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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] NMSU expert promotes organic gardening, encourages sustainability
  • Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:10:27 -0600


now I've been saying that for years but never made the headlines ;-)

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
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“You have a lot of people saying, ‘You can’t grow anything here in
the desert.’ Well, you just have to add some organic matter and some
water,” said Jeff Anderson,


NMSU expert promotes organic gardening, encourages sustainability
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2009/may/organic_farming.htm

Looking for ideas to help stretch your dollar? What if you could eat
healthy while being kind to the environment, too? Then look no further than
the nearest plot of soil. According to an expert at New Mexico State
University, with the right care, nearly any location can be made into an
organic garden for low-cost, highly nutritious food.

“You have a lot of people saying, ‘You can’t grow anything here in
the desert.’ Well, you just have to add some organic matter and some
water,” said Jeff Anderson, an agronomy and horticulture agent for
NMSU’s Dona Ana County Cooperative Extension Office.

2009 is the Year of Sustainability at NMSU. Throughout the year, the
university is highlighting and encouraging programs and research that
promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable ideas.

Anderson is currently working with organizations throughout Dona Ana
County, promoting the benefits of planting gardens while using organic
principles, which include using compost and organic fertilizers to recharge
the soil. It also means using only natural pesticides and only if
necessary.

“With every garden I do, I try not to throw anything away,” he said.
“It takes a lot to make plant material – energy from the sun, water,
nutrition. When you return it to the soil, you return those nutrients back
to the soil.”

Anderson said things such as black and white newspapers, grass clippings
and mulberry leaves are readily available and make excellent compost
materials. If you are looking for an extra boost, Anderson recommends
organic fish fertilizer. It’s made from ground fish and while slightly
smelly, it is very effective.

Anderson is currently working with the Las Cruces Community of Hope and
their Fairlight Garden, which donates fruits and vegetables to the nearby
El Caldito Soup Kitchen. The garden started last summer and with just half
a growing season, it produced 800 pounds of vegetables for the soup
kitchen. The garden uses crushed branches, leaves and other donated organic
materials as mulch.

“Other than just feeding people good food, we are also trying to show
people they can do this, too – garden organically and eat healthy,”
said Eric Luther, garden coordinator at the Las Cruces Community of Hope.
The organization has established a work/trade program where those who work
in the garden receive a box a vegetables they’ve helped to grow.

Additionally, Anderson is working with Las Esperanzas, a community group
that recently established a community garden at the corner of Spruce Avenue
and San Pedro Street in Las Cruces. More than a dozen raised gardening beds
are available to the community at the site. He’s also working with the
Colonias Development Council in Chaparral to promote organic gardening for
low-income families.

Anderson said organic gardens not only yield low cost food, using materials
that would have otherwise been discarded but also promote a sustainable
future.

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  • [Livingontheland] NMSU expert promotes organic gardening, encourages sustainability, Tradingpost, 06/17/2009

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