most current information on insects, diseases, culture and cultivars for Dona Ana County. The class was treated to a post trip to the Steinman Apple Orchard where pruning demonstrations were conducted.

Based on the agents' advisory committee and the partnership with Dona Ana County, extension urban programming is being focused more on school and community gardens. This push is due to the ever shrinking rural community we now live in. People living in society today are becoming less attached to their land and growing their own food and more dependent on processed foods from manufacturers. While processed food may not be bad, it has left us vulnerable to a society which cannot feed its self. One of the agents' objectives in urban horticulture is to work with his community on educational endeavors to bring food production principles back into the schools by the establishment of school gardens. Through the establishment of school gardens in elementary and middle schools, principles of soil cultivation, plant growth and care, and nutrition can be taught to our youth. Through these teachings valuable lessons will be taught and instilled in our youth that will carry over into the adult years and hopefully lead to a better quality of life for generations to come.

This past year the new school garden installed at Hermosa Heights Elementary School continued its success. Master Gardener Volunteers helped with educating teachers on garden principles such as planting time, seed selection and soil nutrition. A new manual on how to start a school garden was developed through Las Cruces City Councilor Olga Pedroza. Councilor Pedroza pulled together many agencies throughout the county, including the Dona Ana County Extension Service, to help develop a manual for schools to use in developing a new school garden. This manual is used as a guide and reference for any school interested in school gardens. Putting in a new school garden is not an easy accomplishment due to bureaucratic and legal red tape. The project of installing the gardens along with an irrigation system and timers often takes months to accomplish, this can be added to the months it takes to propose the garden and have the school system approve the project. However, it is great to see a garden finally become a reality. Although Hermosa Heights was the second garden project for District 3, the first began with Conlee Elementary School in 2008. Now that the ball has begun to roll, more schools are requesting gardens and this project will continue to grow.

Continuing results from the gardens at Conlee Elementary School are still being gathered. However, observations indicate a positive behavioral change in school children who participate in the gardens. This trend has continued at Hermosa Heights Elementary School Gardens, and is expected to continue with any others that are joining this program. These gardens are being used as an outdoor teaching lab where children learn the life processes of plants. Speaking with teachers the agent has learned that these children seem less agitated in class, have developed more interest in science, and are beginning to change their eating habits for the positive, i.e. eating more fresh vegetables and fruits. This is hoped to help curb childhood obesity and diabetes problems both now and in the future for these children.

In April 2011 the agent partnered with Bertha Silva of the ICAN, (Ideas in Cooking and Nutrition), program to provide an educational opportunity for the La Mesa pre-kindergarten classes. The agent provided a working demonstration of how to plant sunflower seeds, cultivate them, grow the seedling, and then harvest the sprouts for consumption. The ICAN program used the sprouts to teach the children how to harvest the sprouts, prepare them, consume them, and how tasty and healthy these sprouts are for them. The purposes of these educational opportunities are to instill within our youth at a young age the ideas, principles and health associated with producing your own produce.

Community Gardens have been established in the Mesquite Historic District, Chaparral Community Center, Anthony, Vado and elsewhere. These gardens are important for communities, however, unlike school classrooms direct information can be difficult to monitor because those that participate are scattered throughout their own communities. Community gardens serve as insurance that those who participate in them are getting a healthier selection of produce to choose from and this will translate into healthier participants.

Since March 2011 the agent has worked with the Anthony Youth Group, Aurora Martinez, and Dan Darbyshire on growing vegetables at the new 14 acre Agricultural Business and Training Center facility located in Anthony, NM. There is a lot of enthusiasm from the youth participating in this project who want to learn how to become farmers. Youth range in age from 14-19 years of age, and there are about 15 youth participating in the program at present.

The agent continues work with the Youth Conservation Corp in Chaparral, NM to provide educational materials for the youth. The agents contact is Wendy Kent, Executive Director for the YCC. The agent provides information on plant propagation and plant selections as specified by the YCC to 12 youth participants. The agent also discusses business opportunities on growing native plants to these youth participants. Several of the youth have expressed an interest in beginning a native plant nursery.


Some of the other events and programs the agent provided throughout the year were: Pecan Education at Kids, Kows and More 4-H; Lunch and Learn monthly lecture series held at Branigan Library in Las Cruces, NM; National Night Out, providing activities for families to share together for this Las Cruces city event; the Southwest Hispanic Farmers and Ranchers Conference; the county, regional, and state 4-H contests; the Hatch Chile Festival; the 2011 State Iris Conference; the Southern NM State Fair to showcase agriculture in Southern NM; the Las Cruces Home and Garden Show; the annual Master Gardeners Classes; and providing teaching assistance for the Pesticide Applicators Workshop.


