The Garden Journal

Join Host Dr. Michelle Stizza as she talks with Dr. Laura Bittner, NMSU Extension Health & Well-being Specialist, Professor, and Associate Department Head of Family and Consumer Sciences about Sun Safety: Learn, Spot, and Protect.

Join Kaitlin Haase for a conversation with Laurel Ladwig, Coordinator for the New Mexico Backyard Refuge Program. Kaitlin and Laurel will discuss what steps you can take to support all kinds of wildlife in your yard and the certification process for becoming a New Mexico Backyard Refuge.

New Mexico Backyard Refuge Program

New Mexico Pollinator Habitat Kit Program - Proposals open until June 30th! 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Rachel Conn, Deputy Director of Amigos Bravos, Dale Doremus, retired hydrogeologist and water policy expert  of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club,  and Tannis Fox, senior attorney at  Western Environmental Law Center as they discuss the current status of research and the regulatory environment for oilfield produced water in the state of New Mexico.

https://www.amigosbravos.org/

https://westernlaw.org/

https://www.riograndesierraclub.org/

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with James Esqueda, General Manager and Lea Quale, Marketing Director, of La Montañita Food Coop about the opening of the new Avanyu Plaza store in Albuquerque amongst other topics. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel, the “Tomato Lady”, as she discusses important tasks in the vegetable garden in May. 

https://giantveggiegardener.com/

Join Kaitlin Haase for a conversation with Victor Lucero, Forest Health Program Coordinator with the New Mexico Forestry Division. Kaitlin and Victor discuss how to manage tree pests while protecting pollinator and beneficial insects in your yard, with special attention to pinon scale identification, life cycles, and management options. For example to minimize impacts to beneficial insects when treating pinon needle scale, seasonal direct application of neem or horticultural oils immediately after egg hatch is a significantly less harmful chemical option compared to long-lasting tree injections or soil soaks of systemic synthetic insecticides. 

NMSU Desert Blooms blog...

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Peggyjoy Hodgen, Horitculture Director at the Santa Fe Railyard Park Conservancy, and Amanita Thorp, co-founder of HornedLocust GoatScaping. Learn about their organizations, the ongoing joint “Graze Days” project, and hear about plans at the park for Earth Day 2026.   

https://railyardpark.org/

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with Michael Straus, The Cheese Trail, and Lissa Knudsen, NM Cheese Guild, about the upcoming cheese-related events to be hosted in NM in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel, the “Tomato Lady”, as she discusses important tasks in the vegetable garden in April. 

This episode's guest is Janie Chodosh, Educator with the Wild Friends Program at the UNM School of Law. Janie and host Kaitlin will discuss the Wild Friends civics education program offered to public schools in New Mexico, the amazing students and teachers who participate, and the recent and past wildlife conservation legislation this program has supported in the New Mexico state legislature. 

wildfriends.unm.edu

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Sam Hitt, president of Santa Fe Forest Coalition, as he discusses the important ecosystem benefits of the white pine species in the Santa Fe National Forest, and the existential threat created by the white pine blister rust disease.

santafeforestcoalition.org

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-national-forest-pine-species-under-threat-but-protections-remain-informal/article_f8d43ebe-9391-441d-b3cf-8d9a14ae3e99.html

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/ask-forest-service-to-protect-white-pines/article_4f1c7c9a-741e-4e06-859f-8a15e54bdeb6.html

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with Rita Condan, Director, Obesity, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Program at NM Department of Health and Gabriel Gaarden, the program’s Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Coordinator. The program is involved with a variety of activities making a positive difference here in NM to enable healthy food access – from the NM Grown Program, edible school and community gardens, farmers’ markets and more. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel, the “Tomato Lady”, as she discusses the science of phenology and important tasks in the vegetable garden in March. 

Karen Gaines, coordinator of the Share With Wildlife program at the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, joins host Kaitlin Haase to talk about the Share with Wildlife program and the research, habitat improvement, education, and wildlife rehabilitation projects it supports. Learn how you can get involved with the Share with Wildlife program and contribute to the conservation of wildlife species diversity in New Mexico. 

