ALERT! Tomato Growers: Desert Broomrape kills your tomato plants

ALERT! Tomato Growers: Desert Broomrape kills your tomato plants

by | Aug 7, 2023 | Information, Plant Pests, Weeds

ALERT! Tomato Growers: Desert Broomrape kills your tomato plants

Seed2Need[1] has encountered a parasitic weed killing the garden’s tomato plants.  The weed was identified as a species of Broomrape – most likely Desert Broomrape – with the help of the Agricultural Extension Service at NMSU. The only crop vegetable this parasitic plant is known to kill is tomato.

broomrapeBroomrape (Orobanche spp.) is a purple-flowered plant categorized as a noxious weed by the USDA. Broomrape attaches itself to the roots of tomato plants, eventually killing the host plant by depriving it of nutrients.

A single broomrape seedling quickly grows beneath the tomato plant, producing up to 500,000 microscopic wind-dispersed seeds that can survive in soil 35 years.

Every tomato plant in our large Seed2Need garden was affected in July. We believe that broomrape arrived in the garden in 2022, subsequently producing seeds that were tilled into the soil in the early spring of 2023. Measures are being taken to kill every broomrape and tomato plant in the affected patch.

We are sharing this information because broomrape may be growing in other tomato patches. If you find broomrape in your tomato patch, please report it to the Master Gardeners helpline at emailhelpline@sandovalmastergardeners.org

[1] Seed to Need is a nonprofit collaborative effort between the Sandoval Extension Master Gardeners, property owners in the village of Corrales and other volunteer groups, whose mission is to reduce hunger in the community by growing fresh fruits and vegetables and donating it to food pantries in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties.

For more information, see the following articles:

Plants for Pollinators

Plants for Pollinators

by | Jun 25, 2023 | Information, Tips & Ideas

Plants for Pollinators

Plants for Pollinators

The link below is to the native plants for pollinators and beneficial insects for AZ, NM and CO Plateaus.

These plants are attractive to a diversity of pollinators, providing pollen and nectar for bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and moths. Some plants provide additional resources such as caterpillar host plants or nesting sites and nesting materials for above ground nesting bees. Many support specialist bees that require pollen from specific plants to survive and supplement beneficial insects that can help control pests of ornamental and crop plants. These plants are native to this region. 

Check plants.usda.gov to determine if a species is native in your area and can be used to create or enhance pollinator habitat across rural and urban landscapes

When purchasing plants, let your local garden center or nursery know you want plant material free of pesticides that may harm pollinators.

Native Pollinator Plants

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Why Garden?”

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Why Garden?”

by | Jun 22, 2023 | Experiences, Information

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Why Garden?”

Why Garden?

Is it to assist Earth in her beautiful painting? Is it for a sense of beauty and hope in the world that sometimes seems devoid of these things? Is it to enjoy the fruits (literal) of your labor? Is it to experiment? Is it to witness the miracle of life and death and rebirth? Is it to pay the bills? Is it for a sense of peace and serenity that comes with your hands in the soil? Is it to right some wrong(s)? Is it to do your little part in healing the world? Is it because you’re an environmentalist, by profession or by passion? Is it because it’s a reciprocal relationship, you nurture your plants, and they nurture you? Is it because you like living things inside your home and having green gifts to give to your friends?

There are so many reasons for growing green things! And these reasons shift and change over the course of a lifetime, over the course of a garden, even over the course of a day.

Over the past month, I’ve visited, heard, and worked with many different gardeners and many different gardens. I discovered the Japanese Garden at the BioPark – and learned of its thoughtfulness and the precise ways of pruning evergreens. I witnessed the blessing of the acequia near the Wagner Orchards and visited many farms during Viva Corrales’ first ever Farm Tour. I helped the Seed2Need team set up cucumber ‘jungle gyms.’ My child and her friends climbed the fence to reach not-quite-ripe cherries at the Storybook Garden. I learned that the brush piles in my garden can provide shelter and protection for smaller birds. The lavender fields at the SEMG field trip to Los Poblanos delighted my nose, as have my neighbors roses on the walk to the school bus stop. And, of course, I’ve weeded and watered and tended the growth on ‘our’ land.  

Sandoval Extension Master Gardeners and our community gardeners grow green for so many reasons! Why do you garden?

~ Meg

Is Your Landscape Sustainable?

Is Your Landscape Sustainable?

by | Jun 1, 2023 | Information, Tips & Ideas

Is Your Landscape Sustainable?

Is Your Landscape Sustainable?

A sustainable garden is a work in progress. This checklist provides signposts you can use along the way in your journey toward sustainable gardening.