DONA ANA COUNTY MASTER GARDENER PROGRAM:

MASTER GARDENER PROGRAM (2010-11): This is perhaps one of the agent’s most important programs. Ordinary citizens are encouraged because of their love of plants to enter into the MG class where they undergo intense training in horticulture. Because of the expertise and education provided by Extension Specialists and other noted individuals, these ordinary citizens are transformed into a volunteer force for the promotion of urban horticulture and agriculture. While a lot of effort is needed by these individuals to learn and assimilate all that the course provides, they seem to do it with a joy in their hearts. The class encompasses varied citizens from those who have no more than a high school education, to retired Professors of Agriculture. The one thing they have in common is a desire to learn and help others. This course provides both learning, and community outreach. As a requirement for MG certification the class must first complete the 16 week course work and then fulfill community service requirements. This community service, directed by the agent, provides a larger conveyance of the extension service through its MG’s participation in community events. MG’s provide an invaluable resource in volunteerism at many of our larger events, including the Chile and Pecan Conferences. MG’s also provide a huge service through our office by way of the MG hotline to answer community questions about gardening. Their contribution allows the agent time to meet other obligations while still directing the MG’s activities. It is clear that the Master Gardener program benefits this community through its outreach. Residents living in Dona Ana County are knowledgeable that if they have a question regarding horticulture, a good source for information is the Master Gardener organization. This speaks highly of our office and its training of the public, we help our citizens grow, who then go on to help others in their community, this in turn leads others back to our office for training, who then go out to help others grow in their community, etc., etc., you see, the circle of knowledge keeps growing ever outward, that is this agents mission and objective.

This past year 2010-2011, Doña Ana County Master Gardeners contributed over 4,872 volunteer hours towards helping the people of Dona Ana County. Based on the national volunteer hourly wage rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of $20.85, these volunteer hours translate into $101,581.20 dollars. This is also equivalent to hiring three full time employees at a living wage salary, or seven minimum wage employees. Under the direction of the Dona Ana County Agent the Master Gardeners have also improved their MG Newsletter to become more of a small magazine with important educational information than simply a letter of informational facts.

The agents' 4-H involvement for this past year has been in hosting the county, district, and state 4-H Horticultural Contests. The agent has also been involved in assisting with several 4-H events i.e. Kids, Kows and More, Pecan Education; 4-H Expo, judging; and Southern NM State Fair, 4-H livestock assistance and pre-operational activities.

The demand for site-specific and reliable horticultural educational programs in Valencia County has continued to rise. As a result, the agriculture agent’s objectives have been to maintain a strong group of certified Valencia County Extension Master Gardener (VCEMG) volunteers, maintain personal consultation, site visits, NMSU lab testing services and interpretation, and provide relevant programs and workshops to non-commercial gardeners as needs arise.

Valencia County Extension Master Gardener Program (PY 2011): The 12 week VCEMG training program yielded 7 new trainees and retained 23 veteran members, of which the average exam score was 89%, well above the 70% minimum. Veteran retention rates were at 96%, whereas trainee retention was lower at 54%. Volunteers provide an enormous value to Valencia County by dedicating their time, talents, and energy to the Master Gardener program. Based on total numbers of volunteer time submitted to the agent, VCEMG gave 1,639 hours of volunteer service worth $35,009 in 2011 (Based on $21.36, 2010 Average Value of Volunteer Time, http://www.independentsector.org). A figure that nearly tripled the short-term objective set by the agent, and exceeds the 3 year objective of the VCEMG program by 100%, and exceeds the long-term objective by 50%.

Notable 2011 VCEMG activities included weekly outreach information booths at local Farmer’s Markets, where residents and growers were able to ask questions and bring in diseased plants for diagnosis. This effort alone yielded hundreds of personal consultations and maintained a high visibility of NMSU Extension programs in the county. Another activity in which VCEMG volunteers served their community was through the development of site-specific publications and materials, which complimented and summarized numerous NMSU publications that covered topics important to the area. Additional events sponsored by the Valencia Extension Office and the VCEMG include an annual free pruning seminar which invites NMSU-CES specialists to speak, and several seminars on bees, honey, and apples offered to school groups, and the general public throughout the year. Master Gardener volunteers also sponsored a landscape and gardening renovation at a local elementary school. Master Gardeners also presented at the 1st annual Home and Garden Expo, which provided timely information to homeowners on landscaping and gardening in Valencia County. Over 500 residents and students attended these events. Program participants expressed a high level of interest in future workshops and were satisfied with the quality of information provided at these workshops. In summary, this volunteer program has provided a relevant service and contributed significant impacts to the general public who have attended a VCEMG function, interacted with a trained volunteer or agriculture agent, through a variety of public outreach educational programs.

Urban Horticulture: The most notable impact realized by the general public is the ability to attain free research-based information on area-specific horticultural topics necessary for successful gardening in the varied and challenging central New Mexico environment. This includes the capacity to gain knowledge in proven gardening practices for the area, the development of alternative water supplies, efficient irrigation techniques, and other urban water conservation practices. Additional educational services include water-wise plant selection and proper landscaping, fruit and vegetable production, pest and weed control, plant disease identification, and many other related topics. Approximately 60% of the agriculture agent phone calls, emails, and office visits are related to urban horticulture.
Season extension is a program that has received increasing interest from small-scale fruit, vegetable, and ornamental growers. The agent coordinated and implemented 2 Hoop house Construction Workshops and 1 Chicken Tractor (mobile chicken house) intended to generate interest in season extension and small-scale livestock production and provide an example of a cost effective blueprint to follow. Participants (100%) stated they gained knowledge and thought they would be able to construct a similar structure.
The most constant service the agent has offered non-commercial clientele is individual consultation, phone and email correspondence, and field visits typically on specific problems, concerns, or questions associated with urban horticulture. Clientele often seek information from the extension agriculture agent or VCEMG volunteers on a variety of soil and plant science related topics, as well as main campus lab services such as soil testing and disease diagnostics. Both urban and commercial growers consistently seek free extension agriculture services including weed identification and control, insect identification and control, pesticide application, organic and/or natural production methods, and plant disease prevention. The agent documented over 40 requests for horticultural assistance over the past year.