Dr. William Lindemann nevertheless receives his footwear dusty. He continues to be fascinated by soil profiles and reads the history of the soil, even in small, sheer cliffs around Las Cruces. After an extended career teaching soil technological know-how at New Mexico State University, he now seems to share the knowledge of our desert panorama with residents who need to understand and improve their gardens and lawns. If that’s you, you’re invited to the Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) unfastened Lush and Lean Workshop on Thursday, March 21st. “The Rio Grande was once up here,” explains Lindemann as he climbs an embankment to point out a layer of rocks at the lowest of a rushing river.
“You can see how river currents moved the finer gravel and sand, which settled below the rocks right here,” he explained. Lindemann stocks those observations at his workshop, “Soils and Mulches,” where residents can learn how to prepare and maintain their gardens with soil amendments and use a mulch to grow water uptake and retention using plants. Mulch has been a top career success for this retired professor, with a 3-12 months study finished for nearby pecan farmers to staunch the once-a-year burning of pecan branches and dried leaves. “It was that the farmers would burn the trimmings of the timber, and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) become coming down at the country,” he stated.
“We began to investigate whether or not the ‘pecan trash’ could be included in the soil.” The study showed that the shredded wood did not tie up vitamins as some expected and could gain soil properties long-term. What was previously burned as waste has become a beneficial soil amendment with no poor side results. Lindemann smiled, “Agriculture and the surroundings are, of the path, constantly tied together.”
