Valencia County garden group announces yard contest

LOS LUNAS—As a way to reward the efforts of local gardeners and to make the community more beautiful, the Valencia County Extension Master Gardeners and the News-Bulletin are sponsoring a Yard and Garden of the Week Contest starting May 1.

Nominations may be made of any yard or garden in Valencia County with the weekly winner receiving a $100 prize and photos of the winning yard also will appear in the News-Bulletin.

The deadline for the first nominations is Friday, May 1, and the winner will be announced in the Thursday, May 7, edition of the News-Bulletin.

“We are so happy to be joining with the News-Bulletin to feature some of the nicest yards or gardens in the county,” said Merlinda Acevedo, president of the Valencia County Master Gardeners.

Nominations must include:

• The name and telephone number of the yard/garden owner;

• The address of where the yard/garden is located (all nominated yards/gardens must be in Valencia County);

• A brief statement of why the yard/garden deserves the award;

• Nominations are due by 12-noon each Friday, and must be submitted via email to either Rigo Chavez at chavrf66@gmail.com or Merlinda Acevedo at mercruz_2000@yahoo.com;

• Nominators may also submit up to two photos of the nominated yard/garden via email.

If no photographs are submitted with the nomination, members of the Valencia County Master Gardeners will photograph the winning yard/garden.

Acevedo added that the contest will continue weekly through May 29 and may continue on a monthly basis after that date.

The Valencia County Master Gardeners is a community service program of the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service and provides courses and information to help community members improve their gardening skills.