Monday, May 9, 2016

Posted By on Mon, May 9, 2016 at 4:15 PM


By now it’s clear that food isn’t just about restaurants and dining out, but has grown to be a movement that focuses ever more on local farms and farmers and the traditions of food in any given region. After all, Tucson wouldn’t have won its illustrious UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation without the region’s rich agricultural history paired with modern strides to not only revive it, but make it accessible and inclusive to those in the community.

One of the organizations at the forefront of that very effort in town is the Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace and their heritage crop efforts at the Mission Garden. That’s why local food fanatics should head to the garden on Saturday, May 14 for the 2016 Dia de San Ysidro festival.

The event, which aims to celebrate traditional farming in Tucson by highlighting Old World and indigenous food traditions, will include a procession from Tucson Origins Heritage Park to the garden, performances from Mariachi Milagro and the Desert Indian Dancers from San Xavier, a Native American Four Directions Blessing, a presentation on water saints and acequias by M. Brescia (PhD) and a Pozole de Trigo tasting. Attendees can also take part in a community wheat harvest where you can thresh and winnow alongside members of Presidio San Agustin.

The celebration has roots in Arizona history, and the organization shows it off with an 120-year-old excerpt from the Arizona Weekly Citizen from May 19, 1894:

“All honor was shown today to San Ysidro Labrador…San Ysidro is the rural saint, the patron of the fields and crops. The image was carried today about the fields below town, with a gay procession following…At every house refreshments are on hand, and are served. A feature is usually an olla of teswin, a light wine made of corn. No other intoxicants are permitted…The first of the crop of each field was promised to the patron saint. The Chinese gardeners have come to have due regard for this annual festival, and were among the heavy contributors, some of them giving money.”

The cultural festival begins at 9 a.m. and is open to the public. While the event is free, a $5 donation is requested per person. For more information, visit the Friends of Tucson's Birthplace website.

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Friday, April 1, 2016

Posted By on Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 1:30 PM

Spring truly sprung on the UA campus this week. As any slightly allergic nose can sense, the season of rebirth has come to the desert.

On a weekend urban hike, I encountered these beautiful blooming roses by a bike path south of Old Main near the Forbes building. They were truly spectacular so I just had to document them. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Happy spring!


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Monday, March 28, 2016

Posted By on Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 11:00 AM


Intriguingly floral and bright, once you taste your first cholla bud, you'll be hooked. This native treat has been harvested in the area for millennia, and you can join in on the very Sonoran practice of cholla bud harvesting by learning from a master.

This year, cholla bud season came early, and ethnobotanist Martha Ames Burgess will be leading a class at the Mission Garden (929 Mission Lane) to show just how cholla buds were traditionally harvested and utilized in cuisine. Having learned from Tohono O’odham Elders, Ames Burgess is passing on what she knows, not only about carefully harvesting the thorny cactus flower bud, but also the ecology, taxonomy, nutrition, archaeology and traditional cultural ways to prepare and store them. The class will feature hands-on harvesting, as well as cooking in both traditional and modern methods.

The cholla bud harvesting workshop, which is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of Tucson's Birthplace, takes place on Saturday, April 2, beginning at 8 a.m. Attendees are asked to wear a hat, long pants, closed toe shoes and your own filled water bottle. Tools will be supplied and those that join the class will get to take home their own modest stockpile of cholla buds. The class is $50, which includes instruction, informational guides, recipes and tools. Registration is required in advance and can be done so by calling 777-9270 or visiting the Friends of Tucson's Birthplace website

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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Posted By on Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 4:45 PM

click to enlarge Tour Local Farms in Support of Mission Garden on March 5
Heather Hoch
The lush Mission Garden will be the finale of this urban farm tour.

Spend your Saturday learning more about urban farming through a special, self-driven tour event presented by the nonprofit Feeding Tucson. On March 5 from 8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., the tour will take participants to a variety of small farming operations to showcase hydroponic, aquaponic, community-ran and other kinds of edible gardens.

The tour will end at the Mission Garden for a locally sourced lunch and discussion local food production. Maps, lunch and a donation to the Mission Garden is included in the $25 fee.

More information regarding the specific sites included in the tour will be given upon registration, which can be done on the Feeding Tucson website.

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Thursday, February 18, 2016

Posted By on Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 2:30 PM


Stories in the Garden is back to celebrate Tucson’s recent UNESCO designation as a Creative City of gastronomy. In light of that, you can join like-minded local food folks at UA Community Garden (1400 E. Mable St.) for an evening of poems and stories all about food culture.

The event will feature both a potluck (bring something to share) and a open mic-style exchange of food-centric performances. If you wish to contribute with one of your written works, plan to come to the event, which begins at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21, a bit early to sign up. 

