New Mexico... (Las Cruces, Aztec: rent, houses, transfer)

[RamblinRoseRanch]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

If you want your little vegetable garden, that's fine. I have found out that the cost of vegetable gardens outweighs the benefits in the desert. I do have a couple of containers I use for tomatoes, but that is my only vice.

It just seems like such a big waste of water to grow vegetables, but that's just my opinion.

So do you think purchasing the fresh vegetables to feed a family of five, organically grown, would be more cost efficient as opposed to careful cultivation in the desert?

[jsc23]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanch

So do you think purchasing the fresh vegetables to feed a family of five, organically grown, would be more cost efficient as opposed to careful cultivation in the desert?

Most of the produce available in NM is farmed either in the Middle Rio Grande Valley (between T or C and El Paso) or in the Imperial Valley of SE California, plus a good dose from the Colorado basin of Sonora Mexico- all very arid areas depending on heavily subsidized irrigation using water from either the Rio Grande and the Colorado Rivers.

Water use in the Imperial Valley defines "scandal". Part of the cost we pay is for the Corps of Engineers to desalinate the IV effluent so the water doesn't kill everything downstream in Mexico.

And just try to find where the Colorado empties into the Sea of Cortez...

[iriegirl]

ziaAirmac,
thanks for the good information on the water issues. I had No Idea what you guys go thru to get your water. I'm such a spoiled brat just opening up the tap, but I do try to conserve as much as I can. My water bill here in NJ is about $30/mth. (Unless,of course, one of the kids is here visiting, then, forgetaboutit!)

I have read a bit more on the earthship community, and they do seem really out there, in many ways. One that I saw for sale said that you can't get a mortgage for them, so that's out for me. It did look pretty cool though, and had an indoor garden using grey water.
But,they are far away from stuff, like shopping, and that will cost plenty in gas.
so, I think I'm better off looking in a town (maybe SF,or Alb.) where I can get to shopping easier. Maybe I should even look further south, into Las Cruces.
I like to grow vegetables, and have done so here for years. Maybe I can find a small house with a spot for a small garden. We'll see. Have to sell my house here first,and things are Slow!

ps) its been cold here at night too, we had a freeze 2 nights ago, and its only in the 50s now.

Be Well everybody. :-)

[ziaAirmac]

Originally Posted by iriegirl

...I think I'm better off looking in a town (maybe SF,or Alb.) where I can get to shopping easier. Maybe I should even look further south, into Las Cruces.
I like to grow vegetables, and have done so here for years. Maybe I can find a small house with a spot for a small garden...

We've considered Las Cruces ourselves. I went to State down there so it wouldn't be completely foreign to me. The economy is booming down there. Some things always keeps me happy in Albuquerque though. One is the moderate temperatures. It can get hot in 'Cruces! Two is it's visually more interesting to me. There's variety in the landscape between the foothills, the Sandia Mountains themselves and the black rock of the mesa on the other side. Plus there's the Bosque (Cottonwood forest) along the Rio Grande if you prefer green and shade. Finally, as a tourist in my own state, I love being centrally located. We're almost a split between shopping in Juarez or skiing in Wolf Creek, CO. Everything inside that circle is fair game for a long weekend :-)

As for garden properties, the only backyards I've been disappointed with were on the West side (didn't buy, just got shown houses by the agent.). That's not to say that ALL West side yards are small, but I know that we were shown 4 houses, all of them relatively new. All of them big (1800-2200 sq. ft.), and all of them completely disappointing in the yard department. One of them had a huge sliding glass door with a light curtain over it. I thought: 'wow, this is promising'. I cut back there and pulled back the curtain to reveal about a 3 foot strip of space, filled with large river rock and backed with a universal cement brick wall. That was the extent of this monster house's back yard. I laughed when I saw an old chair propped unbalanced on the river rocks, backed against the house and staring at the brick wall. I just pictured some poor guy huddled over a cig staring at nothing but grey. Needless to say we opted for less house and a LOT more yard on the NE side. I've always kept a garden and although we don't have an unusually large lot, I've got sweet corn, tomatoes, green chile, sunflowers & cucumbers. We keep rain barrels to collect rain to use for the gardens, but they haven't been very busy this year To make up for the loss, we try to boost efficiency by using soaker hoses and watering in early morning when the evaporation isn't so bad.

[Vinegaroon]

Lack of rain isn't the only challenge for gardeners here either. I have never lived in a place with poorer soil. I spend a decent amount of coin on compost every spring. I throw the stuff down and my yard just eats it up.

On the other hand, I have found that the garden pests here are at a minimum, which is a good tradeoff for the lack of precipitation, ruthless sun, and poor soil.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Lack of rain isn't the only challenge for gardeners here either. I have never lived in a place with poorer soil. I spend a decent amount of coin on compost every spring. I throw the stuff down and my yard just eats it up.

On the other hand, I have found that the garden pests here are at a minimum, which is a good tradeoff for the lack of precipitation, ruthless sun, and poor soil.

Agree with all this -- except maybe that the clay where I lived in Virginia was worse. Los Alamos gives away compost by the truckload but you need a friend up there to drive the truck to the dump. As far as I know Santa Fe County gives away wood chip mulch, but no compost.

[iriegirl]

Hi ziaAirmac,
Thanks for the great reply!
funny story about the big house with no yard! That's what they tend to build here nowadays. Next block over they are building a 4brm,2bth,1car gar, on a 50x100 lot, and most of the lot is house.
Yeah, I've heard Las Cruces is hot, is it like Florida hot and humid? Albuquerque sounds really great, weather wise,and distance wise to other stuff. Plus, I've heard they have a thriving art community. I will have to look in the NE side when we come out there,(soon as the house sells!)

You sound happy. That's nice to hear.

I could garden,and I could conserve water, and it would be a nice change from the rain. I waste so many days here because I don't like the rain. I'd like to be outside more.

[GregW]

Humidity is not a term used in NM weather forcasts. Why bother reporting zero. In the winter!

Just joking but the Weather Channel did report a Las Cruces dew point temprature of 2 deg F a couple of days ago.

[jsc23]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Lack of rain isn't the only challenge for gardeners here either. I have never lived in a place with poorer soil. I spend a decent amount of coin on compost every spring. I throw the stuff down and my yard just eats it up.

On the other hand, I have found that the garden pests here are at a minimum, which is a good tradeoff for the lack of precipitation, ruthless sun, and poor soil.

After scraping away the layer of old brake pads, chip bags and pop tops, we had our property soil analyzed by a grad student at NMHU: almost entirely clay, no measurable organic matter, and moderately alkaline. Fortunately, no petroleum contamination.

We have been amending with coffee grounds obtained from a local coffeehouse, manure from nearby farms (sheep, goat and horse) and our own compost combined with composted cotton hulls. Most of the stuff is free or by barter. After four years, our landscape has gone from mudhole to thriving but still needs work. A warning about manure: fresh manure can over-nitrogen your plants if applied directly and burn them out. Make a "tea" of fresh manure, mixing the liquid with soil where needed.

[Vinegaroon]

Yeah, it's a lot of work most times to get good soil, but it can happen. I have dumped a ton of compost into my yard over the past 8 years, and I am finally starting to see a few earthworms. The downside: now I have more weeds to pull. It's always something, but I would rather have to weed than look at a dirt or rock yard.