The Railyard is happy to welcome the newest addition to our staff! Rachel Boothby is joining us for one year. She is an AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA volunteer from the Western Hardrock Watershed Team with experience in community organization and non-profit management. She will work on our Connections Campaign, which is a new partnership between the Railyard Stewards and Santa Fe Watershed Association to promote watershed stewardship through collaborative programming. In her previous year of AmeriCorps service, Rachel built local trust and recognition of the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership through educational events, volunteer workdays, and media presence in Southwest Colorado. Rachel is excited to work on urban watershed issues with an interdisciplinary approach by bridging science and policy with the arts. At last, she has a job that taps into her degree in Arts Administration from Simmons College, Boston.

Some Santa Feans, Mike and Molly, have a great site focused on their ‘small farm, mighty projects.’ It is a great site. They included a post and some photos from the community garden tour last weekend – check it out! Thanks to Home Grown New Mexico and Santa Fe Community Gardens for organizing the tour.

Visit Mike and Molly’s page about the community garden tour at http://mikeandmollyshouse.com/growing/community-gardening/.

Image courtesy of Mike and Molly's house, 2011.

The first annual Harvest for Peace festival hosted by the Railyard Stewards and Roots & Shoots (Jane Goodall’s international group) brought hundreds together at the Railyard Park on Saturday, September 17. Musical entertainment was provided by the Polyphony Marimba Band and Fam Jam! where participants joined in the music making.

Attendees participated in activities like threshing grain and face painting to fulfill a Passport to Peace redeemable for Farmers Market goodies.

Peace Drumming

Railyard Steward, Carol Schrader, at our Grain Threshing & Atole Making Booth

Below is a blog posting from one of our community gardeners on how her plot is looking so far this summer. It looks great! Thanks Emily!

Community Gardening in New Mexico and the Fiery Heat of Summer

Emily Oaksford

It has been exactly one month (to the day) since I transplanted all my seedlings into my plot at the community garden.  Here is my plot on May 26, 2011:

And here it is today (June 26, 2011):

What’s in My Garden

• broccoli (Raab, Rapini)
• cucumbers (Straight Eight, Lemon)
• tomatoes (Gardener’s Cherry, Rainbow Cherry, Ropreco Paste, Yellow Boy)
• peppers (Sunrise Orange, Italian Marconi, Canary Bell, Yolo Wonder)
• eggplants (Rosa Bianca)
• herbs (Basil, Chives)
• marigolds (for warding off garden pests)
• carrots
• radishes

The large plants along the middle row are four broccoli plants (2 broccoli from bought seedlings and 2 broccoli raab/rapini from seedlings I grew from seed) – they have simply taken off.

The broccoli rapini have already been sprouting small heads that quickly flower because it has been so hot lately.  I have found, however, that the stalks of the rapini – even once their heads have flowered – are still tender and sweet enough to mix into a meal such as a pasta or stir fry.

The bluer-green broccoli is the traditional broccoli variety and has not yet produced a head.

The peppers and eggplant in the front were off to a slow start from what appeared to be an attack by some insects, but they have recently grown some additional leaves and are looking healthy again.

What’s in Your Garden?

So, what do you have growing in your garden this season: What is your favorite vegetable growing in your garden?  What plants of yours are taking off like crazy?

You can continue to follow this blog here.

This past weekend the Santa Fe New Mexican ran a news brief on the Railyard recognition from the national Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. The award recognizes architectural landscape, urban design and other projects that have “transformative impacts on their urban environments.” The Railyard Stewards and the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation co-applied for the award.  For more information, visit The Rudy Bruner Award website. The Railyard and this award would not be possible without decades of community work and input, and a diverse array of partners such as The Trust for Public Land, the City of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation and thousands of citizens of Santa Fe. Other projects awarded include the Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York, the Civic Space Park in Pheonix, the Gary Comer Youth Center in Chicago and the Bridge Homeless Assistance Center in Dallas (the 2011 gold medal winner).

Thank you to the community of Santa Fe for being part of this recognition!

Our full press release on this award is available here: Railyard Bruner Release June 2011 Final