By Bev Eckman-Onyskow

Master Gardener 2007 State Conference

 
     From bees to soils to Xeriscaping, the 2007 New Mexico Master Gardener Conference held last weekend at the Calvary Chapel Rio Grande Valley in Belen hosted by the Valencia County Master Gardeners had something for just about everyone.
    "As a new (New Mexico) Master Gardener, I was impressed with the care and thoughtfulness towards the environment and the public of the organization as a whole," said Gail Goosen of Mayhill.  "It is a very welcoming and open group of people.
     "As a Master Gardener who moved here from another state (Oregon) I was impressed with the general quality and knowledge of the speakers at the conference.
     "I learned a lot." 
"     The Otero County Master Gardener Association tied for third-highest number of registrants with 11.
     The Otero County contingent included Extension agent Richard Ng, Master Gardener Association president Connie Klofonda of La Luz; past president Lois Glahn, Alamogordo; Levi and Rita Wirta, Alamogordo; Goosen; Helgi Oesterreich, Tularosa; Chris Baker, La Luz; and this writer, Alamogordo.  Oesterreich is president of the New Mexico Native Plant Society-Otero Chapter and Baker is a member of the board.
     The conference was organized and hosted by the Valencia County Master Gardeners.  "It was a good conference, they worked hard and put a lot of effort into it," said Dr. Curtis Smith, New Mexico State University (NMSU) Extension Horticultural Specialist, who was on one of the panels.
     There were 79 registrants for the conference. .
     The host county typically has the most registrants and that was true again this year as Valencia County led with 21, followed by nearby Bernalillo, 12; and Otero and Dona Ana with 11. 
     Dona Ana County hosted the conference last year at New Mexico State University's main campus in Las Cruces.  The Otero Master Gardeners hosted the conference in 2005 at NMSU-Alamogordo.
     So where is Valencia County?
     For those who don't travel north much, it adjoins Bernalillo County, south of Albuquerque.

     Pete Armstrong was Valencia County Master Gardener state conference co-coordinator with Margie Snare, and did a lot of the organizing for the conference.   "We had some impressive speakers, and great sponsors and we worked our butts off," he said.
     "I'm pleased by the good feedback comments we are getting."
     Armstrong said they tried to do something different, and instead of relying almost entirely on lecturers from NMSU, pulled in a lot of experts from the area and around the state.
     These included:
*  Keynote speaker Bill Dunmire, an associate professor in Biology at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and author of "Gardens of New Spain / How Mediterranean Plants And Foods Changed America."
* Judith Phillips, a landscape designer, author of five books and teacher of an arid-adapted plants class at UNM, who spoke on "Designing Gardens for the Desert."
*  Ken Hays, president of the New Mexico Beekeepers Association and Master Gardener, orchard grower and honey producer, who spoke on "Orchards and Bees of the Rio Grande."
*  Janet Rademacher, a landscape architect and designer at Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, who uses vintage metal lawn chairs and "other rusty junk" to create unique landscaping.
* Luis Guzman, co-manager of Plants of the Southwest Nursery, who has researched grassland and riparian ecosystems of the middle Rio Grande Valley at UNM and Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge.  He spoke on "Gardening in New Mexico" A Historical Perspective."

     Dunmire's "Gardens of New Spain" has information on the arrivals of Old-World cultivated plants into New Mexico.  Wheat was the earliest, 1599.  Among the other early arrivals--by 1600--were barley, artichoke, cabbage, lettuce, carrot, garlic, onion, radish, turnip, cucumber, garbanzo (chickpea), peas, plum and cumin.
     Melon and watermelon came in before Don Juan de Onate, who made his trek north in 1598.  Chile was a New World plant introduced into New Mexico by the Spaniards circa 1600, and the state is now the chile capital of the world.
     "Watermelons were relished by the Pueblo Indians as sweeteners," Dunmire said in his presentation.

     "Cortez was an avid horticulturalist, and planted oranges and other crops.  The Catholic Church was instrumental in spreading crops, through the Jesuits and the Franciscans."
     Dunmire noted that "the Aztecs (in Mexico) were growing over 1,000 different crops," and that many of them migrated north to New Mexico with the Spanish, who also brought improved plows and techniques like grafting, which goes back to Roman times and before."
     Longhorn cattle came with the Spanish, as did horses, which multiplied and ran wild, and were domesticated by Native American tribes who immediately recognized their value for transportation, war, and as pack animals.
     "The big three crops were corn, beans and squash."  Many of the Native Americans were good farmers, Dunmire said.
     Speaker Judith Phillips said that those who garden in New Mexico "need to frame things differently, especially if they come from more temperate climates.  Use Xeric plants, which use less water and you'll have less aggravation. 
     "We live in a place that is generally tree-less, so a tree canopy is extremely important for shade.  We also live in a cold desert, not a hot desert.  Deciduous trees add shade.
     "Picking the right plants and trees is more comforting than constantly being at odds with the environment.
     "Every garden should say something about you, and hopefully it says something positive.  Use color and texture and fragrance to provide interest."
     Consider a garden as an outdoor room, Phillips said.  "High-walled courtyards buffer the wind.  Consider matching the wall color to the plants."  She showed a slide of a pale violet wall picking up the color of the flowers in the garden.
     "Add vines along the walls.  Use vines to create an arbor (and shade).  Use French drains under the flagstones to act as sponges and hold the water."
     She has traveled much in Seville and Barcelona and noted, "In Spain they pay attention to the details everywhere.  There is art, and plants are an extension of that."
     Phillips is water-wise.  She said, "All new buildings should have cisterns to catch runoff.  It's a waste of water not to do that."

