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Mar-Apr, 2024
Volume 5, Issue 2
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Working to improve lives, communities, the environment, and economies throughout Pima County. | | |
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Events to Help You Learn About Sustainable Landscapes and Gardening
Sustainable gardening and landscaping has emerged as a crucial conservation practice for desert-dwelling individuals and communities. This Spring, Pima County Cooperative Extension is hosting the Sustainable Landscape Expo on March 16, followed by the Master Gardener Home Garden Tour on April 6. Sustainable landscaping goes beyond merely growing plants to include holistic approaches that minimize harm to the environment, conserve resources, and promote biodiversity. Here in Pima County, the Smartscape and Master Gardener programs are educating people on these and other desert-adapted horticultural practices. Techniques such as drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and mulching help minimize water use while maintaining healthy plant growth. Selecting drought-resistant plants native to the Southwest further reduces water consumption and supports local wildlife. You can learn about these practices and more at the free, family-friendly Sustainable Landscape Expo on Saturday March 16, 10 am – 2 pm at the Pima Extension offices, 4210 N. Cambell Ave., Tucson. The event is co-hosted by Tucson Water, sponsored by Civano Growers and Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply, and will include nearly 40 local organizations as Exhibitors. Later this Spring, the Pima Extension Master Gardener program will continue Extension’s sustainable gardening education with its renowned Home Garden Tour, to be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm. Master Gardeners will show you how your gardening can work with nature to nurture healthy soils, conserve water, and support local ecosystems, encourage food resilience, and include plants that attract beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife. This is the 23rd Annual Home Garden Tour, where Master Gardeners proudly showcasing their own beautiful and diverse gardens for inspiration and education. This year the five home gardens are located in the Catalina Foothills and Central Tucson, and our Pima Extension demonstration gardens will also be open and will feature special exhibits from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson Audubon Society, and the Southern Arizona Beekeepers Association. In the meantime, if you have particular gardening questions, please check out our online plant clinic, or stop by in person Monday and Thursday from 10 am – 2pm to speak with a Master Gardener. To learn more about desert landscaping, please sign up for a Smartscape residential class or our free Professional Landscaper classes.
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Director's Note
Cooperative Extension Seeks Your Input
Listening Session: April 10
I am excited to share that UArizona Cooperative Extension (UACE) will be holding six in-person Listening Sessions across the State to gather thoughts and feedback on key aspects of Cooperative Extension and our impacts within local communities. The first public forum will be held right here in Pima County on Tuesday, April 10, 5:30 - 7:30 pm with dinner provided. Additional listening sessions will be held in Yuma, Maricopa County, Safford, the Verde Valley, and Holbrook. These facilitated sessions will offer opportunities to share your thoughts and to hear the perspectives of others in attendance. We are particularly interested in hearing your thoughts on our current offerings, challenges, opportunities, and aspirations for the future. As part of the meeting, the UA team will combine and synthesize responses, so that you can immediately learn how your ideas compare and combine with those of your fellow participants. I hope you will Register for the Pima County Listening Session, to be held in Vail, Arizona, at the UA Tech Park (Building 9030, 9070 S. Rita Road), or any of the other sessions if they are convenient for you. To learn more about the overall scope of our strategic positioning process, please visit the UACE Strategic Positioning Website. Your input will be instrumental in informing our future and ensuring that our efforts align with the needs and expectations of our statewide community members. Fostering this collaboration is an important step toward fulfilling our mission of supporting agriculture, youth development, and community education in Arizona.
Claire L. Zucker
Director, Pima County Cooperative Extension
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4-H Projects Are On The Rise
Pima County 4-H projects grew quickly during the 2023-24 season. When youth join 4-H, they become a member of a club and then they choose a project for the year, generally raising an animal to show at the Pima County Fair. This year, we were excited to see a rise in project numbers across all project areas. Our members have been diving into small stock projects causing the pigeon project to double in size from 13 members last year to 26 members this year, while the pygmy goat project went from 13 kids to 23 kids during this 4-H year. As for large stock, our project numbers have increased across the board. Last year, we had 56 beef project entries and this year we have 83, with many of the entries held by novice showmen, making this their first year showing beef cattle. In our market lamb and goat projects, we saw significant increases with numbers increasing from 77 lamb and goat projects last year to 100 entries between the two projects this year. How did this happen? Our 4-H youth are expanding and growing, finding new spark with new projects and many of our members have taken on multiple projects, some showing several projects in both small and large stock categories. We are delighted and super lucky to have so many awesome kids and projects in Pima County! We hope you will come to see the kids in action and witness all their hard work at the Pima County Fair April 18th-28th. We would love to have you join us!
