Events & Volunteer Opportunities

Updated by Marisa at 7:35 pm on Wednesday, June 10, 2026

We OFFICIALLY started our 2026 tomato study on Tuesday, June 9! We will continue to plant and set up the study on Thursday, June 11. Join us if you can to plant about 50 more tomato starts (130 planted by volunteers on Tuesday!). We’ll have extra cherry tomato starts to give away and LOTS OF PLUMS TO PICK!

This summer, we’ll compare drip versus flood irrigation and various shade cloths on 2 tomato varieties. We’ll also be exploring some fertilizer treatments and foliar sprays!

This week (Tues & Thurs mornings), we'll continue to thin apples, pick peaches!, harvest wolfberries, mulberries, artichokes, and check on the newly planted chile in the saffron study plots. We're growing 'Odyssey' chile again this year, but by seed instead of transplants. Check out this publication on 'Odyssey': https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/hortsci/56/12/article-p1605.xml

We harvested 29 artichokes on 4/30 (… and another 100+ since then)! Here we are with Kathy holding the basket of artichokes in the middle and Ray trying to steal a few. 🤣

Page contents:

Volunteering at the Los Lunas Ag Science Center!
Upcoming Events & Other Activities
Flyers for upcoming events
Photos from Summer 2025

VOLUNTEERING WITH US at the Los Lunas Ag Science Center!

Where: Los Lunas Ag Science Center, 1036 Miller Road
When: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8-11am, starting Tuesday, April 14

PLEASE CONFIRM BY CHECKING this list regularly for any updates, for example, we may need to occasionally cancel volunteer mornings due to inclement weather or if we're out of town.

In addition to tending the tomato study rows, we will be pruning fruit trees, maintaining the saffron study plots, preparing raised beds, and much, much more on these regular Tuesday/Thursday volunteer mornings!
Park in the main parking lot and follow the ORANGE TRAFFIC CONES on foot to find the group wherever we're working that day.
What to Bring:
a Water bottle/canteen/vessel,
Sun protection - hat, sunscreen, long sleeves/pants,
Sturdy fieldwork shoes that can get muddy,
Gardening gloves (we have extras, if needed),
Camera! Please help me snap pics of our pruning adventures for posterity
As always, you are welcome to arrive late or leave early on these days. 👍

Ripe for harvest now (mid-June): STILL Mulberries, wolfberries, & artichokes!!! Plus plums, peaches, and even a few early currants.

Upcoming Events & Other Activities

Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities around the state with Tree New Mexico - Find details at https://treenm.org/volunteers/

June

June 24, all day in Los Lunas: Agrivoltaics Tour & Workshop for Middle School Teachers. Hosted by the ASOMBRO INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION at the Los Lunas Ag Science Center. https://asombro.org/teacher-workshops/

July

July 18, TIME & TOPIC TBD! - at Wild Birds Unlimited in Albuquerque. Workshop presentation with Marisa Thompson.

August

August 13, all morning: Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center FIELD DAY! Details and agenda TBD.

Flyers:

April 14, 8 am - noon in Los Lunas: Raised Bed Gardening Workshop with Willie Sommers in the Urban Agriculture Demonstration Site at the Los Lunas Ag Science Center. See FLYER below for details.