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Comment by garden doc on April 5, 2013 at 1:51pm

Exciting things happening in Grants NM!!  I just went to the first annual seed exchange sponsered by the local county extension office, and they are planning a seed library with a focus on native seeds.  Grants will also be getting a farmers market this summer.  There are also plans in the works to open an industrial sized kitchen to the public for food preservation.  We're hoping to have the county extension's home economist teaching classes in preservation.  My tomatos and peppers are under the grow lights right now, waiting for the weather to stablize.  What is every one else planning for this year?     Doc 

Comment by James Martin on March 31, 2013 at 2:50pm

Shout out ...

Anyone in Santa Fe have a garden plot to share (spring '13)? I'd be happy to offer gardening assistance (e.g., can water when you're out of town, etc.)....

Comment by Isaac Emmanuel on June 21, 2012 at 8:40pm

Hello Mark and everyone,

Thanks for all the answers.  It is great to hear so much interest in the local and nutritious food movement in the area.  Mark, I actually tend to agree with your idea of keeping it uber-local - although we are all kind of in the same NM community, it is difficult to coordinate and work together closely when we are across town or even in different cities.  Seems like the best we can do is promote the ideas, know that we are in this together, and help each other out if there is anything specific one of us needs that another of us is well-suited to help with.  The ideal is to get everyone into local food, gardening, etc. and then each community or neighborhood can work together to do this kind of thing :)!

Our garden is mostly something my mother does because she loves it and it helps her de-stress from her regular job (and it saves us some money from the farmers market).  It is not really anything planned, she just plants whatever she wants and we eat it :).  So, although the idea of planning and coordinating produce growing, etc. is a good one, I am not sure it will work for us at this time.  However, I will say that we are going to have a major surplus of tomatoes this year and are already planning on drying a lot of them in our backyard dehydrator.  If we had too many I think our plan was just to give them to neighbors or sell them at the market, but if that is something one of you is interested in, let me know and we can see if we could set up a trade, etc.

Otherwise, let me know if there is anything specific you need help with in the Rio Rancho area, or that I might utilize my connections/experience in the Abq local food movement to help with, and I will do my best.  May God be with us in our endeavors to return to a more natural way!

Comment by garden doc on June 19, 2012 at 12:50pm

welcome aboard Brittany!  let me know if and when you need any help with the community garden.  As far as surplus we may also want to organize a produce exchange, or a "produce round-up" for the local food pantry and senior center.  If you find others exploring an interest in gardening invite them to check out hyperlocavor.  There is also a Cibola/McKinley county pod (group).  Doc 

Comment by Brittany Hunter on June 18, 2012 at 11:45pm

Hello! I'm new here. Met Garden Doc recently here in Grants. I posted in the Intro section as well. My friend (Garden Partner, lol) and I founded the only current community garden here in my area and have hundreds of plants in the ground. I'm thinking that we have trouble getting rid of it all come harvest time. We're going to give back to the church that donates the plot and water, but there will be a lot more. We're thinking of having a farmer's market here at the end of the growing season and get local farmers involved and make it a whole fun community event. Anyway, if you have any advice for us or would like to get together in the future, please let me know. In the meantime, I'm going to be inviting my partner to this group.

Comment by garden doc on June 15, 2012 at 2:55pm

Hi everyone!  Its too early to find out what Ill have a surplus of, but I think Marks idea is good.  It would be fun to have a picnic or something in albuquerque around harvest time, we can share our spoils.  I'd love to hear how everyones garden is going.  Mine is about two weeks ahead of its usual schedule due to the warm spring.  My potatoe bed is practically exploding!  My corn however is being reluctant to sprout.  Lets keep in touch.   Doc

Comment by Mark Rutherford on June 14, 2012 at 10:22pm

Greetings All, Welcome Isaac,

We have quite a few fruit trees however the bulk of them are not going to produce for a few more years.

It looks as if all the fruit is most like spoken for. Our fruit, honey and veggies shares first rights start with our egg share members since they are the ones that are supporting us on a weekly basis.  Then if there is any surplus it goes for trade for other food that we are not currently growing and then lastly it would go to the open market.

