Cheap Thrills

HARD TIMES: Think these long hot summers are a bitch? Try enduring them in wool skivvies, with no air conditioning, uncomfortable transportation and the threat of an Indian attack.

That was the lot faced by those hardscrabble soldiers and their families who were stationed at Fort Lowell in the 1800s. In those days, the old fort was beyond the comfortable confines of town, and it took a special breed to survive, and to thrive.

More than 70 in-depth, captioned photos, along with plenty of artifacts, detail the struggle of these soldiers and their families in the exhibit titled We Served at Fort Lowell.

Also on display is Images of Resistance. It illustrates the plight of the Chiracahua Apaches during the Apache Wars in 1886. Photos chart their leaders, their families, and their eventual surrender.

The Fort Lowell Museum is located at 2900 N. Craycroft Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Call 885-3832 for information.

GROWING TALL: Discover budding green thumbs when the UA Cooperative Extension hosts their annual Kids and Plants Grow program.

Applications are currently being accepted for the great gardening classes, geared for children in fourth through eighth grades. Two weekly sessions are offered, with the first beginning today, and the second on Monday, July 19.

Kids can try their hands at planting a garden plot, making a terrarium, rooting plants from cuttings and creating a garden scarecrow. Other classes include What's Bugging the Garden, Worms and Composting, Butterflies, and Plant Parts is Parts, conducted by UA specialists, master gardeners and local experts.

For information, call 626-5161.

FRESH GRUBSTAKE: Get your mitts on some fine fresh chow at Tucson Farmers' Markets. These open-air extravaganzas feature everything from sauces to sweet corn, all at reasonable prices.

And now's the time to stock up, with the summer harvest rolling in. The tantalizing cornucopia includes apricots, peaches, nectarines, grapes, sweet corn, cukes, eggplants, avocados...and the list goes on.

Tucson Farmers' Markets run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in Park Mall, and from 7 a.m. to noon Sunday at St. Philip's Plaza, at Campbell and River Road. For information, call 743-8063.

BREW AND VIEW: Grab yourself a pint, pull up a couch and settle in when the Nimbus Tap Room hosts another night at the movies.

The Nimbus guys have long been known for their tasty microbrews. Now they've also created a celluloid mecca with a string of great films rolling across the medium-sized screen. It's sorta like Tinseltown South, except with cheap beer and free popcorn.

The eccentric Japanese classics Gamera and Destroy All Monsters screen at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, at Nimbus Brewing Co., 3850 E. 44th St. Admission is free. For details, call 745-9175.