CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. –
Agriculture is a significant part of New Mexico’s history, and programs like the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service continue to develop growth in rural agriculture and distribute agricultural information to the public. Cibola County Extension Services often partner with McKinley County Extension Services to facilitate these programs and increase public access to agricultural information.
In February of 2021, Cibola and McKinley County Extension Services worked together to start the Master Gardener program – a teaching program that covers a variety of gardening topics in order to spread gardening knowledge and produce certified master gardeners that can take what they learn and share it with their communities. This program has already proven to be fruitful, with the start of a new, free gardening series being offered to the public by the Cibola/McKinley Extension Services and featuring lessons taught by current master gardeners, among others.
The Cibola and McKinley Garden Series officially started on Monday, March 7, at 6 p.m., and the series will continue every Monday evening through April 18, taking place at the Cibola County Cooperative Extension Service building located at 515 W. High Street, Grants, NM. The first lesson in the series covered Basic Gardening Techniques and was taught by NMSU Cibola/McKinley Master Gardener Edith Iwan. The second lesson, which took place on Monday, March 14, at 6 p.m., covered Tree Pruning and was taught by Ag/4-H Agent and University of Arizona Apache County Extension Service Agent Mike Hauser. Four lessons remain in the free garden series; there will not be a lesson on Monday, March 21, due to that week being Spring Break for the NMSU Grants campus. The series will continue on Monday, March 28, at 6 p.m., where NMSU Cibola/McKinley Master Gardener Roy Archibald will administer a lesson on Growing Potatoes. Archibald will also teach the following Monday’s lesson – Monday, April 4, at 6 p.m. – on Proper Watering and Water Methods. Then, on Monday, April 11, at 6 p.m., NMSU Extension Wildlife Specialist Sam Smallidge and NMSU Extension Forest and Fire Specialist Doug Cram will cover Wildlife and Fire Safety. The final lesson of the series will be taught on Monday, April 18, at 6 p.m., by NMSU Cibola/McKinley Master Gardener Natalija Varezkina-Elliot on Growing Tomatoes.
As Cibola/ McKinley Master Garden Roy Archibald, Cibola County Extension Agent Chase Elkins, and McKinley County Extension Agent Kathy Landers emphasized when starting up the Master Gardener program in 2021, agricultural programs have the potential to generate a number of positive effects in a community. In counties where food insecurity is prominent, water is not as plentiful, and the market for fresh produce is on the rise, gardening and agriculture skills are becoming more useful assets to have. From a simple hobby to a lifestyle change of healthier eating and living to job and business creation, agricultural outreach in a rural community has endless possibilities.
If community members have questions or would like more information regarding the Cibola and McKinley Garden Series, contact the Cibola County Cooperative Extension Service, 515 W. High Street, at 505-287-9266, or the McKinley County Cooperative Extension Service, 2418 E. Highway 66, PMB 470, Gallup, NM, at 505-863-3432. If there are any interested community members with a disability who are in need of an auxiliary aid or service to participate, contact Chase Elkins in advance at 505-287-9266 or chelkins@nmsu.edu. Cibola County
Cibola County Master Gardener Kimi Ishikawa recently ran a three-part series helping residents of Cibola understand new gardening methods. In this week’s edition of the Cibola Citizen, Edith Iwan, Cibola and McKinley County Master Gardener, teaches container gardening methods on Page B6.