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2013 was a year of some ma[or accompllshmenLs and a few new learnlng opporLunlLles. We planLed 3 gardens LoLallng 1.3-2 acres,
harvesLed 41,200 pounds of fresh produce and donaLed lL Lo 13 food panLrles ln Sandoval and 8ernallllo CounLles. ln addlLlon, we
compleLed a greenhouse, purchased a plasLlc mulch layer and forks for Lhe LracLor and planLed an orchard of 80 frulL Lrees.

LeL's Lalk abouL Lhe gardens flrsL slnce Lhls ls our prlmary focus. 1he followlng graph shows our LoLal harvesL for Lhe pasL four years.
1wo Lhlngs sLand ouL. Cne, Lhe 2013 harvesL LoLal was less Lhan 2011 and 2012 and Lwo, Lhe harvesL season ended 2-3 weeks early.

AlLhough we are pleased wlLh Lhe overall
resulLs, we are a llLLle dlsappolnLed ln Lhe
2013 harvesL LoLal. AfLer seelng a 13,000
pound lncrease year afLer year, we
developed hlgh expecLaLlons. 2013 was a
dlfflculL and humbllng year. LeL me share
some of Lhe lssues.

4"+35",
llrsL came a laLe sprlng frosL. 1hls
wlped ouL Lhe frulL crop. LasL year,
17,000 pounds of frulL was donaLed
by Corrales, 8lo 8ancho and norLh
valley properLy owners.
1hen we had anoLher year of severe droughL. As a resulL, flood lrrlgaLlon was resLrlcLed and farmers who rely on flood
lrrlgaLlon Lo grow Lhelr crops were unable Lo planL. 1haL reduced Lhe number of vendors aL Lhe Corrales Crower's MarkeL. LasL
year, we sollclLed produce donaLlons aL Lhe Corrales Crower's MarkeL and collecLed over 3,130 pounds of produce, prlmarlly
from Lhe vendors. AlLhough we dld noL parLlclpaLe ln Lhe Crower's MarkeL Lhls year, we dld promoLe a "grow a row" program
for Lhe food panLrles and several famllles dropped off excess produce aL Lhe gardens.
nexL came a severe hall sLorm aL Lhe end of !uly. Pall shredded Lhe planLs and damaged Lhe produce. AlLhough Lhe gardens
recovered, lL delayed Lhe harvesL.
llnally, we had an early frosL Lhls fall LhaL shorLened Lhe harvesL season by 2-3 weeks.



6+,#"/ 7"838
Squash bugs were parLlcularly bad Lhls year. We Lrled Lo conLrol Lhem by planLlng laLe buL LhaL dld noL work. Squash bugs feed
on planL sap. Cells around Lhe feedlng slLe are desLroyed and wlLh mulLlple feedlng puncLures areas of Lhe leaf or
sLems may collapse and no longer move waLer. 1hls produces wllLlng, whlch wlll evenLually klll Lhe planL. Squash bugs
mulLlply aL an alarmlng raLe and have well armored bodles LhaL seem
lmpervlous Lo pesLlcldes nexL year, we wlll Lry a conLrol Lechnlque called "Lrap
cropplng". lor more lnformaLlon on Lrap cropplng see
hLLp://www.ars.usda.gov/ls/ar/archlve/sep97/Lrap0997.hLm
!usL when we LhoughL squash bugs were Lhe worsL pesL, along came rooL knoL
nemaLodes. 1hese are mlcroscoplc round worms LhaL feed on Lhe rooLs of
planLs. 1hls causes Lhe rooLs Lo develop galls LhaL resLrlcL Lhe flow of waLer
and nuLrlenLs. (See plcLure of Lhe LomaLo rooLs on Lhe rlghL) 8ooL knoL
nemaLodes Lend Lo be found ln sandy loam soll and Lhey can be LransmlLLed
from garden Lo garden ln Lhe dlrL aLLached Lo Llllers, plows and oLher garden
lmplemenLs. Cnce Lhere, Lhey are dlfflculL Lo conLrol. A sLudy LhaL l recenLly
found on Lhe lnLerneL suggesLed several organlc conLrols LhaL we wlll Lry nexL year. lor more lnformaLlon on rooL knoL
nemaLodes see
hLLp://Loday.agrlllfe.org/2010/12/22/rooL-knoL-nemaLode/.

935", $'() :;;2<1=>85<"/38

8eLween CcLober 2012 and Aprll 2013, we bullL a greenhouse LhaL was used lL Lo grow 7300 seedllngs for Lhe 2013 gardens.
1he baslc sLrucLure was up by Lhe end of 2012. Powever, Lhe elecLrlcal and plumblng sysLems were noL compleLed unLll Aprll
2013, llLerally days before we sLarLed LransplanLlng seedllngs.

1he greenhouse ls a 16'x24' polycarbonaLe sLrucLure wlLh a 13' evaporaLlve coollng wall. lL conLalns 60' of sLeel greenhouse
Lables LhaL were bullL ouL of recycled warehouse palleL shelvlng. 1hls summer, Lhe evaporaLlve coollng wall kepL Lhe
greenhouse aL a balmy 83 degrees. 1he elecLrlc blll has been nomlnal. 1hls fall we also used Lhe greenhouse Lo rlpen green
LomaLoes.


















