Two Gardens In Santa Fe: Subtle beauty in March

Here is Crocus chrysanthus "Blue Pearl", a particularly ethereal flower, which glows in the reduced light of late winter/early spring.

Gardening in Santa Fe

Situated in the arid southwestern part of the United States, a thousand miles (1600 kilometers) from the Pacific Ocean, at an elevation of 7000 feet (2134 meters) above sea level, surrounded by high mountains and with an annual rainfall of less than 12 inches (30.5 centimeters), Santa Fe, New Mexico is a tricky place to garden. Moisture often arrives as snow, which may sublimate (change from a solid directly to a gas) in the intense sunlight without soaking into the soil. Temperatures can drop well below freezing in the winter, while spring can bring drought accompanied by dessicating wind. Summer monsoon rains, called “male rains” by the indigenous peoples, can deliver the majority of the year’s precipitation in a few pounding downfalls. Alkaline soil that ranges from sand to sticky caliche clay adds to the challenge. But with an open mind and a willing hand, beautiful and productive gardens can be created even in this harsh environment.

I’ve established and maintained several gardens in my fifteen years here, but two of them are particularly dear to me. One of these is the property on which I live, in a small cohousing community, lively with families, pets, small livestock, and on-going construction. The other is the beautiful estate garden for which I have served as the head gardener for the past eight years. In this blog I would like to present these two gardens, which are quite different, side by side. I’ll use them to show how we can work with the “givens” of the high desert environment to create an oasis, without chemicals and with a minimum of inputs. I want to encourage others to work with nature, in the hope that many gardens will bloom in the high desert.

These two gardens are both on private land, and so I will refer to them here by initials only. TP is the cohousing community where I live, and LQ is the estate garden where I work. Both are situated along the endangered Santa Fe River, about three miles apart. LQ is nearer the mountains and a bit higher, receives a little more rainfall and snow, and is often a bit colder. However, the TP vegetable garden is in a frost pocket, and the property is less protected that LQ, so these moderating factors create some surprising variations.

About the Photographs

The photos were all taken by me on a little point & shoot Pentax. I got the Pentax Optio W20 about two and a half years ago, because it was small and tough. It is waterproof to about 30 feet, and so also dust proof. Since I carry it in my pocket as I garden, my camera is exposed to a lot of tough conditions...this one has been a champ! I've shot dolphins with it in Costa Rica, carried it into hot springs, dropped it onto a sidewalk, and taken thousands of pictures. I like the macro feature, which is especially useful for this blog.

My photos are posted here in fairly high definition. If you simply click on the pictures in the posts they will enlarge. Anyone may download them who wishes, but I would request that if you use them for anything public you post a link to this site and credit me for the picture. I would love to hear your comments, and will respond to questions about this and my other blog. Thank you. Enjoy!

Moria Peters

I am originally from California, a fourth generation native who grew up in the green and gold hills of the Bay Area. As a child I watched with alarm as the beautiful hills were carved up and covered with houses. I went to the University of California at Santa Cruz in the early 70’s, where I studied painting and drawing. I also planted my first vegetable garden there. After graduation I traveled for six months through Mexico and Guatemala, which proved to be a life-changing experience..

Inspired by the Mayans with whom I had lived in the Guatemalan highlands, I returned to Santa Cruz to a communal house on five acres, with the intention of learning back-to-the-land skills. There I learned to garden using organic, raised-bed French Intensive techniques. We kept a few Jersey cows, chickens, and some geese. There was also a rather gorgeous hunky guy by the name of Steve who fished on Monterey Bay by night and worked in the garden by day. We’ve now been married for over 30 years!

Steve and I left California for the wilds of upstate New York in 1976. We were the first settlers on a community land trust, 434 acres of mixed fields and hardwood forest on a south-facing slope. I fell in love with the lush, habitable environment; learned the wild edibles, the deer paths, the springs, the Grandmother trees. We worked with a few other hardy pioneers to turn the old cow pasture into a hugely productive market garden. But after four years Steve decided he wanted to return to college to help spread the word about organic agriculture. We moved to Ithaca NY, where he majored in agronomy and vegetable crops. We lived in an apartment in the very middle of town, but kept a plot at the community garden.

After Steve finished his Master’s degree, he was hired to do organic agricultural research at the Rodale Research Center. We moved to the Pennsylvania Dutch region, Berks County; hex signs, covered bridges, shoo fly pie. There we purchased a tiny old stone house on a 1/2 acre lot that had been lovingly gardened by each owner for the past 150 years.

We adopted our twin daughters soon after moving in. The beautiful old garden inspired me to turn to learning about perennials, and I plunged into that study with passion! By the time the girls were a year and a half, I was ready to go back to work. I was hired to establish a book store/garden gift shop/visitor’s center in the old one-room school house at the research center. In conjunction with that I designed and installed an herb garden and a cut flower garden around the schoolhouse.

After nineteen years in the East we were ready to move back to the West. Steve was hired by the organic seed company, Seeds of Change, and we packed up and moved to Santa Fe. After a long search I found a new cohousing community on the west side of town. We purchased the lot overlooking the (often dry) Santa Fe River, I designed our house, and we moved into our barely habitable new home on our 20th wedding anniversary. Before the house was even built we were already gardening here.

We have learned to garden successfully in this extreme environment by trial and error, by observation, by experimentation, by study, and by quizzing other gardeners. One thing I love about gardening is the generosity which is inherent in it. If this site can help inspire anyone to nurture a little plot of soil, it is well worth the time. Happy gardening!

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Two Gardens In Santa Fe

Touring the Two Gardens

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Subtle beauty in March

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High Desert Gardening

Gardening in Santa Fe

About Me

Slope Stabilization at TP

Blog Archive

Trialing New Vegetables at TP

About the Photographs

English Violets

Moria Peters

Followers

Visit the Gardens

Tour group in veggie garden at LQ

Two Gardens In Santa Fe

Touring the Two Gardens

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Subtle beauty in March

No comments:

Post a Comment

High Desert Gardening

Gardening in Santa Fe

About Me

Slope Stabilization at TP

Blog Archive

Trialing New Vegetables at TP

About the Photographs

English Violets

Moria Peters

Subscribe To Two Gardens In Santa Fe

Followers

Visit the Gardens

Tour group in veggie garden at LQ