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Prarie Dogs

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Black Tailed Prairie Dog. Photo: Ryan Moehring/USFWS

There are five families of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs (all of which live in North America). Black-tailed prairie dogs live in western New Mexico, and Gunnison’s prairie dogs live in eastern New Mexico. They weigh about 1-3 pounds, and they are about 11-16 inches long. Prairie dogs are preyed upon by badgers, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, golden eagles, and different species of hawk. Sometimes rattlesnakes and bull snakes eat young prairie dogs. Prairie dogs have sharp teeth to chew through their food, strong hind legs so that they can see over the grass, and pointy claws to dig their burrows. Prairie dogs also have acute vision to search for predators hiding among the grass, and brown fur so that they can blend into the dirt. 

Prairie dogs are not so different from humans in the way their burrows are composed. There is an underground network of tunnels and rooms which makes the prairie dog equivalent of towns. The “towns” are made up of “neighborhoods” and each “neighborhood” is made up of some “houses.” When they dig their burrows, prairie dogs include air pockets so that the chamber will stay dry if there is a flood. Prairie dogs also build a mound a little ways away from the mouth of their burrow so they have a better view over the grasslands they call their home. All species of prairie dog hibernate except Black-tailed prairie dogs. Some people claim to see prairie dogs kiss, but they are actually smelling each other. Some prairie dogs carry the bubonic plague, which spreads through their fleas. The plague spread through their population, decimating their numbers. These are just some of the interesting things to learn about prairie dogs. by Lali Miller

Container Gardening

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Gardens are really a part of your home and can be both beautiful and practical. When space is limited, gardening in containers can be an alternative to the traditional high desert garden. Containers are also great because you can control the environment around your plants, move the pots for best light, and coordinate with your outdoor décor.

The process begins with the choice of a container. It may take the form of a pot, tin, basket, tub, or maybe even a barrel. Whatever you choose, make sure it has drainage holes. Many people prefer plastic pots as they are lighter and easier to move around, and because the soil will not dry out as fast as terra cotta pots. Whatever container you choose, it must have a drainage hole. Variety in color and shape of containers can add interest and beauty to your garden.

Bigger containers are necessary for tomatoes or potatoes which have root systems going down 12 to 15 inches. A five-gallon pot is needed for these. Flowers and herbs do well in three-gallon pots.

A good organic ‘potting soil’ or ‘container soil’ is required because it is quicker draining than regular garden soil and is the most costly part of container gardening. If using a pot more than two feet high, the bottom 1/3 can be filled with old plastic bottles or other non-organic trash so you do not waste space with the expensive soil mix. Fill the pots with soil but leave a space of 1-2 inches at the top for watering.

Fertilizers are required for nutrients not found in the potting mix. After your plants have recovered from transplant shock and new leaves are starting to form, an organic fertilizer such as Job’s Organic or Sea Grow can be applied. When growing veggies, more phosphorus than nitrogen is needed during the time of fruiting in order to get more produce, so you might want to use a different fertilizer then.

Potted plants require frequent watering, possibly twice a day. The way you know it is time to water is by putting your finger in and pushing down an inch. If the soil is dry, time to water. If you are having trouble judging this, buying a moisture meter might help.  And remember, plants like some sun every day.

It is recommended to repot every two years. Sometimes when pulling a plant out of its pot, you will find the roots wrapped around the soil. If they are root bound like this, cut through some roots an inch or so into the soil and re-work the roots.

A vertical tower is another approach to container gardening. You can make a vertical tower with a piece of five-foot wire mesh rolled in a circle so that the round end fits into a tub. Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers (with a little additional horizontal support), and peas will do well grown on this vertical mesh. There is an extremely creative do-it-yourself website, “23 Family Gardens”.

Vertical hydroponic systems are also a possibility and can be checked out on the internet.

Wasps and Hornets

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Wasps are an important part of our environment because they control other insects, using them as their food source. There are about 13,000 species. They are social insects like bees, ants, and termites, which means they cooperate with the care of their young, live in multigenerational colonies, and have a system of those who reproduce and those who do not (often called workers or soldiers).

There are three different types of wasp: (1) parasitic, which lay their eggs on a host insect which the larvae then use as food; (2) hunting , which bring their prey back to the nest; and (3) social, often called paper wasps because they construct nests out of plant fiber and saliva.

Female paper wasps can initiate colonies by themselves, take over abandon nests of another female and raise the orphans, or cooperate with another female and make a larger nest. This colony founding happens in spring, but if there are not enough insects to feed on, the foraging females die.

Yellow jackets are the paper wasp which most people recognize as they hover around picnic sites and get onto open cans of soda. They are aggressive, especially in August and September when they are defending their nests. These nests may be in trees but are often under eaves on porches. Their sting is very painful.

Hornets are the largest of the paper wasps. There has been a lot of hype lately about the murder hornet. This paper wasp is indeed large, being two inches long. Their sting is not so much a threat to humans; killing fewer than bees, wasps, and other hornets combined Their real danger is attacking honey bees’ nests. Bees are already under siege.

