Did you feel it? We’ve just turned the corner into summer at Mission Garden! In addition to the temperature gauge tipping over the 100 degree mark, we know it’s certainly summertime when the first cicada reveals its location with a loud “tziiiii!”, just as it did on Saturday, May 14th. The dozen fluffy quail babies can now flutter just enough to reach the top of the garden wall, following mom and dad. Hollyhocks are trumpeting pink, white and red music throughout the garden to visitors’ delight. These particularly beloved flowers seem to conjure personal memories of grandmothers, mothers and aunts, and these stories are often shared by visitors who can’t help but smile as they recall fond memories while gazing into these towering blossoms. That’s a magical part of Mission Garden, isn’t it? Sparking memories by way of the traditional and heirloom plants that have long been treasured by so many generations across diverse cultures.

The Timeline Gardens of Mission Garden represent the multicolored fabric of people and cultures throughout history, celebrating and describing their similarities and differences through the language of plants and gardens. Gardens are ever-evolving, and our gardeners have been energized and invigorated while turning new soil and sowing new seeds–literally and metaphorically. In the Pre-Contact O’odham Garden, Tohono O’odham 60-day corn seeds are just breaking through the surface of freshly formed beds, shaped with care and reverence for those who have farmed here for millenia. Through the collaboration and significant teamwork between Mission Garden and Ajo CSA as part of the “O’odham Ag Days” series, the garden staff, interns and volunteers worked together to realize their vision. The redesign turned what was formerly a row-crop system into deep basins that stem from the acequia canal, which now more accurately demonstrates the methods used by this area’s earliest farmers, the O’odham and their Hohokam ancestors. What a sight it will soon be: beds brimming with exuberant corn, broad leafed Ha:l squash, resilient teparies, and yellow O’odham melon, sure to quench our thirst on a summer afternoon. I admire the work of Assistant Gardener and Cultural Outreach Coordinator Maegan Lopez who took the lead on this project, and I know that she looks forward to welcoming you and all visitors at the upcoming “O’odham Ag Days” held the third Saturday of each month.

I think it is in the ground under our feet. It’s in the soil of the historic floodplain–under roads, under houses, in vacant lots. It’s the fertility of that soil, which fed uncounted generations during the longest period of continuous cultivation in the US known to archaeologists. It’s in the archaeological sites that dot the floodplain–from the Clearwater site under the Tucson Origins Heritage Park site to the many others that line the floodplain and its tributaries.

Finally, the agriculture reawoken at Mission Garden–compared to what’s on the Santa Cruz River’s historic floodplain today–represents a staggering loss. We had plentiful surface waters irrigating pretty astounding amounts of healthy and tasty fruits, vegetables and grains. Now we have roads and houses and business over Tucson’s most historic areas and most fertile soils. Our storied and abundant past is no longer present because of poor stewardship of water and other resources. So, those of us who value the garden also should be on the forefront of conserving resources, mitigating climate change, and operating our lives sustainably. We’ve seen what can be lost!

We are an agricultural heritage museum, so creating an environment for learning and sharing knowledge about our local ethnobotanical history is foremost in our hearts and minds. At the same time, taking care of the land is an even greater responsibility.

Every time we reap a gorgeous crop, I always say to our surprised volunteers, “People have been cultivating this land for over 4,000 years for a reason.” It is exceptionally fertile floodplain soil, among the last few arable plots of land on this stretch of the Santa Cruz River Valley that has still not succumbed to urban sprawl. It is better than gold. It is sacred: soil that has given sustenance to countless generations, that can continue to do so into the future. Soil that we can hold in our hands and in which we sow seeds, that was also touched and farmed by women, children, and men long ago. Soil that not only gives us fruits, but also connects us to our past, to our heritage.

Respect for the land is utmost in everything we do, from employing farming methods that increase soil health, reducing inputs and keeping waste to a minimum, protecting wildlife and habitat, and growing a diverse array of heirloom crops as well as native perennial food-bearing and medicinal plants.

For the recipe below, I went seeking the guidance and expertise of someone who has made it all her life. I called upon our friend Armida Elena Contreras de Maldonado, from the town of La Estancia on the Rio Sonora. Of course there are many fabulous cooks from that region, but in my small world she has no equal. She is especially known for her cakes, which are served at birthdays, quinceaneras, and weddings up and down the Rio Sonora Valley.

This recipe for posole de trigo comes from her cookbook. Of course, the way this stew is prepared varies according to the maker, the town, and the available ingredients. Feel free to experiment and modify this wonderful dish to your own liking.

Dena Cowan

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