Linda Hoffman, second from right, names plants and gives helpful tips at a garden tour on Woodland Road in Los Alamos. Earl and Linda Hoffman built their garden in 2004-2007 on the bare ground around their new house. They moved and added rocks, made paths, and built a series of terraces on a third of an acre lot. Xeric areas, dry beds, and rock gardens accommodate a variety of flowers and vegetables, each planted according to its own needs in soils of clay, sand and sandy loam. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Earl Hoffman shows off a drought tolerant, diminutive croquet lawn of buffalo grass they placed in their garden. The Hoffmans did not start with a plan but the design of their garden emerged as time went on. They also have a composting area in the rear of the recycles pruning waste to improve the soil. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
The deer enjoy their garden also but the Hoffmans are willing to share some things. They don’t choose to share with the gophers but have not been able to get them to leave. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Visitors arrive at the Hoffman garden to begin their tour. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
The Hoffmans vegetable plot, fenced off from intruding wildlife, provides generous gift of tomatoes and zucchini to grateful neighbors, including the Los Alamos Reporter. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Alison Grieggs welcomes visitors to a tour of the Grieggs garden on Piedra Loop in the Pajarito Acres area of White Rock. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
One of several raised flower beds Alison Grieggs has filled with color near a seating area. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Color streams from this area of a flower bed in the Grieggs garden. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Another fascinating combination of plants in this raised flower bed. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Alison Griggs, second from right, answers questions from visitors near the rear end of the garden, which has fruit trees. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Heading into the raspberry beds on the left side of this walkway. The garden includes five varieties of raspberries and some gooseberries. Visitors was treated to raspberries picked as they walked through the garden. Photo by Maire O’Neill.losalamosreporter.com
Visitors learned all about straw bale gardening at the Grieggs garden where they were fascinated to see how tall the tomato plants have grown with some pruning and training. Along the front of this bed, nasturtiums and French marigolds are alternated along the lower front. Marketmore 76 cucumbers, lemon cucumbers and watermelon cucumbers grow in one area while some 15 varieties of tomatoes plants continue down the row, all planted in straw bales. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Egyptian walking onions nestle below Grappoli Bedouin and Bosque Blue tomato plants. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Another angle of the amazing tomato crop, which visitors got to sample on their way through. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Visitors chat with Tony Grieggs who offers tips for successful straw bale gardening, including the need for straw bales and not hay bales because straw bales come from harvested grain stems that do not contain seeds. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Some of the tomato crop grown in straw bales. Alison Grieggs offered a plan for conditioning the bales that takes 12 days and another five days waiting after that before planting. Bales need to be enriched with a high nitrogen fertilizer and Alison has used urea or lawn fertilizer with excellent results for the past dew years. She offered online resources including the following: https://strawbalegardens.com/ and http://joegardener.com/podcast/gardening-in-straw-bales/ Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Another variety of tomatoes. The Grieggs also grow strawberries, green beans, garlic, summer squash, banana peppers, green chiles, potatoes, delicate squash, spaghetti squash, chives, dill, basil, green beans, Bolita beans and more. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com