Penny Lindgren, Advisory Council Chair: Happy 2025!

Happy 2025!

Here are some of the amazing accomplishments you have achieved for 2024!

This update is from our November tally with additions from last Quarter’s survey.

1. We’ve made over 1,890 direct contacts with the public, on our email helpline, at growers markets, at festivals and fairs.
2. We’ve escorted nearly 1,000 people through garden tours highlighting sustainable gardening practices in Corrales and Placitas.
3. We’ve raised over 38,000 pounds of fresh produce for people in our communities who experience food insecurity.
4. We’ve tended to at least 16 different gardens and projects that have a direct benefit to the residents of Sandoval County.
5. We’ve offered public classes in beekeeping, seed starting, chiles, landscaping with native plants, gardening in raised beds, the unique challenges of a NM Gardener, drip irrigation, preserving the garden bounty, winter sowing, and sustainability in 2024.
6. We’ve volunteered over 7000 hours in our county!  Not that everything is worth money, but when you multiply this by the 2024 volunteer hour rate (as set by the federal government), this amounts to $235,000 that is returned to the county.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work, and your willingness to donate your time and energy for the benefit of the county and community.

Volunteer opportunities abound for 2025. There are several weeks open for volunteering on the Email Helpline, and the Administration Office Plant Watering Project. Both offer Volunteer hours for the Volunteer time; check out the sign up on the website.

January has courses scheduled on Composting, Jump Starting your spring garden, and flower photography. Times, course instructors, and locations are on the SEMG website.

And – we welcome Bethany Abrahamson as our new Agriculture Agent!
Bethany received her Master of Science in Biology from the University of New Mexico, where she studied how natural history research collections are used by researchers and the public. As an entomology and nursery inspector for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture for nearly ten years, Bethany worked to protect our state from invasive pests and promote our agricultural industry. Her interests include the intersections between the natural world, art and history, and she is eager to be a part of the cooperative extension team!

This is very happy news! All the best!

~ Penny Lindgren