13' evaporaLlve coollng
wall and approx 60' of
sLeel greenhouse Lables
LhaL were bullL ouL of
recycled warehouse
shelvlng. Seedllngs are
grown boLh on Lop and
under Lhe Lables. 1he
greenhouse wlll hold
approxlmaLely 8000
seedllngs aL a Llme.
Creenhouse full of seedllngs ln Aprll 2013. 1he
seedllngs were LransplanLed by Lhe 7Lh grade class
aL 8osque School as parL of a servlce learnlng
program on hunger and poverLy ln new Mexlco.


We purchased a plasLlc mulch layer, a plece of farm equlpmenL LhaL
slmulLaneously lays Lhe drlp lrrlgaLlon sysLem and covers lL wlLh plasLlc mulch.
1hls equlpmenL wlll lay an acre of plasLlc mulch ln less Lhan half a day. We
use plasLlc mulch under Lhe LomaLo and green chlle planLs Lo reduce weedlng,
proLecL Lhe lrrlgaLlon sysLem from rodenL damage and mosL lmporLanLly, Lo
conserve waLer by reduclng evaporaLlon. A sLudy by enn SLaLe and Cornell
unlverslLy found LhaL plasLlc mulch, speclflcally red plasLlc mulch, sLlmulaLes
planL growLh and lncreases Lhe producLlvlLy of LomaLo planLs by
approxlmaLely 20. lor more lnformaLlon see
hLLp://exLenslon.umass.edu/landscape/slLes/landscape/flles/publlcaLlons/mulch_colored_plasLlc.pdf
















Seed2need hosLed four Lagle ScouL pro[ecLs Lhls summer. Lach Lagle ScouL candldaLe recrulLed a large group of volunLeers and
managed a ma[or planLlng evenL. WhaL would have Laken Seed2need volunLeers a week Lo accompllsh was compleLed ln hours.
We owe Lhese Lagle ScouL candldaLes and Lhelr volunLeers our deepesL graLlLude. WhaL Lhey accompllshed was amazlng.

Cne Lagle scouL candldaLe and hls Leam of volunLeers planLed an orchard. lundlng for Lhe Lrees and lrrlgaLlon sysLem was
provlded by keep new Mexlco 8eauLlful and nM. 1hls orchard ls an lnvesLmenL ln Lhe fuLure. All of Lhe frulL wlll be donaLed Lo
local food panLrles. Cnce Lhe Lrees are maLure, Lhe orchard may also be used as a slLe for frulL Lree prunlng workshops.












A second Lagle scouL candldaLe and a Leam of 73+ volunLeers planLed 2000 LomaLo planLs, lnsLalled LomaLo cages and covered
Lhe cages wlLh row cover ln less Lhan four hours.

1he plcLure on Lhe rlghL shows a comparlson of LomaLo planLs
grown on red vs. black plasLlc. noLe Lhe dlfference ln slze. 1he
planLs on Lhe rlghL (red plasLlc) were slgnlflcanLly larger Lhan Lhe
planLs on Lhe lefL (black plasLlc) when Lhe row cover was
removed ln early !uly. 1hese planLs are Lhe same varleLy and
Lhey were planLed on Lhe same day.



1wo oLher Lagle scouL candldaLes and a Leam of 100+
volunLeers planLed 300 LomaLo planLs and 4000 green chlle
seedllngs ln four hours.

As Lhe resulL of a newspaper arLlcle Lhls sprlng, over 63 new
volunLeers slgned up Lo help wlLh Lhe Seed2need gardens. ln
2013, Seed2need volunLeers conLrlbuLed over 2300 volunLeer
hours. ApproxlmaLely 1/3 of Lhose hours were Sandoval Co
MasLer Cardeners. 1he oLher 2/3 were members of Lhe
general publlc.

1hls fall, we purchased a seL of palleL forks for Lhe LracLor. 1hese forks
wlll be used Lo carry palleLs of vegeLables from one end of Lhe garden Lo
Lhe oLher and Lo load palleLs of produce onLo Lrucks. We currenLly haul
Lhls produce on wagons. lully loaded, a wagon can welgh 400+ pounds.

1he wagon on Lhe rlghL ls belng pulled by Lwo of our volunLeers, ages 80
and 82. 1hls plcLure speaks well for Lhe value of exerclse. 8oLh of Lhese
volunLeers go Lo a gym every day!

62+=8 ?2, $'(@

AlLhough Lhe 2013 growlng season ls barely over, we are already plannlng Lhe 2014 gardens. Seed caLalogs are sLarLlng Lo arrlve!
We have a seed sLarLlng workshop scheduled ln mld-March and we wlll be planLlng more bare-rooL apple and peach Lrees Lhls
sprlng.

We plan Lo wage a baLLle agalnsL Lhe squash bugs and rooL knoL nemaLodes uslng Lhe Lechnlques menLloned above. We wlll also be
researchlng oLher conLrols Lhls wlnLer.

We wlll be speaklng Lo oLher clvlc and communlLy servlce groups ln an efforL Lo recrulL more volunLeers before Lhe 2014 growlng
season. More volunLeers are needed as we conLlnue Lo grow.

We would llke Lo purchase a one-boLLom plow for Lhe LracLor and a small
sLorage shed for Lhe garden so we can keep hoes, shovels, rake, gloves,
lrrlgaLlon repalr parLs and oLher garden supplles on slLe. lL's a long drlve
home when we forgeL someLhlng!

We would llke Lo Lhank all of our sponsors and volunLeers agaln for
helplng Lo reduce hunger ln new Mexlco. ?our parLlclpaLlon and supporL
ls greaLly appreclaLed.

8esL wlshes for a [oyful hollday season!