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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.
If you live in the town of Santa Fe, or Albuquerque,do they also have wells? or do they have water companies like here?
iriegirl, both the cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque have municipal water, so any properties on those systems would behave just like you're used to: you use water, they track how much and bill you at the end of the month for it. We're in Albuquerque now, have a small lawn, keep gardens, have a house with 2 adults and two in diapers (we use some cloth so we do more laundry than most) and end up around $65.00 a month on our water. We also use evaporitive coolers in Albuquerque for many homes. Some people call them swamp coolers. Basically, they pass outside hot, dry air through water soaked pads. The process of evaporation loads the incoming air with humidity and cools it with the phase change. This can obviously lead to increased water use as you constantly replace the water that was evaporated in the hot months. Many early properties, properties at the edge of development or in outlying areas, and properties near the irrigation channels run on their own well entirely, or supplement with it.
Regarding the water rights along the acequias/ditchlines (irrigation ditches along the Rio Grande), I wanted to share a few thoughts from my experiences (I was on the ditches in Los Lunas):
Generally, acequias are small, flatrock lined channels that you'll find up north, especially in old Santa Fe (The Acequia Madre is a good example). When the water is up, the Acequias get flooded and deliver water to all the properties they line.
Ditchlines run along the Rio Grande and are much larger structures that are made of huge berms of earth that are generally flat topped and covered with roads to allow access. There are complex systems of gates to control where and when and how much the water flows. If you end up with a property that has access to the ditch you'll have one or more gates that will open up your property to the water in the ditch. You then leave it open and 'flood' your property. Generally, your property will already be set up to take advantage of this, so for example: you might have a couple of small pastures and a small ditch line on your property connecting to a garden. The rate is pretty constant, so you'll get a feel of how long to leave it open to flood the fields and garden. You then go over and shut off your gate and you're good to go.
There's all kinds of legal stuff to cover 'Water Rights' for a given property, but in practice all of this has been sorted out generations ago so you only need to do one thing: get in touch with the ditch boss. This is an elusive character that generally lives/works/eats/showers? out of a dust covered pickup truck. He controls the main gates in the area. He'll tell you what days, and sometimes what time windows you may open your gates. That's it. It's like the trash after that. You just know that Tuesdays and Fridays ( or whatever) are water days and you flood on those ones.
I heard all kinds of horror stories about the fisticuffs that previous owners had been in with the old rancher down the road (further down the ditch line and therefore affected by my use). All my other neighbors gave me a different chart of variables to determine my personal water use to avoid trouble with neighbors down the line. They included such variables as day, temperature, river water flows, who's cars were in and out, what fields had actively growing crops, and where various livestock were. I had visions of being chased out by a crowd with pitchforks and torches chanting: "He didn't see the goat, He didn't see the goat". I took notes on everything and compiled such a huge record of rules and suggestions that I was absolutely sure I was going to screw it up. So I talked to the Ditch Boss and got his input. Then I introduced myself to the rancher down the line as his new neighbor. No sooner than we shook hands, I said: "I understand there's been a lot of contention over the ditch line. What would you like to see me do on water day?". That was that. On Tuesday and Friday morning I would flood my property at daybreak until my pastures and garden were covered, which generally took about 3 hours, just as Mr. Miller asked. Then I would shut my gate and go on with my day. It was a great feeling to know I had access to amounts of water that would keep my pastures in grass and my gardens thick with veggies, amounts that would cost my a fortune if I was pumping out of the cities system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iriegirl
Supposedly, there is an earthship community in Taos, not sure what their story is, except I have heard they try to live off the grid. After living in NJ, it sounds so tempting to be rid of the big utilities that keep raising their rates, and their corrupt cronies in the govt. do nothing about it.
thanks again for replying so quickly!
iriegirl :-D
The community in Taos you're referring to is the The Greater World Community. All of the homes are earthships (built to take advantage of the Earth's natural insulation) and the entire community tries to run on a completely sustainable cycle. Anyone can take advantage of alternative power to 'get off the grid' though. New Mexico actually requires that PNM 'pays' you at the going rate for any additional power you generate above your needs that goes back into the grid. The tough thing is the initial cost of the equipment required to allow you to put in energy in the right form (you can't just pedal a bike running a generator hooked up to the grid). If you're not buying an existing system with a property, it becomes a question of time: will you be there long enough to pay back the initial investment in equipment with your savings?
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.
Given the the usual state of store tomatoes, growing your own is no vice...
Our garden strategy has been to grow herbs and vegetables of limited local availability or of high cost. Luckily, the monsoon here coincides with the growing season and we have a shallow well for back-up. Alas, our frost-free season is too brief for tomatoes- SO requires I build greenhouse this year or else...
Las Vegas has a shorter growing season than southern New Hampshire? I grow tomatoes just fine in my little garden. I buy pre - started Beefsteak and a Green heirloom and they grow just fine. Officially the growing season is mid may to late September but recently (last few years) has been mid April to mid October.
Las Vegas has a shorter growing season than southern New Hampshire? I grow tomatoes just fine in my little garden. I buy pre - started Beefsteak and a Green heirloom and they grow just fine. Officially the growing season is mid may to late September but recently (last few years) has been mid April to mid October.
I think what is going on here is the radical change in temperature every day in the dry air of New Mexico. Warm in the day, but the temperature still might drop down 40 degrees by the early hours of the morning and nip your plants.
You folks need to understand the idea of "beneficial use" when it comes to water, along with the old use-it-or-lose-it adage. If New Mexico does not use every drop of water possible, the owners of things like huge fountains at hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada will. Rest assured that everyone downstream is poised to take your water if they can prove that you don't need it or aren't using it.
I think what is going on here is the radical change in temperature every day in the dry air of New Mexico. Warm in the day, but the temperature still might drop down 40 degrees by the early hours of the morning and nip your plants.
Yep. That is pretty much it.
Las Vegas doesn't have an extremely long growing season.
Heck, Albuquerque - much of it - is a 7 or 7b and Milwaukee is a 5b...the difference in temps *seems* much more pronounced, but those temp drops overnight in the southwest shorten the growing season more than one would imagine if they just looked at the high temps.
Las Vegas has a shorter growing season than southern New Hampshire? I grow tomatoes just fine in my little garden. I buy pre - started Beefsteak and a Green heirloom and they grow just fine. Officially the growing season is mid may to late September but recently (last few years) has been mid April to mid October.
We had snow about 9 days ago. Light frost a couple of nights ago, looks like it might frost again tonight. Tomatoes might do better in S. NH because of the latitude... more daylight hours during the growing season?
We can grow them here, just have to keep indoors for about first 6 weeks.
LV is Zone 5, SF is Zone 6 and ABQ is zone 7 or 8, I think.
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