     She chastised the University of New Mexico for not being water-wise:  "UNM has a new school of architecture and landscape architecture, but they cut $180,000 for water harvesting.
     "For all the gardens I've done recently, I figure the potential for capturing water.  Mulching heavily and using ground covers helps prevent evaporation."
     Note here that the Otero County Extension on the Fairgrounds has the lists compiled by the Otero Master Gardeners of plants, including trees and vines and low-water-use plants   that will grow best here in the Tularosa Basin.  The Master Gardeners new Web site, www.oteromastergardeners.com, has a wealth of information for gardeners, including the plant lists.  (Free computer access is available at the Alamogordo Public Library for those who are not on-line.)
     Speaker Ken Hays, president of the New Mexico Beekeepers Association, extolled the virtues of bees, which have 2,500 species, and the contribution they make to the environment through pollination.  "Romans called honey the nectar of the gods."
     He warned "bees have declined from 6 1/2 million hives in 1986 to under 2 million hives now."
     More on bees--and worms--in Gardening in the Basin Sunday July 8.
     Speaker Janet Rademacher extolled the virtues of what's called "hardscape," non-plant materials to add interest to the garden.  She uses found objects and even junk, and manages to make it look good.  "I designed fencing that doesn't look like fencing; it looks like art," she said. 
     She used arid-zone trees and steel pillars 6-8 feet tall in one garden.
     She scours "salvage yards, dumps and abandoned junk for galvanized tin and tubs and broken concrete."  And covered one such array with red California grape vine.  She also used a scavenged tub for a fire pit.
     During a panel discussion, John Smith, Dona Ana County Extension agent, noted that "We are now Zone 8, we have some saguaros growing.  We are seeing warming trends.  We are starting to see plant material more of the Tucson climate.  If we ever drop back to cold winters, we will have a lot of plant damage. 
     "They are also seeing a warming trend in Arizona.  Tucson is like Phoenix.  Phoenix is like Yuma.  And Yuma is like Mexico.  A lot of the beneficial policies of Master Gardeners are helping modify the environment."

     Panelist Gordon Tooley, owner with wife Margaret Yancey of Tooley's Trees in Truchas, is a certified Perm culture instructor and advisor to the NMSU Rio Arriba County Cooperative Extension Service.
     Tooley said that food production and distribution "could hit some bumps because of climate change.
     "Make sure you grow some food, it might be a good skill to have; think about it.  We need to be educating the public and distributors to plants that will grow."
     To this, Dr. Curtis Smith responded "We are going from a stable weather pattern to a wildly oscillating weather pattern.  There may be ways of dealing with our environment, but it has to be based on knowledge and science and credibility."
     Smith said he has made efforts at the corporate buyer level to convince the big box stores to bring in plants that are suited to the environment in which they are sold.
     "I gave them recommendations, and what was in the stores didn't change.  Support your local nurseries and your local landscape architects."
     Tooley suggested working with local government to adopt ordinance requiring green buildings.
     "Be an example, make sure you are doing it right," Smith said.
     Otero Master Gardener Levi Wirta, a military veteran, said that Holloman Air Force Base is working with wind generators.  "I think the military will develop enough that there well be a bleed-off into the area," he said.  "Their mandate is the reduction in total electric cost 12 percent less in three years."
     Speaker Luis Guzman, co-manager of Plants of the Southwest Nursery in Albuquerque, discussed "Gardening in New Mexico--A Historical Perspective.  He did his homework.
     He said there is evidence from some archeological sites that various types of water harvesting and intensive gardening were used by the Native Americans who inhabited New Mexico in the past.
     Among them were check dams, grid gardens, cliff-base plantings, crops planted in gravel and rock-mulched fields and terracing.
     "The Zuni used waffle gardens, soil excavated about a foot deep in that pattern.  It was 'square-foot gardening' (a popular gardening book) and it also hid their crops from the Spanish."
     Mulching with 6-8" diameter cobbles was "really labor-intensive, but effective," Guzman said.