Our vision is to have this whole system setup so that it is all in bicycle riding distance so that there are no carbon emitting "food miles" This is the vision and not necessarily a reality.

I have been in contact with the Doc and Martina and now you. We should all have a discussion about what each of us can produce... a specialty and then try for next season to coordinate our efforts.

We are like you in many aspects and are working with a limited amount of land 1/4 Acre compared to you 1/8 and do not have ditch water or a well so our main supply is municipal and secondary 4000 Gallons of rainwater holding capacity when it rains.

You will need to protect your Figs and Poms every winter or you will continually have them die back. 

Sorry I do not have better news for you however I do admire your local taste and efforts. I am open to discussions on furthering your efforts and will certainly keep you in mind if we do have surplus.

I am right in the middle of redoing my roof for a better rainwater catchment and also redoing our solar hot water system. Keeping the business going and of course trying to be a grower.  So I have very long days and limited time these days so my online presence will be sporadic at best until the end of the season.

Lets keep in touch and see what we can do to turn this messed up current food system upside down :)

Best to you all.

Mark

Comment by Isaac Emmanuel on May 28, 2012 at 6:46pm

Hey Garden Doc, please do let me know, thanks!

As for us, we do the best we can in our backyard (probably less than 1/8th acre).  We just this year installed a drip watering system and gutters to catch rainwater.  My mother is the main gardener, she does a little bit of everything to give us a good variety.  Our backyard seems to be a little pocket of warmth, so the frosts dont hit us as hard as elsewhere, so we pushed the planting date and it worked - already green tomatoes and small peppers on the plants.  We also have I think 5 fig trees, all very small and young right now (most less than 1 year old), and a pomegranate (also less than 1 year old, and completely died this winter and growing back from the roots).

Rio Rancho in general is not very farmer-friendly, no acequia & very difficult/impossible to get a well so we have to use city water, plus ordinances against any livestock, poultry, etc.  So I could be interested in a produce share, but I won't have much to offer :).

Comment by garden doc on May 28, 2012 at 11:22am

Welcome Isaac! Garden Doc here, hailing from grants NM. I may have a surplus of apples this year, I'll let you know. I had the pleasure of meeting Mark and Martina in person, and even though we are geographically in different parts of the state we have discussed produce sharing. Do you grow your own vegies? What works well (or doesn't ) Rio Ranching?

Comment by Isaac Emmanuel on May 28, 2012 at 10:58am

Also, to everyone (including Mark),

First, hello, lol.  I am a fairly active locavore - we (my family and I) buy everything we can locally from markets, etc., and I even completed an internship at Los Poblanos Organics (now Skarsgard Farms) to get a basic grounding in farming.  Actually the whole spiritual organization I believe in and work for, www.maitreya.org, is involved: Our food motto is FOLKS, meaning Fresh Organic, Local, Kosher, Seasonal :).

So there is a background.  Here is my specific question: For the past 3 years my family has been buying a whole lot of local fruit and dehydrating half so we can have fresh local fruit throughout the winter also.  We might also start looking into canning this year, so we might need even more fruit than before.  The fact is that buying fruit in that quantity at the farmers markets, etc. is super, super expensive - cherries are $5/pound, etc.  Probably most people who do their own canning, dehydrating, etc. have their own fruit trees so it is free for them - but we do not have that luxury.  So I would like to try to find another method this year.

Is there anyone out there who is overloaded with fruit (any/all types) and doesn't know what to do with it?  Alternatively, is there someone that would rather sell all their fruit at once instead of having to go through the hassle of going to the market, selling it pound by pound, etc.?  If so, please contact me - I would be very interested in buying your fruit in bulk!

Another option I would be interested in is coming to help pick your crop (or pick it all) in return for a share of it.  Perhaps there is someone who has a lot of fruit trees but is no longer physically able or comfortable in picking it?  Please contact me, perhaps we can set up an agreement that we both find fair and beneficial.

I also ask, if you know of anyone who might be interested in such things, to please forward this message to them and/or give me their contact info so I can contact them directly.  I know there must be people who would be interested in either/both of these - just need to get the customer connected to the grower.

Thanks very much!  And of course if there is anything I could do to help anyone, let me know and I will do my best!

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