Share with Wildlife website: https://wildlife.dgf.nm.gov/conservation/share-with-wildlife/

Bison-M species database on all wildlife in New Mexico: https://www.bison-m.o...

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Master Gardeners, arborists, and Municipal Tree Board members Athena Beshur, Tracy Neal and Michael Davis, in a discussion about the concept of “tree equity”, the American Forests national Tree Equity Score and how to use data and resources to improve access to the health and social benefits of expanding the tree canopy in underserved urban areas.   

https://www.americanforests.org/tools-research-reports-and-guides/tree-equity-score/ 

https://treesmart-thecitydifferent.hub.arcgis.com/ 

Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg interview Chef and Owner Graham Dodds of NOSA Restaurant near Ojo Caliente. While much of this interview originally aired in June 2023 we've updated it in honor of Graham's nomination for the 2026 James Beard Best Chef of the Southwest Award. 

Host Alexa Bradford talks with Jannine Cabossel, “The Tomato Lady,” about March activities for vegetable gardeners.  Hold onto your hats, it’s that time of the year.

Join Host Dr. Michelle Stizza in a conversation with New Mexico State University’s Diabetes Management and Prevention Program Team(Diabetes MAPP) Cassandra Vanderpool MS, RDN, LD; NMSU’s Kitchen Creations Program Manager, Dr. Lucinda Banegas-Carreon MPH, CHES ; NMSU’s National Diabetes Prevention Program Manager, and Lourdes Olivas, MA ; NMSU’s On the Road to Living Well with Diabetes Program Manager to learn more about food stigmas, cultural traditions, and diabetes.

Join Kaitlin Haase with the Xerces Society for a rebroadcast of her March 2025 conversation with butterfly researcher Simon Doneski, PhD student at UNM studying insect conservation. Simon will share his work on the conservation of butterflies and rare insects throughout the state of New Mexico, including the development of a new public database for these species.

Join Master Gardener and former Garden Journal host Christine Salem in this rebroadcast of the January 14, 2024, program featuring independent agri-policy analyst Indra Shekar Singh, discussing food sovereignty, global corporate food systems, and the farmers’ revolution in India. 

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with representatives of the Food, Hunger, and Agriculture Program, part of the Food Initiative, working under the State Economic Development Department: Program Manager Erin Ortigoza and Food Value Chain Coordination Rep Jayme Chester. We’re also joined by Julie Cranston, Executive Director of Vida Mejor Capital, a New Mexico non-profit established to empower New Mexico’s small businesses through technical assistance and equitable access to capital. 

Jannine explores the concept of Terroir, a French term used to describe the complete natural environment in which particular wines are produced. She discusses adapting the concept to local vegetable gardening.

Ru Stempien, executive director for the Northern Youth Project, and Emilio Borrego, community conservation organizer. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Master Gardeners Athena Beshur and Michael Davis, and Santa Fe Municipal Tree Board representative Betsy Garside, to learn about the ongoing survey of Santa Fe’s trees begun in 2016 by the Master Gardener Tree Inventory Project.   

https://www.sfemg.org/tree-inventory-project 

https://santafenm.gov/media/files/public_works/Recommended_Trees_for_Santa_Fe_2024.pdf 

https://www.sfemg.org/newsletter See “Trees for Small Spaces” article by Mike Davis in the November 2025 SFEMG Newsletter.

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with The Food Depot's Executive Director Jill Dixon about the current challenges of feeding people in Northern New Mexico and TFD's wonderful programs serving this mission. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel the “Tomato Lady” as she gives us her annual 2025 Vegetable Review, with a summary of the best things she grew this year, and why she loves them.

To view Jannine's program click here

On this month's episode of the People, Plants and Pollinators edition of the Garden Journal, Katlin talks with Phoebe Redfield. A conservation ecologist from Pollinator Partnership to talk about the different organisms and their importance to the pollination of plants here in New Mexico. 