Answer the following questions to determine how sustainable your garden is and identify opportunities to improve:

PLANT SELECTION

What percentage of the landscape features native plants and trees? What percentage is lawn?
Plants adapted to NMs unique soil and weather conditions require less water and fertilizer. Ideally, the lawn space should be <10%.
Does the landscape utilize a variety of blooming plants in different sizes, colors, and bloom times?
A variety of bloom structures, sizes, colors and bloom time attracts pollinators and other wildlife as well as ensuring they have food not just during the summer season but through all four seasons.
Does the landscape utilize companion and inter planting of flowers and herbs?
Companion planting and interplanting naturally repels unwanted pests, attracts beneficial insects and creates a healthy ecosystem reducing dependence on fertilizers and pesticides.
Do you save seeds from successful plant growth at the end of the season?
Seeds saved from plants that were successful are more likely to be successful in the future.
Does the placement of plants and trees provide natural shade to key locations of the landscape?
Proper location of plants can provide shade, block wind, and reduce noise. For example, evergreens block wind and may offer protection to other plants and wildlife. Deciduous trees planted on east, west, and southwest sides of buildings can block summer sun and warm buildings in winter.

WATER

Does the landscape feature drip irrigation with a schedule based on differing water needs?
Drip irrigation provides efficient and effective watering and can be designed to provide the right amount of water to the right place at the right time.
Do you utilize rainwater capture systems or reuse greywater?
Cisterns, rain barrels and seasonal swales can be used to capture and leverage rainwater to reduce use of community water systems. Greywater reuse can also be an effective way to reduce water usage.
Is the landscape designed to capture water in the best possible way?
Landscapes should be designed to use the natural topography to capture water and assist in the slowing, spreading and soaking of water into growing areas.
Does the landscape provide water for wildlife?
A pond or appropriately sized water feature helps attract wildlife and pollinators.
Are plants grouped by water needs and placed with water availability in mind?
Grouping plants by water use helps ensure plant health as well as efficiency. For example, high water use plants can be grouped together and placed in the vicinity of captured water to augment irrigation while low water use plants can be grouped together and watered less frequently.

SOIL

Does the landscape utilize mulch to protect soils and preserve water?
Natural mulches are critical to prevent soil erosion and to preserve water. Wood, shells, and straw are great examples of natural mulch.
How do you build the soil in areas where heavy feeding plants are grown? What type of amendments are utilized?
The regular addition of organic matter in the form of compost or plant matter on top of the soil ensures that depleted soil is replenished.
Has a soil test been conducted and results used in building the soil or plant selection?
Soil type greatly impacts the success of plants in a garden or landscape.  Understanding the soil makeup is foundational to landscape planning and development over time.
What type of fertilizers are used and how frequently?
Organic, non-synthetic fertilizers utilized in proper quantities avoid pollution of water systems as well as ensuring healthy plant development.

Permaculture Zones in a Sustainable Landscape

Permaculture Graphic by HIPPERMACULTURE, https://www.hippermaculture.com/

Permaculture Graphic by HIPPERMACULTURE https://www.hippermaculture.com/

One way of designing the landscaping of a property is by considering the frequency of its desired uses. This facilitates efficient use of energy, water, and natural resources.

Zone 0, not shown on this graphic, is an indoor living space that incorporates a planned view of the outside and brings the outside in.

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5
An area of intensive daily use, closest to the house. This is an area for herb and flower gardens, annual vegetable garden, rainwater catchment and structures you visit daily – (e.g. a greenhouse or a toolshed) An area that requires attention 1-2 times/week. This is the place for perennial vegetables, dwarf fruit trees, beehives, compost bins, stables, barns. Fowl and rabbits may be housed between zones 1 and 2. This allows small animals to be close to the home for daily management – but able to reach foraging further from the house. A farming area visited less often – twice a week to twice a month. Smaller properties may not include this zone. Here is pasture for large animals, orchards, produce for market, staple crops. (This could also include a community garden.) An area that borders the wilderness – visited 1-2 times/year. This may be a wildlife area, or a public park. Actual wilderness, which requires only proper conservation. Is there consideration of flood/ forest fire risk from the wilderness area?

Resources:

From Albuquerque Water Authority: https://www.505outside.com/
Provides watering instructions for trees, plants and turf; gives suggestions for efficient irrigation and landscaping

From NMSU: Xeriscaping for beautiful gardens and water conservation

From Office of the State Engineer: https://www.ose.state.nm.us/WUC/wuc_homeOwners.php

Books:

Carrots Love Tomatoes Secrets of Commpanion Planting for Successful
Gardening by Louise Riotte

Gaia Garden:  A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway

Plant Partners, Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden by Jesssica Wallsier (Storey Publishing: 2020). This book covers plant selection and pairing for soil improvement, weed  management, pest management, disease management, pollination and  biological control.  All the research used for the chapters is listed in the book.

