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It just occurred to me that over the past several weeks, I have probably looked at close to 500 homes for sale in various communities from Ruidoso to Las Cruces on realtor.com and I can recall seeing evidence of a vegetable garden in the back yard of just a handful of places. Given the warm summers and the long growing season, I would have thought folks would be growing tomatoes, peppers, melons and so forth like crazy. I know there are water conservation ordinances and odd/even watering days, but do these prohibit gardening? What's up with this? It's not hard to take measures to protect garden plants from monsoon season hail, so there must be something else going on.
Growing things outdoors is less a delight and more a chore in NM versus Oregon, even if it's still possible. Oregon soil is legendary; some NM topsoil is imported from Oregon, as is a lot of other things we'd put in the ground.
Water availability may factor, but I think old-fashioned too-busy/too-lazy/too-poor is the leading cause.
It just occurred to me that over the past several weeks, I have probably looked at close to 500 homes for sale in various communities from Ruidoso to Las Cruces on realtor.com and I can recall seeing evidence of a vegetable garden in the back yard of just a handful of places. Given the warm summers and the long growing season, I would have thought folks would be growing tomatoes, peppers, melons and so forth like crazy. I know there are water conservation ordinances and odd/even watering days, but do these prohibit gardening? What's up with this? It's not hard to take measures to protect garden plants from monsoon season hail, so there must be something else going on.
We have never been that excited in growing vegetable's anyplace we lived. If I can get some flowers to grow we're happy. I can't speak for those who live further south of Albuquerque. We have some people growing vegetable's in our area, but we have so many farmer's markets in the areas, it's more enjoyable to go there to get vegetables.
When I first retired to Ruidoso 20 years ago, I prided myself on my garden - flowers and ornamentals, not edibles. At the time the deer population in the residential areas was minimal - pre HUGE wildfire years. Once the deer became an actual nuisance in town, it became impossible to grow anything without the deer destroying blooms. My rose bushes were the first to suffer. And after I gave up on flower beds altogether, they attacked my two Xmas tree perfect shaped spruce to the point they look like scraggly orphans now.
And to add to the misery, the village of Ruidoso raised water rates to the point that it's very expensive to water. Also since there is no distinction made between water that goes into the sewer system and that used for watering the yard, sewer rates climb relative to total water use. The smallest monthly bill from the village is $114+ a month for water, sewer and garbage. For that you get an ungenerous 3,000 gal. per household of water. An average 4 person household will use 6-8,000 per month. Luckily I live alone, so I usually pay only the minimum - except when forced to water my two failing apple trees.
Luckily I live alone, so I usually pay only the minimum - except when forced to water my two failing apple trees.
Speaking of apple trees, apple orchards were once prolific in the Hondo Valley of Lincoln County, as well as in the Otero Co. area along US-70. When I was a boy, one of the favorite things to do was take a drive down US-70 eastward where there were frequent roadside stands selling not only apples, but all kinds of summer produce that my folks would buy.
That was before the drought years began and the burgeoning population began to put pressure on the limited water supply that once irrigated the orchards. The decline began in the 1950s, and accelerated after that until now there are no produce stands along the highway. The large Apple Barn packaging plant at Hondo long ago became an artist's studio. The one commercial apple orchard along Nogal creek mostly dried up was sold to an owner who turned it into a "wildlife refuge." Might as well have since the elk population burgeoned to the point that it became impossible to keep them out of that orchard. Most of the Hondo Valley land today is pasture, or lies fallow, or in some cases is a horse breeding farm.
Joqua, I am sorry to hear about the decline of the apple orchards in the Hondo Valley. I was delighted and surprised to see fresh cider offered at roadside stands the last time I passed through there, probably 15 years ago.
Joqua, I am sorry to hear about the decline of the apple orchards in the Hondo Valley. I was delighted and surprised to see fresh cider offered at roadside stands the last time I passed through there, probably 15 years ago.
One of the local scams perpetrated on unsuspecting tourists! Ice cold cherry cider! Otherwise known as "KOOLAID." There were never any cherry trees in the Ruidoso area, but there were a couple of cherry orchards at High Rolls/Mountain Park near Cloudcroft.
Reminds me of the huge bags of pecans sold at roadside in the deep south. Buy a bag and you might be lucky to find a handful that had any meat in them. These scammers bought the "culls" from the commercial pecan growers. "Culls" were the pecans that, when passed over an air flow on a conveyor belt, blew off the belt because they were too light to stay on the belt!
That cherry cider dodge is a good one!
Got a note from a guy involved with the Otero County NMSU Extension Service. He said the high Ph water and soils must be dealt with, but once balanced, make for great gardening. Always can count on the Master Gardeners.
I am an avid vegetable gardener in Albuquerque. Even with intensive methods you will be watering daily and using a lot of water. Also the hottest month is poor for stting fruit on some plants which can affect productivity.
That said, you can get some incredible florid growth. I am enjoying heirloom tomatoes still warm from the sun for dinner for the last couple of weeks, chiles and sweet corn are in, and it looks like I am going to have more winter squash than I know what to do with.
Kewl beans, ABQ. Can't beat a fresh heirloom tomato.
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