Visit pollinator.org for more info. 

On this quarterly edition of the Santa Fe County Extension Office Edition of the Garden Journal, Michelle Stizza sits down with Laura McCann, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist to talk about healthier eating habits and community resources to help us eat healthier during this upcoming holiday season.

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with emeritus Master Gardeners Laurie McGrath and Christine Salem in a series of programs on the miracle of seeds, promoting seed biodiversity, and the power of saving locally adapted seeds for the future of the planet’s ecosystems.  

For additional reading, see documentary film Seed: The Untold Story; Seed Sovereignty and the Law; Thor Hanson’s The Triumph of Seeds, Basic Books, 2015; Scatterseed Project; Dan Saladino’s Eating to Extinction, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021; Wise, Timothy A., Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food, The New Press...

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with chefs Kathleen Crook, chef and co-owner of Market Steer Steakhouse Restaurant and Joseph Wrede, chef and owner of Joseph's Culinary Pub. The chefs have been selected to participate in the 2025 James Beard Foundation's Taste America series and will create a dinner at Market Steer November 12th. 

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation Jannine Cabossel the “Tomato Lady” as she shares tips for November end of the season activities in the vegetable garden. See more at: giantveggiegardener.com

Join Kaitlin Haase for a conversation with naturalist and entomologist Michael Carr to explore the creepy crawly predators and parasites of the insect world for this Halloween-inspired episode.

Join host Alexa Bradford in conversation with emeritus Master Gardeners Laurie McGrath and Christine Salem in the first of a two-part series on the miracle of seeds, promoting seed biodiversity, and the power of saving locally adapted seeds for the future of the planet’s ecosystems.  

For additional reading, see documentary film Seed: The Untold Story; Seed Sovereignty and the Law; Thor Hanson’s The Triumph of Seeds, Basic Books, 2015; Scatterseed Project; Dan Saladino’s Eating to Extinction, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021; Wise, Timothy A., Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food, The New...

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with Charles "Chuck" Havlik, New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension tribal agriculture agent for the Eight Northern Pueblos. The conversation focuses on the many varieties of landrace chile still grown in northern New Mexico. 

Join Host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel “The Tomato Lady” as she shares tips and information about fall weather, garden clean-up and soil testing, and proper compost routines. For more information see: https://giantveggiegardener.com/

Join Kaitlin Haase for a conversation with Linda Churchill, Horticulture Director at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. Linda shares current happenings at the Garden and discusses the importance of gardens as habitat for pollinators and how to promote fall habitat resources in your garden.

Volunteer at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden - https://visitsfbg.org/support/volunteer/

Join Host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Kathy Mathai and Susie Sonflieth of the Santa Fe Master Gardeners to learn about the art and pleasure of saving herb, flower, and vegetable seeds, and get information on two related "Let's Grow" series classes available to the public in September. 

For additional reading, see documentary film Seed: The Untold Story; Seed Sovereignty and the Law; Thor Hanson’s The Triumph of Seeds, Basic Books, 2015; Scatterseed Project; Dan Saladino’s Eating to Extinction, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021; Wise, Timothy A., Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Fo...

Slow Food Santa Fe's Lissa Johnson and Nina Rosenberg talk with Carrie Thielen, Director of Regional Community Health for Presbyterian Healthcare Services at Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center, about their various programs such as Food is Medicine, Northern Roots Produce Rx, and Del Sur Santa Fe Farmers' Market. 

Join Host Alexa Bradford in conversation with Jannine Cabossel “The Tomato Lady” as she shares tips and information about weather, harvesting, tomatoes and what you can plant now for your fall garden. For more information see: https://giantveggiegardener.com/

Join Michelle Stizza, Santa Fe County Extension Consumer Science Agent and Tom Dominguez, Santa Fe County Extension Agricultural Agent to hear about what's happening this fall at the Extension Service.