Santa Cruz Valley Farm and Garden Tour

Sunday September 25, 2011 9am – 6pm

Nine farms and gardens in the Santa Cruz Valley will open their fields to the public for free farm tours.  The tours seek to educate people about the benefits of locally grown foods and inspire people to grow some of their own. At each of the farms and gardens, the public will be able to see what various seasonal crops are growing, such as tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers.

 

A farm tour map is available online at http://www.somoslasemilla.org. The tours are self-guided, making them convenient for everyone from families with children to senior citizens. People may select their own route and visit as many farms as they choose.

The participating farms are diverse and include: Avalon Gardens in Tumacácori, Forever Yong Farm and Walking J Farms in Amado, Arivaca Community Garden in Arivaca, and this year includes a Patagonia loop with Deep Dirt Farm Institute, Native Seeds/SEARCH Conservation Farm, Gary Nabhan’s Almuña de los Zopilotes experimental farm, Patagonia Community Garden and Chivas Mias goat farm for goat lovers.

The farm tour is sponsored by a network of farmers, educators, health clinics and advocates called Somos La Semilla “We are the Seed” in collaboration with Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Mariposa Community Health Center, Nogales Community Development and Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance.

For more information about the Santa Cruz Valley Organic Farm and Garden Tour visit www.somoslasemilla.org or www.santacruzheritage.orgor call Kelly Watters at (520) 904-8102.

Driving Directions

Santa Cruz Valley Farm & Garden Tour

Santa Cruz Valley Farm & Garden Tour, September 12, 2010

On Sunday September 12 from 9am to 6pm, seven farms and gardens in the Santa Cruz Valley will open their fields to the public for free farm tours.  The tours seek to educate people about the benefits of locally grown foods and inspire people to grow some of their own. At each of the farms and gardens, the public will be able to see what various seasonal crops are growing, such as tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers.

The participating farms are diverse and include: Avalon Gardens in Tumacácori, Forever Yong Farm in Amado, Arivaca Community Garden in Arivaca, University of Arizona Extension Service Vegetable Garden in Green Valley, Continental Elementary School Garden, and Green Valley Pecan Co. in Sahuarita.

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Download map of stops

Driving Directions

U.S. Farmers Cope With Round Up-Resistant Weeds

DYERSBURG, Tenn. — For 15 years, Eddie Anderson, a farmer, has been a strict adherent of no-till agriculture, an environmentally friendly technique that all but eliminates plowing to curb erosion and the harmful runoff of fertilizers and pesticides.

But not this year.

On a recent afternoon here, Mr. Anderson watched as tractors crisscrossed a rolling field — plowing and mixing herbicides into the soil to kill weeds where soybeans will soon be planted.  Read on

The Great Grocery Smackdown

BUY MY FOOD at Walmart? No thanks. Until recently, I had been to exactly one Walmart in my life, at the insistence of a friend I was visiting in Natchez, Mississippi, about 10 years ago. It was one of the sights, she said. Up and down the aisles we went, properly impressed by the endless rows and endless abundance. Not the produce section. I saw rows of prepackaged, plastic-trapped fruits and vegetables. I would never think of shopping there.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/03/the-great-grocery-smackdown/7904/

SOMOS LA SEMILLA – WE ARE THE SEED

from the Connection, March 1, 2010 by Tarenta Baldeschi (Change Agent)

I recently attended a two day workshop held at a ranch in the Dragoon mountains on “Healthy Food, Healthy Future” which was sponsored by “Why Hunger?” (www.whyhunger.org), Community Food Bank of Tucson, and the Mariposa Health Clinic. All 60 or more of us gardeners, farmers, health care providers, teachers, and activists were clear of the need to encourage more people to grow food and support those who do. We came up with great action-oriented ideas from expanding school curriculums to include how to garden (from seed to seed) ; starting community gardens; making land available for those who don’t have any; having open farm/community garden days for people to tour and learn how to do it themselves; organizing interchanges of information, skills, and resources; providing responsible consumption education; increasing cross-border cooperation; improving school lunch programs; and many other inspiring plans Read more

On the Road with WHY: Arizona (Day Three)

By Candice Comisi & Alison Cohen

¡Somos La Semilla! We are the seed! We are the seed! This metaphor, characterizing the grassroots efforts throughout Southeastern Arizona, became the call to action at the closure of the Healthy Food, Healthy Future conference.

Finding common ground through a shared vision of the future for food and health in southeast Arizona, the more than 65 participants described a region where cross-border cooperation is the norm, policies that promote respect and dignity for all living things are in place, and access to nutrition education and fresh food are universal.   Read more…

On the Road with WHY: Arizona (Day Two)

By Candice Comisi

It’s been an action-packed first day here at the Healthy Food, Healthy Future conference in Dragoon, AZ. Nearly 60 participants from southeast Arizona convened to discuss the future of a healthy, working local food system. Simultaneous English-Spanish translation was available throughout the day for native Spanish speakers.

Participants began the day by creating a shared timeline from the pre-1500s to the present day of their personal histories, regional milestones, and world events. Personal stories of participants’ families losing their land dovetailed with global food system change. Memories of families harvesting, cooking and eating together were in stark contrast to the regional public health clinics today overwhelmed with diet-related disease, and participants began to get a collective understanding of events that have shaped their world.   Read on…

On the Road with WHY: Arizona

By Candice Comisi

It’s so nice to be back in sunny Arizona. The weather is warm, the people are friendly, and the food is good … if you can find it. Yesterday, we drove more than 60 miles southeast from Tucson to our destination: The Triangle T Ranch. Set in the magnificent Dragoon Mountains, The Triangle T Ranch is the real deal: it has horseback riding, a saloon, and even boasts having been the site of several John Wayne films.  Read More…

American Obesity Rates Have Hit Plateau, C.D.C. Data Suggest

“Right now we’ve halted the progress of the obesity epidemic,” said Dr. William H. Dietz, director of the division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity at the disease control centers. “The data are really promising.

“That said, I don’t think we have in place the kind of policy or environmental changes needed to reverse this epidemic just yet.”

via American Obesity Rates Have Hit Plateau, C.D.C. Data Suggest – NYTimes.com.

In San Jose’s Latino Gardens, Vegetables, Health and Savings Flourish

“People don’t eat vegetables unless they are close by, to be honest with you,” Mrs. Alarcon, a mother of three who grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, said of the human tendency to eat whatever is at hand, especially if it is cheap. “If you have vegetables,” she said, pointing to luxuriant tangles of peas and other delights, “then you can come get them. To see them growing is a blessing.”

via San Jose Journal – In San Jose’s Latino Gardens, Vegetables, Health and Savings Flourish – NYTimes.com.