New Mexico’s state insect is a hunting wasp called the Tarantula Hawk Wasp. This wasp stings the tarantula, drags the spider back to its home, and then lays its eggs on it. The larvae use the spider as their food source as they mature. This wasp rarely stings people, but if it does, its sting is described on the Insect Sting Scale as one of the most painful: “excruciating and unrelenting sting and it shuts down one’s ability to do anything but scream.” Fortunately, this intensity lasts only about five minutes. Interestingly, this wasp’s main predator is the Roadrunner, New Mexico’s state bird!

If stung by a wasp (or bee), apply a cold compress for 15-20 minutes and take an over-the-counter antihistamine like Benadryl. Vinegar will decrease the pain in the area of the sting.

Rose Hip Tea

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Red and orange rose hips are abundant on most rose bushes by October but are usually harvested after the first frost. They have more than ten times the Vitamin C than an equivalent weight of any other plant. The tea tastes good and can be used to treat colds and sore throats.

Cut the hips from the stem. Some people cut them in half in order to remove the hairy seeds, but this can be hard to do. You can also use the hips whole.

For a cup of tea, you need about 15 hips. Boil in a pan until “tea colored”. Strain.

Dandelion Wine

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Dandelions. Photo: Eric McLean/UnSplash

Back in the 1800s, “proper women” did not drink alcohol. However, for medicinal reasons, they could make and drink dandelion wine. It became popular and also fit in with the values of not wasting anything. Many grandmothers have passed down these recipes. And while this wine is incredibly time consuming to make, it gives us a chance to identify with the tasks of past generations.

Dandelion wine is made from only the fine yellow thread-like petals of the flowers. No green material goes into the wine. To get the necessary 1 quart of dandelion petals, you will need to process thousands of dandelions, but you can collect these over several days, freezing the skinny little yellow petals as you go. Then you are ready to start:

1 quart dandelion petals or more. Wash well.

1 ½ quarts of water. Boil and pour over the petals and soak for a couple days

Add zest from one orange to the soaking flowers and boil. Strain.

Add: 1 orange, interior fleshy part sliced (no white pith)

½ lemon, fleshy part only

1 pound sugar. Bring to boil, strain, and cool.

Put flower mixture into a ceramic or enamel pot (not iron or aluminum) and add:

½ package wine or champagne yeast *                                                                 

½ pound yellow raisins

Cover. Stir with wooden spoon daily for the next 10 to 14 days until it stops bubbling.

Strain. Bottle in sterile bottles and cork loosely in case more gas needs to escape. Then cork firmly and store in a dark, cool place for 6 months. This wine is a beautiful golden color and has an earthy flavor.

*yeast available at your local brewery supply store.

Prickly Pear Jelly

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Prickly pear cactus is native to Mexico and grows well in this desert. Picking the red fruits, called tunas in Spanish, is tricky as they are covered with fine hairs called glochids which are very painful to the touch. Tongs can be used to break off the fruit.

Traditionally, people rolled the pears around in the sand to remove the glochids, but now people are apt to use tongs and hold the tunas over a flame to singe them off. (You can also boil the tunas for 3 minutes which softens the glochids and makes it easier to remove the skins.) The next step is to remove the skin. This is done by cutting off the tuna ends and slicing ¼ inch through the skin in longitudinal cuts. You then can pull off strips of skin and chop up the fruit, seeds and all. Cook with water until it is mushy. Strain. Use the juice in any recipe for making jelly. It comes out a beautiful red and tastes great.

Recipes vary widely. They depend on the amount of jelly you wish to make, but all include lemon juice, sometimes in combination with lemon peels, lots of sugar and pectin. The recipes vary depending on the type of pectin you use. So first buy your pectin and then look up a recipe on the internet to proceed.

Sweet Potato Patch

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I love my sweet potato patch. To get started though, you need to find the fledgling tubers. Locally, Alameda Nursery Greenhouse starts them but if they have sold out, you might have to mail order. Those slips will arrive all brown and limp but soaking overnight revives them so you can plant early the next morning. *

My patch has 18 inches of topsoil so the potatoes can get by with a medium amount of water. When in the ground, the thick maze of vines colonize the sidewalk and try to climb a wall, shutting out late summer competition from purslane and quelites. Since most people don’t recognize the plant, they don’t take the potatoes, so I let them grow in my front yard where there is lots of heat and sun.

I dig them up late October, gently with a fork so I don’t end up slicing any. One six ounce tuber with some slips can yield eight to ten potatoes. To keep them throughout the winter, you have to cure them. Do this by keeping them in a warm and humid place for a couple weeks so the skins will toughen. I put them in a plastic bin and cover with a moist towel.

 I highly recommend this high calorie crop, also rich in Vitamin C, and easy to grow in the mid Rio Grande watershed.

*You can start your own by half-submerging one or more potatoes in water. After a month, there will be fairly well-developed branches. Take these branches off the main tuber and submerge them in water until roots develop; it should take another two weeks.