Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture (San Juan County)

City of Farmington Parks and Recreation Employees (32 people) participated in an Urban Forestry Short Course held once a week for six weeks (6 hours of instruction). The class covered the value of trees to the urban environment, species selection, prevention and control of common insect pests, pruning, identification and prevention of common diseases and nutrient deficiencies, and special considerations for management in the urban environment. The evaluation instrument indicated a 60% increase in the knowledge of the Urban Forestry topics addressed and 89% of participants indicated they would use the information learned at work and at home. The agent was responsible for planning the course, developing the course materials and served as the instructor of 4 of the 6 sessions.

The agent oversees and coordinates the San Juan County Master Gardener Program. There are currently 15 active members that provided over 400 hours of community involvement this year.
-Booths that provide Extension publications and the opportunity for the general public to ask basic gardening and landscape questions of Master Gardeners were conducted at the following events: Aztec Ruins National Monument Earth Day Celebration, San Juan County Employee Health Fair, San Juan County Fair, and the Farmington Farmers’ Market.
- Master Gardeners were able to enhance their personal expertise by networking with other Master Gardeners and the County Extension Agent at monthly meetings. Advanced training opportunities were also arranged in the areas of composting (Curtis Smith) and entomology (Carol Sutherland).
-The San Juan County Master Gardeners conducted a Master Seed Program. All 4th grade teachers in the county received an invitation to participate. A Master Gardener was assigned to each teacher that responded to the invitation. The 4th grade students that participated learned how plants grow, what is necessary to have a successful garden, and some health and economic benefits associated with spending time outside working in a garden. To conclude the lesson each child received a pot, a seed and assistance in starting a plant of their own. A total of 1,139 4th grade students participated in the program.
-A program was conducted for the benefit of the residents of Navajo United Methodist Center. The center serves as a home for single mothers who require a safe place to rebuild their lives after them, or their children, have been the victims for domestic violence, drug issues, and/or have become homeless. The 9 families were given the required materials and taught how to grow salsa gardens in containers outside their homes. Our hope is these women can take the skill of growing their own food with them when they return to life on their own. Many will return to very remote locations on the Navajo Reservation.

A workshop for farmers’ market vendors (55 people attended) was held in conjunction with Michael Patrick, Extension CRED Specialist. The agenda was compressive in nature and covered a wide variety of areas that must be addressed to minimize risk and increase the profitability of small farmers and backyard market gardeners. Session 1 addressed crop diversification and season extension methods and strategies for growing products typically in short supply at our local markets such as spinach, lettuce, carrots, garlic, and berry crops. The second session was an introduction to a variety of marketing concepts that can be utilized in farmers’ market setting. Value-Added Products was the topic of the third session which included a very timely update of recent regulation changes from the New Mexico Department of Health. Session 4 introduced vendors to business planning and cost/return analysis of a variety of market garden crops. The day rounded out with a session on pest control in a small farm/market garden scenario. It became evident that many people where interested in more in-depth information about berry production. As a result a follow-up workshop was held where producers had a hands on demonstration of raspberry and black berry production. 25 people attend the follow-up “Berries for Profit” workshop. The agent was responsible for developing the agenda of both events in conjunction with Michael Patrick, Extension CRED Specialist, and the local Farmers’ Market Managers. The agent was responsible for securing facilities, coordinating and collecting registration, soliciting sponsors, contracting a caterer, contacting speakers, and served as the moderator on the day of the event.

Michael Larsen has signed on to support Plant Management Systems: Urban Horticulture within San Juan County.

Medium-term successes

Eddy County
Living Desert State Park, Eddy County Cooperative Extension, and the NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist offered a Water Wise Landscape workshop attended by 38 citizens. This is an annual event that has resulted in increasing knowledge of plants and techniques to conserve water in Southeastern New Mexico landscapes. Attendees report successful changes in their landscape and irrigation practices as a result of this annual workshop.

Santa Fe (on-going projects) -
Habitat for Humanity has been using Santa Fe County Master Gardeners to design and install water efficient landscapes at the homes they build. The Master Gardeners then teach the new homeowners how to garden appropriately and conserve water.
El Rancho de los Golondrinos has worked with Master Gardeners maintaining a heritage apple orchard to demonstrate historical gardening practices to visitors.
Master Gardeners have maintained demonstration gardens and collaboration with NMSU Extension faculty (George Dickerson’s herb garden and Curtis Smith’s olla garden). This provides hands-on experience for the Master Gardeners who then teach this to their fellow citizens and to visitors to the demonstration garden site adjacent to the County Extension Service office.

CNM (formerly TV-I) – as chairman of the advisory committee for the Landscape Horticulture training program at CNM the NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist was in a position to encourage cooperation between NMSU and CNM. Dr. St. Hilaire on the NMSU end and Paul Zalesak at CNM have developed articulation agreements between NMSU and CNM. Distance learning venues were developed so that NMSU professors could teach some of the classes at CNM and some CNM teaching could be made available to NMSU students as desired by the faculty.

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.