Conservation

The Santa Fe Garden Club is very concerned with the environment, with
protecting native habitat for wildlife, and protecting and maintaining public lands, parks and rivers, as well as protecting our clean water and air. Every year our Conservation Committee, through our Club, gives away grants to not-for-profits that are involved in keeping our environment a clean, safe place to live. We also have educational field trips in order to stay abreast of current needs around the Santa Fe area.

Visiting with Roxanne Swentzell at Santa Clara Pueblo

Roxanne Swentzell, a renowned sculptor and member of the Santa Clara Pueblo, welcomed members of the Conservation Committee of the SFGC to discuss the Flowering Tree Permaculture she started in 1987 to support and teach sustainable ways to live off the land.

Roxanne toured our group through corn, beans, squash, potatoes, peppers and melons.

She built a dark mushroom house to grow mushrooms with corn husks to protect the mushroom starts. The mushroom mycelium, as well as compost, improves the soil.

Additionally, turkeys raised on the property help with pest control by eating the grasshoppers and they also provide fertilizer.

A vital commitment of the Pueblo culture is to save seeds to share with their farmers. Two indoor rooms are dedicated to the purpose of saving seeds.

During our visit, we were served hot cota tea, from the wild cota plant which grows in New Mexico. Roxanne shared principles of permaculture which recognizes all nature is connected. For example, corn interacts with nature- the clouds, the wind, the rain, the insects, and the birds. Patterns and the way energy moves can be observed. Look for spirals as water moves across rocks or the roots of trees. The whole idea of working with the land contrasts with industrial farming practices and the use of pesticides.

Roxanne gifted us with “mushroom starts” to enrich our garden soils. She is building a retreat center with several women outside of Abiquiu to share her powerful learning.

Each year a member of our Club attends the National Affairs and Legislative (NAL) Conference organized by the GCA in Washington DC. Our representative, Tia Justus, personally spoke with our members in Congress about concerns for the environment and our nation. Over the years, the GCA has been able to make an impact with its nationwide reach of 18,000 members in 200 clubs.

Santa Fe Garden Club has raised funds most recently for: NM Museum of Art Courtyard garden, Pollinator Garden/Olmstead Project at the Amelia White Garden on the Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe Botanical Garden, Santa Fe Conservation Trust, Forestry Program at Highlands University, Wildlife Center in Española and Xerces Society.

In the past we have also supported Amigos Bravos, Santa Fe Watershed, NM Environmental Law, Randall Davey Audubon, WildEarth Guardians, Lighthawk, Banderlier Youth Program, Preservation and Restoration, Santa Fe Watershed, Center for Plant Conservation, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Reunity Resources, Western Environmental Law, Amigos de Valles Caldera, Think New Mexico, Quivera Coalition and Nature Conservancy.

The Santa Fe Garden Club (SFGC) conservation efforts include annual grants, scholarships and donations to environmental groups working locally, statewide and on a national basis. They have supported a summer youth intern scholarship at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico .

Club members volunteer their time and effort with local conservation groups such as “Keep Santa Fe Beautiful”. The Horticulture Committee works with the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Santa Fe Botanical Garden helping to maintain inspiring garden projects as well as installing a pollinator garden as an Olmstead Project at the Amelia White Garden on the Old Santa Fe Trail.

The SFGC also sponsors lectures focused on conservation issues that are open to the public.

Club members have been involved with the Garden Club of America’s Partners for Plants Program focusing on the removal of invasive species and protection of rare, endangered and medicinal plants. Members volunteered for a project at the Valles Caldera National Preserve removing an invasive cheatgrass – Bromus tectorum.

The Club also published a pamphlet on water issues that was widely disseminated when Santa Fe was just beginning to acknowledge water as a finite resource.

Conservation Websites 3/2021

Composer, John Luther Adams, explores his environmental passions through music. sc.org/adams

Sierra magazine sierramagazine.org

Bird Watchers Digest birdwatchersdigest.com

National Wildlife Federation nwf.org National Park Foundation/Go Parks nationalparks.org

The New Agrarian Program quiviracoalition.org

Gardenista gardenista.com

Rewilding the Earth rewilding.org

Native Plant Society of New Mexico npsnm.org

Healthy Soil Working Group NMheathysoil.org

Garden Club of America National Affairs and Legislation website GCA.org

Santa Fe Garden Club members recently volunteered for a Partners for Plants project on the Valles Caldera National Preserve in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. The Preserve needed help removing the highly invasive cheatgrass – Bromus tectorum – before its seeds had matured. It was a memorable and fun effort.

Partners for Plants

Partners for Plants is a joint restoration program of the Garden Club of America’s Conservation and Horticulture Committees . Its purpose is to facilitate projects between local GCA Clubs and land managers on Federal, State , local and other significant public land.

Projects may include monitoring and protection of rare, endangered and medicinal plants, the propagation and replanting of native plants and the removal of invasive plants.