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Garden Discovery Days Comes To Ajo, Arizona
The Family Engagement Program at UA Pima County Cooperative Extension is delivering a special class for families with children aged 0-5 in Ajo, Arizona! At the request of First Things First Pima South Regional Director Jaymie Jacobs, master gardener and parent educator Cassie Burruel got to work creating a garden-learning adventure for families in Ajo. The result was an expanded 12-session Garden Discovery Days and literacy program for our friends at the Ajo-Salazar library. This class is being hosted by the library on the third Friday of every month through June. Interested families can register for the Ajo workshops on an ongoing basis. February’s class was dedicated to SQUASH! The kids listened to and participated in stories about squash, colored squash pictures, and tasted different squash. They learned how to plant squash seeds in pots, care for seeds, and later transplant starter plants at home. Around the corner, in the children’s section of the library, they pulled books on gardening topics and played games. Parents learned concepts from the Partners in Parenting Education (PIPE) class on exploring learning through play. While Ajo’s remote location presented some challenges, it also gave exponential rewards. Bringing a remote part of Pima County even closer, this project is funded by First Things First via a grant from the Connie Hillman Foundation.
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Military Teen River-Rafting Camps Are Coming this Summer
The Pima County 4-H Youth Development Program is holding three river-rafting Military Teen Adventure Camps (MTAC) this summer. The 4-H team wrote and received a grant to support camps for young people who have current or retired parents/caregivers who are serving or have served, in any branch of the armed services. If you know of a youth who seeks adventure, camaraderie, and personal growth, these camps are for them! With the support of Purdue University, Arizona 4-H will offer three river-rafting Military Teen Adventure Camps this summer; May 29th-June 2nd on the Colorado River, June 2nd-6th on the Lower San Juan River, and June 24th-July 2nd on the full San Juan River. All camping, rafting gear, and transportation are provided. Our camps offer an unparalleled opportunity for military youth to explore some of the most breathtaking natural wonders in the world. Whether you're a seasoned outdoor enthusiast or new to wilderness exploration, there's something for everyone. Space is limited, so don't miss your chance to be part of these incredible experiences. Visit the Tucson Village Farm Camp Webpage to learn about these and other summer camps and to reserve your spot to embark on the journey of a lifetime with Arizona 4-H and Grand Canyon Youth!
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The Garden Kitchen Creates Community Partnerships
As part of the Pima Extension The Garden Kitchen's programming, we prioritize connecting partner organizations so that they can work together. This can take a variety of forms including helping partner organizations lend support to each other during events, expand outreach capabilities, or learn programmatic ideas from one another. Recently, we were able to connect two early childhood centers, Ili Uusim Mahatawapo which has a trauma-aware, culturally focused garden, and Los Ninos Head Start center which is interested in creating such a space. The children and families from Los Ninos were able to take a field trip to Ili Uusim Mahatawapo to experience the garden (see photo), and the staff were able to see the garden space to understand how it was created. Another example is that The Garden Kitchen recently connected one of our Barrio Veijo Senior Living participants to achieve her goal of sharing her heritage recipes with the Department of Mexican American Studies. Through our connection with Santa Rosa Head Start and Santa Rosa Library, they now partner to create nutritional experiences for children from the produce grown in their gardens. Serving as a bridge between partners helps people and organizations share a wealth of experiences and knowledge, improving community connections and outcomes.
Photo: Ili Uusim Mahatawapo garden
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Eating Healthy This Spring
When our Pima County EFNEP team (the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program) meets community members looking for help improving their daily eating routine, we often remind them that one of the easiest ways is to include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. We encourage people to add color to their daily eating routine and there are plenty of colorful and crunchy fresh veggies in season right now. Putting purple, red, orange, yellow, and green veggies in the shopping cart will help you pull together a colorful salad at home, and finally drizzle it with one of our favorite salad dressings, a simple Lemon (or Lime) Vinaigrette.
Lemon Salad Dressing
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (approximately 2 lemons)
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
In a clean jar that has a lid (such as a mason jar) put lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and honey. Make sure the lid is tight and then shake ingredients until combined, adding salt and pepper to taste. We like to add strained garbanzo beans to ours in class and it tastes delicious! Pour over your large colorful salad and share with your beautiful family. You can find more tasty and healthy recipes on the EFNEP Website!
