March Already?

It's been a busy end of February. Pam came to visit with the dogs. We had a great time. Chica, Sloan, Cassidy and Molli had a great time. The chickens and the cows didn't know what to do with so many short four legged creatures around!

It was great to see Pam and to share some of the warm early spring with her. While Phil continued to work on the Screen Room, Pam and I planted the trees that came. Just a small amount this time, including dwarf Nectarine, Fuji and Fig Trees. Planted near the Chicken Coop. Good water and will provide some shade for the Free Range Chickens.

I also have been up to ABQ to the Xeriscape conference and to Las Cruces to the Western Pecan Grower's Association. So much information.

The Xeriscape Conference http://www.xeriscapenm.com/about_xeriscape_council.html was great. I always learn so much and enjoy meeting so many different individuals. I met several of the Landscapers at Highlands University out of Las Vegas. They are doing some great things with replacing turf with other surfaces. Hope that works for the ball fields! Met some people with the New Mexico Reclamation district. Glad to see there are so many projects going on there.

My favorite speakers, (though I do admit to enjoying everyone I heard this year),

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization, and the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project. Barlow serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization and Food and Water Watch, as well as being a councilor with the Hamburg- based World Future Council. Barlow is the recipient of six honorary doctorates, the 2005/2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship Award, and the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”) for her work in global water justice. She is also the best-selling author or co-author of sixteen books, including Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft of the World’s Water and the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.
Website: www.canadians.org/about/Maude_Barlow/

She regailed us with a great opening conference talk that included some of the problems faced by countries such as Australia. It is truely a sign of things to come.

Doug Fine moved to an obscure valley in Southern New Mexico to write Farewell, My Subaru, a book about his effort to live without fossil fuels and find salvation in the process. From solar panels to goat husbandry to driving a veggie-fueled oil truck, Fine explores whether an American can live a green life without being electrocuted or overwhelmed by contradiction. Farewell, My Subaru was released by Random House in March, 2008.
As a young freelancer, Fine reported for The Washington Post, Salon, U.S. News and World Report, Sierra, Wired, Outside and other publications from little-visited jungle war zones like Burma, Rwanda, Laos, Guatemala and Tajikistan. He became a world-class adventure writer and investigative journalist, writing culturally-insightful and funny dispatches. One of these, about democracy efforts in Burma, was read into the Congressional Record.
Fine is a regular contributor of adventure and investigative features to National Public Radio.
Website: www.dougfine.com/the-premise/

It was interesting to hear of someone who is experiencing the best and worst of New Mexico as we are here in Las Palomas Canyon. I found out that we both know Craig Wentz who did our Solar and who is supposed to go out to fix something on Doug's place "when he can find the time". Craig had to come out to the farm to do something and we touched based on Doug's fine speech.

Also, Toby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. For the past six years, his book has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture, a design approach based on ecology for creating sustainable landscapes, homes, communities, and workplaces. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Graduate Education at Portland State University and Scholar in Residence at Pacific University. Hemenway teaches, consults, and lectures on permaculture and ecological design throughout the United States and other countries. His articles have appeared in magazines such as Whole Earth Review, Natural Home, and Kitchen Gardener.
From 1999 to 2004, Hemenway was the editor of Permaculture Activist, a journal of ecological design and sustainable culture. One of his current projects is working with the Learning Gardens Laboratory, a 12-acre educational site that links Portland, Oregon public school students, teacher-training graduate students, and community members in hands-on learning focused on food, nutrition, food culture, and agriculture. He is also a member of ReCode Portland, a citizens’ initiative to eliminate code obstructions to sustainable technologies such as graywater re-use and natural building.
Website: www.patternliteracy.com/bio.html

I'd love to make this place an educational sactuary as well!

These are three people along with others, such as Brad Lancaster (water harvesting -whose book I bought)Website: www.harvestingrainwater.com and Wes Jackson (oh to be a graduate student in Genetics again) Website: www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v
who are making a difference in the world of Xeriscape and Foodscape.

The Pecan Grower's Association Conference was a interesting series of talks that showed me just how much I DON'T know about Pecans and their habitat. I enjoyed learning a bit about the micro and macro nutrients and the way they translocate through the plant (or don't in the case of some such as zinc). I also figure we have about 50 years worth of pruning to do this year! http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/pecans/2009-western-pecan-growe.html

Speakers included Dr. Bill Lindemann, Soil Scientist from NMSU and Dr. Leonardo Lombardini from Texas A &M retaught me some information about soils and light management in plants. Rob Call of the University of Arizona reminded me about the importance (or rather dominance) of the apical meristem and its hormones (Auxin) and how to prune for control. I figure there is lots to do to get our orchards in shape. They make me really appreciate the combination of science and hard work that Pecan Growers across the nation take on each year. One comment, I appologize for not remembering who made the comment...suggested that a farmer suggested it was his first year...for the 30th year. Each year in the orchard is different and everyone is learning. I didn't feel quite so alone.

This month has been a month of learning and working. Research won't end with the farm as I don't ever think there will be all the answers and a perfect season for all the crops. Each year will bring more plants, animals, pests, and enjoyment of the best place on earth.