paul gave me a ride in to las cruces, as he had work there on monday. i had found a host through couchsurfing.org. he said i could use his computer, so i went straight there instead of getting dropped off at the library. i believe adam's place would be called a town home. it had a very small back yard. he had just recently given his compost pile away.
spent batteries were a more common sight on the ground in las cruces than in any other place i have been on this trip. i felt saddened by this.
after making contact through e-mail i rode almost every day over to fairlight community garden and helped out a little. this is where i brought all the compost from adam's, since he no longer had a pile.
the wind was intense. it was tolerable in the earlier part of the day, but would increase to an oppressive level often by noon. while there i did things like mulch the fruit trees, pick up trash, tidy up drip line and chicken wire, and build a compost pile. i was most excited about that last one, and i did that on the last day there. the garden had accumulated a lot of donated materials, but they were mostly in separate piles and not being watered. hardly a 'compost pile' by most standards. so i made one in the back corner, incorporating the most abundant green material around at this time, the wild rocket, who i had first met in tucson and fallen in love with. the other plant growing abundantly in some spots was vetch, a pretty, nitrogen-fixing ground cover. it was cool to see how much more plant growth there was in the lower pathways between the raised beds. sunken beds seem very effective in desert environments like this one.
i also engaged with the community of folks who receive aid there and are living in the temporary tent camp next to the garden. they took notice of my presence in the garden right away. some folks thanked me for helping out. some asked what they could do to pitch in. i told them it would be really helpful to have many hands picking up the plastic debris, some rather small, until it was all removed. one day a few people came and did this after an effort by a couple folks to rally volunteers. there are so many people just sitting around during the day, i thought maybe there would be more turnout for this worthy cause.
bicycle bob, vikki, mick, and dublin were some of the fine individuals i met there.
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