2016 Kitchen Garden & Coop tour!

THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! ALMOST HERE!

The 6th Annual
Kitchen Garden and Coop Tour
Sunday, August 7, 2016
9 am to 3 pm

Home Grown New Mexico’s – Main Fundraising Event! Come support us so we can continue to provide all of our great classes! (We are a 501c-3 Non-Profit Corporation run solely by volunteers, so your ticket may be tax-deductible)

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2016 KITCHEN GARDEN & COOP TOUR

Date: August 7, 2016

Time: 9 am-3 pm

Location: Various locations around Santa Fe, NM (see MAP below)
Fee: FREE to members/ $25 per person for non-members

Prepaid tickets are over but you can still come and pay on day of tour at one of the houses. Check, cash or credit card accepted on day of tour.

See five kitchen gardens in Santa Fe. Pick up ideas that you can use at your place or just enjoy these beautiful, edible and functional landscapes. COME GET INSPIRED FOR YOUR GARDEN!

The properties this year feature many gardening ideas—beautiful vegetable gardens, herb gardens, potagers, fruit and nut trees, backyard chicken coops, goats, beehives, backyard composting, green house, a neighborhood community garden with goats, edible landscapes and rainwater harvesting systems.  They range from small properties to large properties in town in Santa Fe. The owners will be at each location with Master Gardeners to answer gardening questions and support the event.

Get Map Here: 2016 Kitchen Garden Tour map-revised (Please note this was revised as of Aug 3)

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HERE ARE THE 5 PROPERTIES ON THE 2016 TOUR!!

1—Tres Placitas del Rio Community Garden
1710 West Alameda

Tres Placitas del Rio is a co-housing community established in 1994 on 2.7acres overlooking the Santa FE River. There are currently 17 adults & 7 children/teenagers living in 11 households. The Garden was established in 1998 and has grown and been tending by many different individuals over the years. The soil has been enriched over the last 16 years with compost, primarily derived from the goat yard. This year 6 individuals (some are from Tres Placitas and other are friends of the community) lovingly worked together to create a “community garden” featuring a variety of vegetables and some perennials. The grounds of Tres Placitas boasts many native plants and lots of mature fruit trees.

The 3 resident goats: Itsy, Souflee & Dee are cared for cooperatively by a group of individuals from the greater Santa Fe community who milk them twice every day.  This year, Souflee gave birth to 3 healthy baby goats called ‘kids’. They are now in new homes giving joy to their new owners but all 3 adult goats still live there. The Tres Placitas goat co-op are often seeking new members—if interested pick up a flyer at the barn by the garden.

The SCAT (Santa Fe Master Gardeners Compost Action Team) will be on hand to answer your questions about home composting.

**Please be aware that access to this garden requires walking up or down a hill/or stairs (for a total of 660 feet from the nearest parking)**

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2—Mrs. Bobbs Compound
630 E Alameda

Mrs. Bobb is a legend around Santa Fe. Her compound is called La Querencia meaning ‘a place where one feels at home’. She has had tours in the past but not so many now that she is 96, so this is a special treat for us at Home Grown New Mexico and we are honored to display her gardens this year. She is still actively involved in all her gardens!

She and her family have lived in their current compound since 1967 and over that time have created a fantasy landscape on their 4 acres littered with memories of their past and present lives. They have graciously opened their entire compound to the Kitchen Garden & Coop Tour this year.
They have a large enclosed vegetable and fruit garden with traditional and raised beds surrounded by magnificent roses and a small potager – combining vegetables, herbs and flowers in a wonderful design. All the garden and green waste is composted in the corner compost area making the soil incredibly rich.