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Cooperative Extension Asks Small- Scale Farmers About Their Needs
If you are an urban or small-scale producer, under 50-acres in size, and/or under $250,000 in revenue, the Cooperative Extension Urban Ag Program needs your help! The Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale, and Beginner Farmer Program
serves urban and small-scale farmers statewide. Based out of the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Office in Phoenix, Arizona, the program includes applied research, education, and outreach to support and assist urban and small agricultural production. Cooperative Extension wants to know what Arizona urban, small-scale, and beginning farmers/ ranchers need to improve their sustainability - both environmental sustainability (soil health, water use, fertilizer use etc.) and on the business side (land access, record keeping, accessing funding through USDA FSA and NRCS, etc.) Just take this short Small-Scale Urban Farmer Survey and your input will be used to build better programing including educational workshops, courses, applied research, and resources to support urban, small-scale and beginning farmers. To learn more about the Urban Agriculture and small-farm program, you can visit us on Instagram @urbanandsmallagproduction , through the monthly newsletter and on Eventbrite.
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Welcome Stephen
We are excited to welcome Stephen Spikes to lead the Smartscape team at Pima Extension. Stephen comes to us from Tohono Chul Park, where he spent 6-years leading the volunteer and docent programs. With a master’s degree in museum studies from John Hopkin’s University, Stephen is excited to bring his interpretation and educational skills to the Smartscape program as he and the team promote sound landscaping and water conservation for our region. An avid naturalist from a young age, Stephen enjoys recognizing the ecological similarities between his paternal roots in southern Arizona and maternal roots in southern France. In his spare time, you may find Stephen petting his cat Baby C or folding origami cactus – which he says are easier to care for and less likely to poke you. Welcome Stephen!
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Welcome Leti
We are excited to welcome Letti Haro Astorga as the Office Specialist for 4-H Tucson Village Farm at Pima Extension. Letti is a proud alumna of the University of Arizona's Class of 2020 (Communication and Sociology), and is currently pursuing her MBA (Class of 2025), further expanding her skill set. Letti joined Tucson Village Farm in January 2024, and with her background in efficient office operations, Letti plays a vital role in assisting the TVF team. Beyond the office, Letti is deeply family-oriented, cherishing time with both human and animal companions. A newcomer to the violin (an instrument she wanted to learn since elementary but opted to play the alto sax instead) and a passionate cosplayer, Letti enjoys immersing herself in creative pursuits outside of work. While you might not catch her performing in orchestra shows (yet), you will likely find her displaying her outfits at conventions. Welcome Letti!
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UArizona Pima County Cooperative Extension
Programs and Upcoming Events
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Agriculture and Natural Resources
Residents and growers have ready access to research-based horticultural information at PCCE. Get gardening answers from our Master Gardener experts and learn about water conservation, xeriscape, irrigation, and more through our Smartscape courses.
Master Gardener | Smartscape | Invasives Species Program
Family and Consumer Health Sciences
PCCE health education helps people improve their nutrition, family dynamics, and lives. Parents and caregivers gain tools to enrich children’s lives through the Family Engagement Program. Find nutritional and life-skills education through the SNAP-Ed/Garden Kitchen and EFNEP programs.
Family Engagement Program | SNAP-ED & The Garden Kitchen |
Expanded Food and Nutritional Education Program (EFNEP)
4-H Youth Development
Youth build lifelong skills and have great fun through Cooperative Extension 4-H. Become involved in one of our many clubs or projects, capped by participation at the County Fair. Enjoy seed-to-table programming at Tucson Village Farm, a working urban farm built by and for the youth of our community.
4-H Clubs | Tucson Village Farm | High Ropes Course |
Ranch Education | Juntos Program
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Pima County Cooperative Extension
Website | 2022 Annual Report
Main Office: 4210 N Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719-1109
Green Valley Location: 530 E Whitehouse Canyon Rd
South Tucson, The Garden Kitchen: 2205 S 4th Avenue
Email: pcce@arizona.edu
Our Main Office on Campbell is open M-F 8:30 - 4:30
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SUBSCRIBE to the PCCE e-newsletter, The Round-Up
All PCCE program subscribers also receive our bi-monthly Round-Up. To be removed from the Round-Up e-list, choose the "Update Profile" link below. Do not choose the "Unsubscribe" link unless you wish to be removed from all PCCE program correspondence
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