Friends of Tucson's Birthplace
ABOUT Friends of Tucson's Birthplace
Mission Garden, managed by Friends of Tucson's Birthplace (FOTB), is a living garden of heritage fruit trees, heirloom crops, and edible native plants. FOTB is a non-profit educational organization without religious affiliations. Our primary mission is to revive the region’s rich agricultural heritage by growing plots representing more than 4000 years of continuous cultivation in Tucson.
MISSION GARDEN
Mission Garden is a beautiful, vibrant, lively garden and orchard in the heart of Tucson's birthplace at the foot of Sentinel Peak (also known as 'A Mountain').
Upcoming Classes
Tai Chi in the Garden
(classes start June 6) Saturdays 8 – 9 a.m.
Class is free, with suggested $5 donation at the garden gate Scott Risano from Wind River Tai Chi Chuan gives classes in the garden every Saturday. Beginners welcomed. Class is held in a shady part of the garden practicing physical distancing between students.
Mission Garden Bird Walk
June 11, 7 – 8:30 a.m.
Join Mission Garden Outreach Coordinator and birder Kendall Kroesen to see birds that have inhabited gardens on the historic floodplain of the Santa Cruz River for millennia. Great for beginning and intermediate birders. Limited to 10 birders currently. Sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0548aaa623aaf85-mission4
Explore our many educational resources at https://www.missiongarden.org/mission-garden-educational-resources/
VISIT US
Mission Garden is Open to Public
April – September
Wednesday – Saturdays
8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
(October – March, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
Location
946 W. Mission Lane
Tucson, AZ 85745
FRIENDS OF TUCSON'S BIRTHPLACE
ABOUT FRIENDS OF TUCSON'S BIRTHPLACE
Mission Garden, managed by Friends of Tucson's Birthplace (FOTB), is a living garden of heritage fruit trees, heirloom crops, and edible native plants. FOTB is a non-profit educational organization without religious affiliations. Our primary mission is to revive the region’s rich agricultural heritage by growing plots representing more than 4000 years of continuous cultivation in Tucson.
Mission Garden is incredibly beautiful all year long. The wildflowers that bloom in the garden are a special treat.
Gardens
Vegetable and herb gardening is possible year round at Mission Garden. A truly astounding variety of crops can be grown here in the low desert. These include those developed by Native Americans like corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, sunflowers and chilis as well as many brought from the Old World such as lettuce, cilantro, chard, collards, okra, sugarcane, wheat, turnips (photo) and many more.
While the vegetable produce of a garden nourishes those who tend it, there are many other “mouths” reaping the nutritious benefits.
When you add organic matter such as compost, manures, decomposing plant debris, and leaf litter, it is said that you are “feeding the soil”. The soil is composed of sand, silt, and clay (in various ratios, plus the organic component), but arguably the most important part of the soil is the microbiology: the millions of living, breathing bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are hungry! They consume organic matter, break it down by digestion, and excrete it as nutrients for the next generation of plants.
Earthworms are a great example of the process of decomposition since they are easy to see with the naked eye. They devour plant and animal matter, turning it into castings known as “black garden gold” for the soil. Worms and microbes depend upon the gardener to find a continuous supply of healthy food in the soil, so avoid using chemical fertilizers and harmful pesticides/herbicides that interrupt the delicate balance. While tending the crops in a garden is important, caring for the soil is critical.
*Most desert soils have almost no organic matter, thus it is important to amend native soil with organic compost and other amendments, and to cover the soil around plants with mulch, such as the straw seen here between the lettuce plant.
Native Edibles
There are over 500 edible and useful native plants in the wider Sonoran Desert. Some of them are very abundant around Tucson and can provide substantial amounts of food. Native peoples such as the Tohono O’Odham and Akimel O’Odham depended much on native plants for their tribe’s subsistence. This reliance on the desert for nourishment built a strong relationship between the people and the land.
Some of the most abundant among them are pods of desert trees such as palo verdes, mesquites and ironwoods (photo). Fruits of most cacti are edible, such as the barrel cactus fruits pictured here. Some plants have berries that are edible, such as desert hackberry and wolfberry. Some wild foods were so heavily utilized that they have become cultivated varieties: tepary beans, devil’s claw, prickly pear, agave, and panicgrass are examples.
Visit Mission Garden and see how all kinds of trees, fruits, vegetables, grains, and wild edibles can all live side-by-side in a four acre garden.
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