     "The Hopi crated berms by using sticks to redirect the water.  That method was later used by the Army Corps of Engineers on the Rio Grande, on a larger scale."
     Guzman said there is evidence the Santa Clara Pueblo used "a primary irrigation system that was pretty ingenious."
     They also collected rainwater in earthenware pots outside.  "We could use some of their ideas for harvesting rainwater."
     He said storing thousands of gallons of rainwater is possible using cisterns, as well as 50-60 gallon rain barrels, as has been done in Australia.
"I would hope what happened in Australia would happen in New Mexico."
     The conference theme was "Historic Crossroads."  This, co-coordinator Snare said, was "basically because the Spanish, the Indians and the railroads all came together here."
     Snare quoted speaker Jacqueline Guilbault, program director for the Manzano Conservation Foundation and director of special projects for the Valley Improvement Association:
     "Valencia County is the crossroads of three historic routes.  The Native American trade and travel routes became part of a trade corridor connecting Pueblo and Plains Indians to a network of trails throughout the Southwest.       "Camino Real, the King's Highway, was a Pueblo Indian trail from Chihuahua to Taos Pueblo.  It was later used by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1540 and is a New Mexico Scenic Historic Byway and a National Historic Trail.
     "Abo Pass Trail, a New Mexico Scenic Historic Byway, connects Camino
Real east to Abo National Monument and the Salt Mission Trail, another New Mexico Scenic Historic Byway.
     "Route 66 is a New Mexico Scenic Historic Byway and a National Historic Trail.  It began in 1926 and saw post-World War II travelers heading west through Los Lunas Main Street."  Las Lunas is just up the highway from Belen.
     Snare said she was pleased by the distribution of the registrants.  "We have people from nine of the 11 counties in New Mexico that have Master Gardener programs," she said.  FYI, there are 33 counties in New Mexico.
     That diversity impressed Klofonda, the Otero County president.  "The best thing about going to our conferences is the interacting between the other Master Gardeners from all over the state," she said.

     "None of us have exactly the same problems, but by interacting amongst ourselves we learn more than what any teaching can give us. 
     "I come away with ideas and things that we can do better in our own Master Gardener group."
     The Valencia County Master Gardeners set up several tours for the conference attendees--New Mexico Travertine, a local business specializing in cutting and crushing native Travertine stone; Mesa Gardens, a commercial greenhouse specializing in cactus acquired from all over the world, whose collection is not open to the public; New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center, which has both on-going projects and numerous fields under cultivation; and the Rio Grande Veterans Memorial Park Water Conservation Garden.     
     One of the conference highlights was a side trip to the Harvey House Museum.  Director Maurine McMillan explained the museum is "the Valencia County Historical Museum.  They own the artifacts.
     "We are averaging 750 visitors a month."
        The name derives from Fred Harvey, who began a partnership with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1878 and in 1889 was given exclusive rights "to operate eating houses, lunch stands and hotels along the railway west of the Missouri River," according to its brochure.  They were staffed by Harvey Girls, who "were famous throughout the land for their service and high standards." 
     The Belen Harvey House was built in 1910 and operated until 1939, reopening to serve traveling troops during World War II.  In 1983 the Valencia County Historical Society began historic preservation, which is still ongoing, and welcomes visitors. 
     The Harvey House Museum appropriately has a lot of train stuff.  Just outside the building are the Burlington, Northern and Santa Fe tracks, whose nearby yard stretches for two miles, McMillan said.
     "They are averaging 100 freight trains every 24 hours.  All the trains stop and fuel and change crews here in Belen.  The trains go from here to Clovis, from here to Winslow, Arizona, and from here to El Paso and Albuquerque.
     "There's not much traffic to Albuquerque except for the Rail Runner.  Its station is on the other side of the tracks."
     The museum is also home to the Belen Model Railroad Club, which has "150 linear feet of track on one line, and 60 on the other," said president David Young. 
     "We run around two trains a day, depending on what the individual members want to run.  About five of them have model Rail Runners."   
     Formed in 1995, the Belen Model Railroad Club has 30 members.
     "Most of the buildings on the layout were either donated by people coming here, or by people who found them in old collections in attics. The layout is a rough approximation of Belen.
     The club is expanding its layout into another adjacent room between Oct. 21 and Nov. 17.  
     The club's layout room is open when the museum is open so that visitors can see it.   That's 12:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, at 104 North First Street in Belen.  The museum has a variety of events scheduled throughout the year.
     For more information, call (505) 861-0581.
     A new Master Gardener class is scheduled for Fall 2008.  Gardening in the Basin runs on the first Sunday of the month in the Alamogordo Daily News, and this writer will keep readers updated on it. 
     It's difficult to compress three days of information into one report, so I'll add more information from the 2007 state Master Gardener Conference in future Gardening in the Basin columns.  The next is Sunday, July 8.

     Bev Eckman-Onyskow is an Alamogordo-based freelance writer and vice-president of the Otero County master Gardener Association.  E-mail her at beckmanonyskow@aol.com.