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Posted By on Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 10:30 AM


Learn the ancient art of seed saving from the folks in town who do it best when Native Seeds/SEARCH offers up a workshop on the basics of seed saving. Focusing on beginning techniques to show how to preserve seedlines from your own garden, this free event is a great place to start learning about how to make your little home farms more sustainable season after season.

You can join in by going to the Martha Cooper Branch Library (1377 N. Catalina Ave.) on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 10 a.m.

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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Posted By on Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 3:08 PM

Yesterday I wrote about the tax credit donations you can give to public schools. Here are two more tax credits, each for $200—$400 for a couple. You can take all three credits and get it all back—100 percent of it—so long as you owe at least as much in state income taxes as you give. These two contributions have to be completed by this Thursday, Dec. 31. Most organizations let you pay by credit card online, so you can take care of business in a few minutes, in the time it takes to enter your information. (If you're wondering, you don't have to itemize your deductions to use the tax credits.)

One of the tax credit donations can be made to what used to be called charitable organizations that help the working poor, but now it seems they're simply being called charitable organizations. The other is for foster care charitable organizations. How do you know which organizations qualify? The Arizona Department of Revenue lists them in a List of Qualifying Charitable Organizations and a List of Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organizations. You can give $200—$400 for a couple—to each category. Some organizations fit both categories—they're highlighted in blue on the Charitable Organizations list — and if you want, you can use both tax credits for one of those organizations. 

Repeat: Both of these have Dec. 31 deadlines. That's this Thursday! If your state income tax comes to $600 or more—$1200 for a couple—you can give the maximum amount to all three, the public school and the two charitable organization tax credits. Otherwise, you have to do some picking and choosing.

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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Posted By on Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 9:00 AM


For those thinking about bringing a couple chicks into the fold at home, you can spend the weekend learning about the best ways to build up your own coop with the Food Conspiracy Co-op’s chicken coop tour. If you're looking to get tips on the best way to bring up your brood or just interested in chatting with some fellow fowl enthusiasts, the tour is a good way to kill two birds with one stone... Wait.

Although past iterations of the event specifically highlighted household chicken keeping, this year’s event has grown to include the “farm scale” operation at ReZoNation Farms in Avra Valley—the very farm that supplies the co-op with some of the eggs that they sell. Stops for the eighth year's event also include Las Milpitas Farm at the Community Food Bank, an herbal hen mix maker called Holistic Hen and more. The co-op itself is on the tour this year, providing information on their farmer loan program, local egg samples and some helpful chicken raising ideas. The tour is self-guided.

The chicken coop tour kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 and runs until about 3 p.m. that day. Tickets for the tour are $5 and available now at Food Conspiracy Co-op (412 N. Fourth Ave.). Tickets, along with more information, are also available on the co-op's website. Discounts on chicks and laying pellets at three local stores are included in the ticket price.

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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Posted By on Thu, Aug 13, 2015 at 3:00 PM

Tucson might be expanding and changing every day, but over at Mission Gardens they're dedicated to keeping the city's heritage alive through their work in maintaining heritage plantlife and native seeds. On Sunday, August 23, you can celebrate the garden's growth and Tucson's 240th birthday all in one go while donating to the Mission Gardens cause with a special breakfast service. 

The event will feature tours of the garden and a silent auction sale of native trees, plants and seeds. Breakfast will be served at the newly re-opened Sosa Carrillo Fremont House (151 S. Granada Ave.) with a shuttle running from the breakfast to the garden grounds at 929 W. Mission Lane so attendees can see just what the garden has accomplished. The Mission Gardens, which are run by volunteers in conjunction with the nonprofit Friends of Tucson's Birthplace, will be honoring Gail Castañeda for her work in safeguarding the garden.

The morning menu will offer huevos con nopalitos or chorizo, papas en chile, frijoles, calabacitas, Sonoran white wheat tortillas, Pico de Gallo fruit cups, horchata and limonada. You can chose to dine from 7 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. or 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. The event is $45 at the door or $40 with advance reservations. Children 5 to 10 are $15 and kids under 5 eat free. You can RSVP for the event by calling 777-9270.

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Friday, February 20, 2015

Posted By on Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 12:30 PM


Your backyard might be home to a fig, pomegranate or quince tree and chances are you have no idea what to do with it. You know the fruit on the tree is edible, but when it comes to growing, pruning and grafting these trees, well, you might need some help.

Get a professional look at the world of heirloom fruit trees when Jesús García chats about his work with the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project all while showing workshoppers tips on the propagation and maintenance of these unique trees. 

On Thursday, Feb, 26 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., García will kick off the class at the Sonoran Desert Museum, located at 2021 North Kinney Road, where he will discuss the historical significance of these trees. After some hands-on care instruction, he will end the class at the base of A Mountain with a guided tour of the Mission Garden, which was central to the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project.

Registration for the Heirloom Fruit Trees workshop is $54 for members and $59 for non-members and is available online, along with more information, on the Sonoran Desert Museum website.

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