David Hooten/Dr. Dirt To all moms, mothers and grandmothers out there reading this great local newspaper, Dr. Dirt, wishes you a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY. This will be day of honor for moms! Load up your mom and take her to the garden centers and nurseries and buy her some garden plants in bloom. Most garden centers, greenhouses, and nurseries within …

In one section of Robert Caro’s new memoir of his life as a historian, the 83-year-old author uses the word “write” metaphorically to mean much more than just putting words on a page. In fact, Caro quotes President Lyndon Johnson to suggest the meaning he wants for the word. To give context to Caro’s use of the word “write,” here …

National Senior Citizens Day August 21st August 21, National Senior Citizens Day,  is the day to let seniors know how much you care about them. Our senior citizens have contributed so much to our communities and helped make them what they are today. National Senior Citizens Day is the day to show them our appreciation and support and recognize their …

At the same time we have been traveling to Taos almost annually since we moved to New Mexico over four decades ago, Mary and I continue to deliberate just how we really feel about the mountain artists’ community that Kit Carson called home in the mid-19th century. How could we not love the town from which a visitor can view …

Everyone is extra thirsty in the summer, especially when triple-digit heat arrives to Lea County. You, your pets and even your landscape and gardens cry out for a drink! Yes, during long hot summer days your trees, shrubs and other plants need a nice, cool drink of water. Summer rains are great, but the natural precipitation is not enough to …

For almost three decades I have traveled from my home in Lea County for 2,000 miles north each year to what Canadians call the Great North of their country. I have made this trip in the spring and summer to northern Saskatchewan with family and friends to fish the fertile lakes and rivers of a truly unique place on planet …

We are less than three weeks away from the ‘official’ start of summer, as every Lea Countian knows, when June arrives so does summertime heat. Here are a few tips for your landscape, garden and lawn to do in June. Vegetable gardens If you are growing veggies, you probably have tomatoes planted. One of most common disorders I see with …

Luau on the Links Benefit Golf Tournament at Rockwind supported Aloha Style by community, golfers, sponsors, and volunteers One thing that is “par for the course” around Lea County, is that the substantial community of golfers love golfing for a good cause, and have helped the young and old alike from one end of the county to the other through …

With the scare of food borne illness in our food supply again, it is important that extra precautions be taken when harvesting your own garden’s crops this year. 1 To begin with, lay out the garden so that it is away from manure piles, well caps, garbage cans, septic systems. It is a good idea to put up a barrier …

I’m taking a different twist on the gardening column with this edition. It is still gardening on a global scale that directly comes to our door steps in southeast New Mexico and our west Texas neighbors. I love to shop, ask my wife, she will clue you in. Green houses are my passion. But I also love a good mall, and I …