Ramah/Gallup/Grants- Arts Council Sponsors Gardening Workshops [Archive]

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03-14-2007, 09:29 PM

<center>El Morro Area Arts Council Tackles BIG Challenge Making Things Grow in the Desert... By Steppin' Out Staff</center> 
Ramah, New Mexico- As every New Mexican knows, even folks with green thumbs have trouble getting things to grow here. The summertime combination of limited rain (2006 being the obvious exception to that rule), high temperatures, dry air and terrible soil tends to wreak havoc on the efforts of even the most experienced gardeners. One wise and lifelong gardener and soil scientist we once knew put it this way, "In New Mexico, topsoil is just a concept." Concept or not, one thing is sure. It's darned hard to make things grow here. That's a fact. So naturally we were intrigued when Steppin Out got a notice the other day saying the El Morro Area Arts Council up in Cibola County is sponsoring a series of desert gardening workshops at Giannangelo Farms near Ramah. These half-day workshops are designed to teach New Mexico gardeners how to create, plant and successfully grow their own eco-friendly herbs, greens and gardens in our dry desert environment. Good grief! Is such magic really possible here? Suddenly we were all ears... Later, when we learned the folks and Giannangelo Farms have been teaching New Mexicans how to do this for years and noone has shot them yet, we headed straight for their web site at www.avant-gardening.com (http://www.avant-gardening.com/) If you too are interested in learning how to turn our desert sand, dust and hardpack into lush green gardens, here are the relevant details... <center><hr weight=5 width=50%></center> El Morro Area Arts Council has announced Giannangelo Farms Southwest’s 2007 spring workshop schedule which the Arts Council is sponsoring. If you are interested in learning how to grow tender organic salad greens in our difficult southwest climate, how to create a sustainable organic garden, build a labyrinth, how to do rock work, or build a strawbale wall, these appear to be the workshops to attend. The Giannangelo’s have been giving workshops for seven years and they are attended statewide. For more information, visit their website: www.avant-gardening.com (http://www.avant-gardening.com/) All workshops will be given at Giannangelo Farms Southwest in northwestern New Mexico, near El Morro National Monument, 10 miles east of Ramah, NM. The registration fee for each seminar is just $20 and a portion of all fees will be donated to the El Morro Area Arts Council. So, you'll learn the magic needed to make your rocks grow and the El Morro Area Arts Council will get some much needed cash too. That's definitely a win-win scenario. Please call 505-783-4412 for directions, reservations, and information or visit the Giannangelo Farms website at www.avant-gardening.com (http://www.avant-gardening.com/)

Here's a list of workshops being offered this spring and summer: 

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THE GREENZBOX WORKSHOP "A 4' X 8' self-contained box for growing tender lettuces and salad greens in a Southwest climate" Saturday, April 7, 2007 10:00 - 1:00 Bring lunch, hats, gloves, and drinks 
<ul><li>Simple, Easy to Build, Inexpensive <li>How, and Why, it Works <li>UV Protection and Water Conservation <li>No Weeds, No Pests, No Critters <li>Tender Lettuces and Salad Greens <li>UV Protection, and Water Conservation <li>LUNCH <li>Soil Improvement, How to Plant a GreenzBox™ <li>Intercropping and Intensive Planting Techniques</ul> <center>"The more contemplative gardener, seeing the garden as a whole, the design of it, and its nature as a still place of delight and refreshment, will wait and hope for the moment when it seems to achieve perfection. Awareness of when such moments are most likely helps to make them happen; they will not be entirely accidental, but anticipated; everything will be planned to encourage them." Susan Hill and Rory Stuart, Reflections from a Garden, 1995</center> <center>SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC GARDENING WORKSHOP Saturday, April 21, 2007 10:00 - 1:00 Bring lunch, hats, gloves, and drinks</center> 
<ul><li>Sustainability <li>Garden Design, Location, and Ponds <li>Permaculture Gardens and Xeriscape <li>Soil Improvement, Compost, and Mulch <li>LUNCH <li>Shade, Trees, and Conserving Water <li>Bio-Diversity and Intensive Planting <li>Prevention and Control of Weeds and Pests 

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LABYRINTH WORKSHOP Saturday, May 12, 2007 10-1 Bring lunch, hats, gloves, and drinks
 
<ul><li>History, Myths, Folklore <li>Rituals, Meanings, Meditations <li>Ancient and Modern Designs <li>Reflective Journaling <li>LUNCH <li>Hands-On Labyrinth Construction</ul> 

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ROCKWORK WORKSHOP Saturday, May 19, 2007 
9:30-1:30 Bring lunch, hats, gloves, and drink 
<ul><li>Tools, Materials, and Techniques <li>Pools, Ponds, and Water Gardens <li>Rock Walls, Steps, and Easy Paths <li>LUNCH <li>Hands on rock wall building 
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STRAWBALE WORKSHOP Saturday, June 2, 2007 9:30-1:30 Bring lunch, hats, gloves, and drinks 
<ul><li>Tools, materials, and techniques <li>Walls, Foundations, and Designs <li>LUNCH <li>Hands-on Strawbale Wall Building <li>Setting Bales, Fastening Wire and lath <li>Cement and Stucco</ul> 
<center>"We can learn to imitate nature by creating a natural eco-system, symbiotic relationships that are productive, non-polluting, and beneficial to the whole environment, and thereby sustain all living things within the system." </center>
 
For reservations, directions or more information, please call Giannangelo Farms at 505-783-4412 and be sure to tell them you heard about their workshops in Steppin' Out.