See how the landscape has changed at my place after planting 45 trees this spring (thanks everyone!) and help plant many, many support species: Smooth sumac, goumi, new mexico locust, black locust, honey locust, chitalpa as well as apples, crabapple, plum, and American plum, and tons of comfrey!

I have drought tolerant tree and shrub seedlings from the NM forestry Dept. earlier in the week (3-leaf sumac, winterfat, fernbush, antelope bitterbrush, & lacebark elm… which is NOT Siberian elm). I’ll provide soil and 4X4 containers, and we transplant ALL these into containers and put them in the ground. I'll nurse them all winter. In springtime you can pick up much hardier seedlings AT COST ($2) instead of paying the extra for transplant labor (and I ask that your return the 4X4 after you plant). WIN-WIN-WIN!

September is Apple Season! View 13 year-old orchard that is a highly diverse and mature food forest. Learn the principles of self fertility and permaculture as they apply to perennial gardens.

We’ve planted several trees in the last two years at TISA. Now it’s time to add vines, shrubs, perennials, and improve landscaping for water retention. One existing crabapple needs tree-basin renovation. And we’ll dress it all with wood chips, inoculate with fungus, and seed with cover crop. PIZZA LUNCH!

SEE THE PROCESS OF STARTING A BRAND NEW ORCHARD…FLYER COMING SOON!

Come and help out the kids learn from trees! POTLUCK LUNCH

Join us to plant more fruit and support trees. TLT has an agricultural well so these will be well cared for this summer. We’ll also discuss how to run a MONTHLY FOOD FOREST CLUB to give this amazing site the regular care it needs.

The starts will be in! We’ll plant some really tough shrubs and perennials: NM Locust, Chamisa, fernbush, winterfat, Nanking cherry, sumacs, iris, wild plum OH MY!

Pay it forward to the founder who is starting an orchard (almost) from scratch! Some fruit trees are already here, but the abandoned farm land in the Cañon neighborhood needs serious windbreak love. We’ll prep soil and plant many support species: Black Locust, Honey Locust, Hawthorne, Korean Maple, Tartarian Maple, and Lacebark Elm, OH MY! We’ll end with a potluck dinner and dancing. Woo-hoo!

We planted two apple trees and two locusts at Taos Integrated School of the Arts last year. They need more to create shade, lower temps, and yield for kids to learn about ecosystems! We’ll prep this soil and plant a Taos Apricot, a pear, a honey locust, as well as landscape a crabapple basin that sheds water onto the walkways. Let’s SLOW, SPREAD, and SOAK water toward those roots!

Annual spring orchard day at VOG! We’ll be planting drought tolerant trees, shrubs, and perennials. We’ll build on successes, learn from failures in super tough conditions, and do some landscaping to capture every drop of rain from this landscape.

Anastasia has 5-10 year-old plum trees that are overgrown and haven’t been pruned for many years. Last year we tackled one big tree by both pruning and training (tying branches downward) and we’ll observe the results. Then, we’ll practice on another couple of trees and give them some of the same or even better love!

Grafting Season! We have hundreds of apple scions and rootstock coming. Learn the details and practice, practice, practice. We’ll geek out on details as we all get better at this nuanced skill.

More practice at Maciek’s 12 year-old food forest in Talpa!

We learned the reasons WHY to prune/train fruit trees and HOW. Training trees is pulling branches down with ropes and weights while pruning is actually making cuts.

At Veterans Off Grid where conditions are harsh (dry/windy), we’ll employ a series of strategies: Using pallet windbreaks, rocks as mulch to lower temperatures, biochar to improve moisture retention and microbe habitats, landscaping to direct surface water, tough cover crops, shrubs, and trees. :-)

Emily only gets acequia water 1 hr each week so we're gonna set it up to make maximum use of her water near the building site for a food forest! We'll practice 3 different methods of measuring elevation contours and mapping a lazy river to both irrigate and mimic a swale to trap water from big rain events. 

In the map below, La Lama Road in the lower left connects to the highway from Taos. The grey/white pin in the lower right is Emily’s place. :-)

We'll plant some more trees, more comfrey, add mulch, and train trees for winter hardening. PIZZA provided!

We'll practice 3 different methods of measuring elevation contours and mapping a lazy river to both irrigate and mimic a swale to trap water from big rain events. 

We will plant about 5 trees (yield and support), prepping soil with mulch, and sculpting berms to collect roof catchment water… because they pay for all their city water! TISA has a nearly blank canvas to create more shade, drop temperatures, save on air conditioning, and create rich green-learning environments for elementary and middle-school kids.

A small lot has been mapped and flagged. We will add 6-9 new support and fruit trees and create pathways & irrigation venitas.

Come to a private home which is (nearly) a blank slate for permaculture design. In one of the driest watersheds east of Paseo, you’ll get some intro instruction, template maps of the site, and break into teams to scheme-and-dream of what’s possible to grow and build here. We’ll report out and learn from each other. BRING YOUR SITE MAPS for an afternoon of applying what you’ve learned to design your own permaculture dream!

EARLYBIRD TOURS Saturday afternoon of two orchards, one mature food forest, one in transition from traditional to Food Forest with new trees, perennials, and irrigation added. See details in previous event. :-)

Meet at Harmony Farm to view orchards and gardens in transition to permaculture and then shift to 78 Torres Rd in Ranchos for tour of a mature Food Forest. Live and breathe actual permaculture for 4 hours, OH MY! :-)

3 existing fruit trees will be bermed, and 3 new trees will be terraced and planted. This site only has roof catchment and paid city water, so preserving every drop is key!

Happy Spring! Learn the basics of plant identification, nutrition, and ecology with a permaculture twist. Once you learn some patterns, you can learn to read the landscape and hear the (open) secrets of the plants!

DATE HAS BEEN MOVED UP ONE WEEK!

TISA is a K-8 school with huge potential for campus beautification and integrating natural spaces with curriculum. Join us for planting, landscaping for moisture retention, and perennials planting. Good times for KIDS!

See a mature food forest in its 12th summer. Fruitlets, perennials, edible walking onions, irrigation, landscaping, flowers, OH MY!

Planting workshop in Lyden, NM, Saturday April 27, 10AM - 4PM, Lunch provided, Lots more trees going in to revitalize this family farm!

This huge (1/3 acre) food forest will get new trees, more perennials, pruning/training, seed collection, OH MY! Snacks provided.

We planted several trees at a glorious shaded site at NFO two falls ago. Trees are doing well. Time to add more and juice the system with perennials!