By
Bev Eckman-Onyskow
For the Daily News
August 5, 2007
Free
gardening assistance and more will be available at the Otero County Fair, from
the Otero County Master Gardener Association.
The Master Gardeners will have a new, bigger booth in
the Exhibit Hall at the Fair this year, appropriately across from the Native
Plant Society of New Mexico's booth.
"In addition to a wonderful display garden outside the
Exhibit Hall, the Fair Board appreciates the efforts of the Master Gardeners to
help our fair be a success and provide information to the public on how to be
successful gardeners," said fair manager Becky McFarland.
The Master Gardeners group is donating a $25 prize
certificate to Bloomers Flower Market in the fair's giant pumpkin contest.
The Otero County Fair runs at the Fairgrounds on White
Sands Wednesday, Aug. 15, through Saturday, Aug. 18.
The Exhibit Building and rides open at 5 p.m. Aug. 15;
there is no gate charge Wednesday. The gate charge is $1 Thursday through
Saturday, except children 5 years old and under and those aged 65 and older are
admitted free. Parking is free.
The Master Gardeners will provide information and
answer questions for fairgoers from 11 a.m.-10 p. m, Thursday, Friday and
Saturday.
They will also raffle off ornamental carved gourds,
artwork and a throw donated by member Chris Baker as part of the group's
fund-raising efforts. Decorated pots of plants will also be available for
sale.
There will be sign-up sheets for literature requests.
One does NOT have to be a Master Gardener to exhibit
and compete in the county fair; it's open to any Otero County resident.
Copies of entry rules and regulations are available at the Otero County Fair
office.
Farm products and exhibits for the flower show, senior
and youth divisions, are to be delivered to the fairgrounds Wednesday, Aug. 15.
LANDSCAPING NEW LIBRARY
Shary Adams, lead architect for a new library for
Alamogordo, said last week that she would welcome input from the Otero County
Master Gardener Association and the New Mexico Native Plant Society-Otero
Chapter.
"Absolutely," Adams said in a telephone
interview from her office at Southwest Architects in Albuquerque. "We
can definitely talk when we have a landscape architect in place, when we are at
that stage."
A new library is still a year or two in the future, but
planning is underway. Landscape design ideas could be discussed at the
next charrette, a.k.a. community meeting, which has yet to be scheduled, Adams
said.
The Master Gardeners are ready to help.
"We should be able and willing to provide
expertise," said Connie Klofonda, president of the Otero Master Gardeners.
"How to amend the soil will be a
consideration," added association secretary Lois Glahn.
Member Donna Turney noted that "the Master
Gardeners have already put together an updated list--'Plants that have been
grown in the gardens of the Otero County Master Gardeners,' " which would
be useful for such a major endeavor.
"We have an obligation to help when we can, and
everybody has ideas."
The list and more local gardening information are
available on the Otero Master Gardeners Web site, www.oteromastergardeners.com.
CoCoRaHS
UPDATE
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow
network, CoCoRaHS, "continues to add dozens of new volunteers every month
everywhere from the eastern shore of Maryland across Tennessee and the Midwest
to the southern tip of Texas and the center (Fairbanks area) of Alaska,"
according to the most recent report from Nolan Doesken, a primary administrator
out of Colorado State University, where CoCoRaHS began.
Doesken reported there over the last twelve months,
there has been continues to be a nearly a 50% increase in the number of daily
rainfall reports.
Members of the network record daily precipitation
or the lack of it, from their highly accurate rain gauges onto the network's Web
site
This data is used by the National Weather Service and
by a variety of agencies in every state and in other countries, Doesken said.
"That was clear to me at the American Association of State Climatologists
annual meeting where close to ten different state presentations mentioned
CoCoRaHS.
"What we are doing is very important because
precipitation is the source of our water and because it is SO important."
On Aug. 1, the 20th state--Iowa--became part of the
network, and in the next few months New York, North Carolina and Florida will
also be part of the network.
Because of participation, Doesken said "we are learning more about
precipitation patterns and storm characteristics every day. The more of us
there are to measure and report, the more we can see and learn how precipitation
varies from place to place -- and from day to day. Also, with your timely
reports of 'Intense Precipitation' and 'Hail' we are helping the National
Weather Service and other weather and water forecasters do a better job of
alerting people about severe weather in and near our communities."
The hitch is, one needs a rain gauge to measure
precipitation and computer access to feed data into the CoCoRaHS network.
If you are on-line and are interested in becoming part of the network, go to www.cocorahs.org
for information on how to obtain the gauge and participate.
When one becomes a member, a plethora of information is
available on the Web sites and its links. For example, the "Rainy
Days Report" lets the viewer see, state by state, county by county, data
"for the entire
CoCoRaHS area, the average precipitation each day, the greatest amount,
the number of people who reported, and how many of them had measurable
precipitation."
"The network is now getting between 2500 and 2750
reports every
day and there is always precipitation to be found. In fact, there is
almost always heavy precipitation somewhere across our network," Doesken
said.
Another thing the network does is provide data on
intense precipitation. When this occurs, the information from CoCoRaHS
observers will automatically be forwarded to the local National Weather Service
Office.
"The information you provide may be critical
information to help issue a
severe thunderstorm warning or flash flood warning," Doesken said.
"In particular, if you have received at least two inches of rain, please
try to send in an (Intense Precipitation) report."
We've seen on TV the flooding in Texas and Oklahoma.
CoCoRaHS terms this "the Big One."
Doesken recounts the experience of a new observer from
Wilson County in southeast Kansas, had in late June.
"Within the first week after setting up their
CoCoRaHS gauge they received 4.90" of rain in one day on June 29th. That is
more than some of us will ever see in a day. But the very next day they received
10.75"
"They received more than 16" of rain in their
first week as a CoCoRaHS volunteer. Crazy! (Thanks so much for getting your
reports in -- I know it was a struggle.)
"That is a huge amount of rainfall, and the
flooding caused by 10"+ rains is horrendous. Southeast Kansas along with
parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas are still reeling from this recent siege
of heavy rain."
And of course the more network volunteers there are,
the greater the chances that one will experience "the Big One."
"We've already had a handful of CoCoRaHS
precipitation reports of 10" or greater since we started the network,"
Doesken said. "For example, 11.32" fell near Grand Island,
Nebraska back in May 2005. We had a report of over 10" near Washington DC
in June 2006 and I recall one in southeast Missouri as well."
If a monster storm hits, volunteer observers are
advised and cautioned to
first make themselves safe from floodwaters. "If you can stay in your
home, keep an eye on your gauge and if there is a break in the storm, go out and
read, measure and empty your gauge before it fills to the top."
And then send in an "Intense Precipitation"
report, "if you can safely get on the Internet, or call your local law
enforcement agency. Make sure
others know about it, because these really amazingly heavy rains are
sometimes quite localized."
In other words, CoCoRaHS volunteers can help not only
provide data, but also warn people in their communities and neighboring
communities of possible impending peril.
That's a real community service.
Bev
Eckman-Onyskow is an Alamogordo-based freelance writer, vice-president of the
Otero County Master Gardener Association and a member of CoCoRaHS.
E-mail her at beckmanonyskow@aol.com.
Free computer access is available to patrons at the Alamogordo Public Library,