One hundred year old fruit trees tower above meandering paths leading to many “themed” gardens including: the Zodiac Garden, the English Cottage Garden, an English Knot Garden and the Espaliered Fruit Garden. Whimsical Sculptures sit among the Dragon Garden, the Wind in the Willows Garden and the Fairy Garden (hidden beneath a weeping crab apple tree). Not to be missed is the “Evolutionary Labyrinth”, the “Fractional Geometry and Poetry Sculpture” and much much more. There are _ gardens on the property. This magnificent Eastside property is located across from the Santa Fe River on the dirt road that parallels East Alameda. (See map for directions)

Members of the Santa Fe Native Plant Project (of Santa Fe Master Gardeners) will be on hand to answer questions about native plantings.

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3—Bob Zimmerman and Jerry silverstein
2233 Calle Cacique

Bob and Jerry have been gardening at their current home for 8 years. Their garden was on the Home Grown Kitchen Garden & Coop Tour 5 years ago but much has changed since then with the addition of many new gardens and lots of garden art. Bob seeks to share “what can be grown” in Santa Fe with some work and determination.

The landscaping starts at the entrance to his long driveway with a perennial garden w/ many native plantings and continues into his backyard which features more perennials interspersed with vegetables, grapes and berries. Two huge cherry trees shade much of the backyard and other newer fruit trees are in the bee yard area out front. Espaliered pear and apple trees near the house overlook more native plantings. A newly built raised vegetable bed beautifully forms a “natural” fence with the neighboring yard.

Bob’s chickens are Santa Fe famous having their own adobe casita while they preside over the covered raised beds that serve as the “fall and winter garden” with many vegetables. Throughout the property, beautiful art glass sculptures compliment the plantings.

The giant cherry trees over 30 years old produced 55 lbs of cherries this year! Bob will display the fruits of his labor—eggs, honey and jam and veggies that are all harvested off the property.  Grapes, Asparagus, tomatoes, peppers and chard and other veggies are all grown on the property and are intregrated with the art. Art is a big part of their lives with Jerry being an avid glass collector and Bob a very artistic Master Gardener. Bob see their yards as different outside exterior rooms of their house. Mrs. Bobb was a great inspiration for Bob when he first visited her compound years ago. This is another inspiring garden on a medium size lot.

The Sangre de Cristo Beekeepers will be on hand to answer your questions about backyard beekeeping.

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4—Robert Godreau and Michelle Demers
2178 Candelero Street

Robert and Michelle have been gardening in their current location for 8 years. They “have it all” with extensive multi-leveled vegetable gardens (including heirloom corn and squashes), a greenhouse, a chicken yard, a bee yard and many fruit trees and berries.

They strive on being more sustainable. All their electricity comes from the sun. They passively harvest rainwater into a large strawberry bed and channel grey water from sinks/showers to the landscape as well to a dry creek bed that wanders through the gardens. Vegetable and flower plantings are everywhere. They compost in a “double barreled” tumbler composter.

Michelle’s unique relationship with the plants keeps her tuned into the best time for harvest, drying and canning. Robert is a builder and has utilized his many skills as well as materials “left over” from his projects. Together, in a perfect synergy of effort, they have created a model of sustainability. Come be inspired.

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5—Cande and Russ Toner
4475 Contenta Ridge

Cande and Russ Toner are sharing our newest garden. They started working on it only 3 short years ago and have created a lovely and very productive landscape. Cande is a Master Gardener and an artist (in real life) and her aesthetic sense pervades the entire garden. Together they have built 18 small raised beds. They also have numerous decorative pots in the back yard with a variety of vegetables and flowers in them including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, squashes, beans and many more. Their fruit consists of apple trees, peach trees, raspberries, strawberries and grapes. In addition to to the vegetables and fruit, there is a separate herb garden.

Ask Cande about her seed saving – many of her plants were grown from seeds she saved or collected from friends.  They have utilized the front and side yard as well-landscaping w/asparagus and Saskatoon blueberries and more pots with vegetables.

She designed and Russ built copper tubing hoop houses that morphed into tomato cages. You will be inspired by this compact edible landscape on a smaller lot.

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