Permaculture by David Holmgren. Holmgren Design Services Pub 2002.  (pages 138-141)

Practical Permaculture. By Jessi Bloom & Dave Boehnlein. Timber Press publisher 2015. (pages 100-105)

Teaming with Nutrients:  The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition by Jeff Lowenfels

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Marveling at How Nature Works Together”

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Marveling at How Nature Works Together”

by | May 14, 2023 | Experiences, Information

Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: “Marveling at How Nature Works Together”

In the 1980s, after years of planning, 8 adults sealed themselves into a giant terrarium in Oracle, Arizona. It was a grand experiment intended to learn what might be necessary for humans to live long term on the moon or other planets. The terrarium contained 5 separate biomes: an ocean complete with a coral reef, a rainforest, a desert, a mangrove, and a massive garden. They called it Biosphere 2, begging people to ask, “Where is Biosphere 1?” which is, of course, the Earth. Last month, I got to tour the Biosphere 2, and I’m reading Rebecca Reider’s book about it, which is fascinating: the drama, the science, the history, the people! Can you imagine seven people you’d like to be locked into a 3-acre terrarium with for two whole years?

To simulate life in space, the biospherians could receive no inputs from outside except for information. Biosphere 2 had to create or recycle enough food, air and water to support not only the human biospherians, but also the plants and animals.

Imagine the process of choosing which plants and animals would be included. One example: scientists initially wanted bats to help pollinate the many plant species, but then they learned that each bat would need to consume 20 moths every night, and to do that, they had to encounter at least 200 moths each night – so bats were not amongst the Biosphere 2 creatures.

The experiment was deemed a failure in the eyes of both the scientific and journalistic communities. The people had to grow all their own food. They followed an extremely low calorie diet and nearly starved. The group divided into two factions that were at odds with each other. The rains that fell in the rainforest biome drained into the ocean biome and caused algae plumes that started killing off the coral reefs. The unexpectedly high amounts of carbon dioxide the soil microorganisms expired caused the oxygen levels to plummet inside this sealed environment to dangerous levels for humans and other animals. The lack of wind meant that the trees weren’t strong enough to sustain their own weight.

Overall, the scientific community panned the project: There were too many variables affecting every part of life and living inside, and it was nigh impossible to isolate one variable in order to scientifically study its effects.

But there was also tremendous learning. Biosphere 2 invites us to wonder at the utter interconnectedness of Biosphere 1: Planet Earth.

Sometimes I think it would be easier, in my own garden, to just grow one thing – and get really good at it. That is the way of industrial agriculture. But that is not the way of nature – in a balanced system, all things play their part. So, as I work in my garden this spring, I am also trying to notice all the other variables and creatures that are helping (and sometimes hindering) my desired outcomes: the bees who visit our blooming fruit trees, the bindweed that springs up in our mulch, the hummingbirds who flit between branches, the heat causing the kale and broccoli to flower, the young seedlings battling the New Mexico spring breezes… and I marvel at how it all works together!

May you find partners and friends (human, insect, plant, microorganism, wind, rain) that assist you in your gardens!

~ Meg

From Seed Starters to Plant $ales: Thank you Seed Starters!

From Seed Starters to Plant $ales: Thank you Seed Starters!

by | May 14, 2023 | Information

From Seed Starters to Plant $ales: Thank you Seed Starters!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SEED STARTERS!

–Ginger Golden SEMG 2014 & Michelle Wittie SEMG 2020

The SEMG Annual Plant Sales at the Corrales Growers Market April 30 was a remarkable success. We had quite a line of people clutching their new treasures well before the bell sounded to open the market for business.

Seed Starters 2023_2We could not have done that without the many members who grew tomatoes, herbs, basil, aloe, houseplants and so many moretreasures, generously donated them and delivered them to the Corrales Farmer’s Market on April 30. The time flew by with a dozen Master Gardeners finding the kind of tomato and pepper the buyers wanted. Customers appreciated the insights about the planting, care and growing tips as their plants were packed up to go home.

As members it was fun to see each other in person again. We delighted in getting to meet so many of our new interns face-to-face after months of seeing them only as a thumbnail video on our weekly Zoom meetings.

Seed Starters 2023_1We took notes last year to make the sale run smoother – and they paid off. We added more notes for 2024 to continue making this sale a success and major money maker to support the Master Gardener projects that serve Sandoval county. Herbs and houseplants are big draws – something to consider for 2024.

It’s exciting to see what we can do when we unite our efforts for a common cause!

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

~ Margaret Mead