This was a big volunteer day for me. My morning started early with a meet-up at 7:30am with Brenda to help set up the table for the hiking club. Brenda came to help Larry, who was supposed to bring all the tables and chairs. Larry wasn't there until after 8am, when I was already helping Mel and the Master Gardeners group. I stayed with Mel throughout my morning shift, surprisingly getting quite a few people coming by our stand asking for questions.
"We just bought four acres in Palominas and we want to know what kind of stuff will grow there."
"How do I best keep rabbits from my plants?"
"I just moved here and want to know what all the plants are on the property I just bought."
"I have a lot in Hereford and want to start a garden. What are the best vegetables to grow here?"
Bruce, another MG associate (that's what we are called until we earn our 50 hours of volunteer work and are going through the course) came by the tent at 9am and ended up answering all the questions; I didn't want to butt in because I would have asked for more details before answering. The best thing to learn about the local flora is to read up on the desert gardening websites on the internet. There are many good ones out there. I learned most of my skills from the websites, but most of my knowledge I am getting from the MG course since most websites are also trying to market a product or push a certain ideology.
The Master Gardeners were next door to the Arizona State Parks/Kartchner Caverns park rangers, and then the Hiking club was next to that, next to the biking club that was next to the astronomy club booth. There were many interesting vendors, too selling neat products like blue agave nectar which tasted like real sugar, a hummus stand, emu oil lotions and cremes, and native plants and seeds grown by the SV Gardeners Club. I picked up several free seeds for Bee Balm, Chaste Trees, penstemons and a few others that I've had a hard time finding. I even bought a young catnip plant that I hope to grow large enough for seeds before the cats kill that off.
The vendors at the Farmer's Market were all interesting. Water Harvesting containers were on display, a static display of the underground water table was at one tent, organic foods, local plants and honies (but no wine from nearby Elgin!) were for sale. Even the organic coffee from Tucson was quite palatable.
The county Sheriff, Larry Dever, dressed in his typical sunshades and wide-brimmed cowboy hat, walked by, chatted with us about illegals in the mountains ("Most of them mean no harm; it's just a few in every bunch we need to worry about"). Even in person he is quite a personable and approachable man.
My camera was in demand today. One woman ask me to donate some of my photographs to the local newspaper so she wouldn't look like she was the only one taking photos. The astronomers came by me and asked me to photograph the prismatic cloud halo that they said is a very rare occurrence and normally seen further north. If the photo turns out well enough they will send it to the national magazine, have it published and make sure I get the credit for the photograph. I guess my Canon is quite an attention getter, although the Nikons I saw in the crowd were just as impressive.
One thing that I noticed was missing, and that was a big hit a few years ago at this event, were recycling bins for glass bottles, plastics, cardboard, tin, paper and newspaper. All they had today were recycling bins for plastic bags to benefit the Scouts. How can you run an Earth Day without recycling bins?! Sierra Vista and the county do a poor job recycling materials: only tin and aluminum cans and newspapers/magazines are recycled. Santa Cruz county to our west, a smaller and poorer county, recycles bottles, plastics, cardboard and the rest.
High winds (Brenda said up to 45mph) that were forecasted for today didn't arrive until after noon, and then only in small gusts. Still, several vendors shut down early to include the MG group that I help tear down the canopy with. With six people on the canopy the tear-down was quick and painless.
Live music was provided by local talent, from young school students to an elderly fiddling group called the "Arthritis Brothers" who were quite deft on the fiddles. One lady walked around with a female and male Bearded Lizard resting on her colorful shirt. Other curios walked around with their dogs, some rather large ones panting heavily in the heat. One such beauty was an Anatolian Shepherd. One of those dogs is as big as both of mine!
By 2pm things started winding down and most vendors were packing up their goods as the gusts made displaying small lightweight items difficult. I enjoyed meeting with the many local people and chatting with club members. Weather was ideal, in the upper 70s, but standing at the hiking club table with no shade got to me. I am glad I had my lemonade with me.
http://www.co.cochise.az.us/sheriff/MeetYourSheriff.htm
"We just bought four acres in Palominas and we want to know what kind of stuff will grow there."
"How do I best keep rabbits from my plants?"
"I just moved here and want to know what all the plants are on the property I just bought."
"I have a lot in Hereford and want to start a garden. What are the best vegetables to grow here?"
Bruce, another MG associate (that's what we are called until we earn our 50 hours of volunteer work and are going through the course) came by the tent at 9am and ended up answering all the questions; I didn't want to butt in because I would have asked for more details before answering. The best thing to learn about the local flora is to read up on the desert gardening websites on the internet. There are many good ones out there. I learned most of my skills from the websites, but most of my knowledge I am getting from the MG course since most websites are also trying to market a product or push a certain ideology.
The Master Gardeners were next door to the Arizona State Parks/Kartchner Caverns park rangers, and then the Hiking club was next to that, next to the biking club that was next to the astronomy club booth. There were many interesting vendors, too selling neat products like blue agave nectar which tasted like real sugar, a hummus stand, emu oil lotions and cremes, and native plants and seeds grown by the SV Gardeners Club. I picked up several free seeds for Bee Balm, Chaste Trees, penstemons and a few others that I've had a hard time finding. I even bought a young catnip plant that I hope to grow large enough for seeds before the cats kill that off.
The vendors at the Farmer's Market were all interesting. Water Harvesting containers were on display, a static display of the underground water table was at one tent, organic foods, local plants and honies (but no wine from nearby Elgin!) were for sale. Even the organic coffee from Tucson was quite palatable.
The county Sheriff, Larry Dever, dressed in his typical sunshades and wide-brimmed cowboy hat, walked by, chatted with us about illegals in the mountains ("Most of them mean no harm; it's just a few in every bunch we need to worry about"). Even in person he is quite a personable and approachable man.
My camera was in demand today. One woman ask me to donate some of my photographs to the local newspaper so she wouldn't look like she was the only one taking photos. The astronomers came by me and asked me to photograph the prismatic cloud halo that they said is a very rare occurrence and normally seen further north. If the photo turns out well enough they will send it to the national magazine, have it published and make sure I get the credit for the photograph. I guess my Canon is quite an attention getter, although the Nikons I saw in the crowd were just as impressive.
One thing that I noticed was missing, and that was a big hit a few years ago at this event, were recycling bins for glass bottles, plastics, cardboard, tin, paper and newspaper. All they had today were recycling bins for plastic bags to benefit the Scouts. How can you run an Earth Day without recycling bins?! Sierra Vista and the county do a poor job recycling materials: only tin and aluminum cans and newspapers/magazines are recycled. Santa Cruz county to our west, a smaller and poorer county, recycles bottles, plastics, cardboard and the rest.
High winds (Brenda said up to 45mph) that were forecasted for today didn't arrive until after noon, and then only in small gusts. Still, several vendors shut down early to include the MG group that I help tear down the canopy with. With six people on the canopy the tear-down was quick and painless.
Live music was provided by local talent, from young school students to an elderly fiddling group called the "Arthritis Brothers" who were quite deft on the fiddles. One lady walked around with a female and male Bearded Lizard resting on her colorful shirt. Other curios walked around with their dogs, some rather large ones panting heavily in the heat. One such beauty was an Anatolian Shepherd. One of those dogs is as big as both of mine!
By 2pm things started winding down and most vendors were packing up their goods as the gusts made displaying small lightweight items difficult. I enjoyed meeting with the many local people and chatting with club members. Weather was ideal, in the upper 70s, but standing at the hiking club table with no shade got to me. I am glad I had my lemonade with me.
http://www.co.cochise.az.us/sheriff/MeetYourSheriff.htm
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