Trained docents meet most visitors who come through the main gate. They review with the visitors a map of the grounds, pointing out historical timelines and thematic areas, as well as noting current and future events. Visitors can explore the grounds on their own or have docent-guided tours. Thematic areas are described immediately below.
Entry garden A number of native plants grace the path from Mission Garden’s visitor parking area to the mesquite plank gates of the main entrance. These plants include trees that will eventually shade the path. Among them are
desert hackberry, canyon hackberry,
Arizona ash, and mesquites. Other plants growing along the entrance path include
ocotillo,
brittlebush,
bamboo muhly, and Fremont wolfberry. East of the path are hillside terraces showing a technique used by ancient Hohokam farmers to grow
agave for food and fiber. Each plant is set above a pile of rocks that slows down run-off when it rains. These small retaining walls are called
trincheras. Video by Justin Risley shows such planting during one of Mission Garden's educational events in 2021.
Bat Conservation International and the
Borderlands Restoration Network collaborated in this agave-planting event to support migrating nectar feeders such as bats. Because Mission Garden is next to a former landfill, trash was exposed when the soil cap began to erode. Mission Garden considered stopping the erosion by planting trees or shrubs, but that was not an option because of the trash. So, rocks were piled where rivulets were forming by the main entrance, and extra soil was brought in for planting agaves. These
trincheras outside the east wall of Mission Garden thus represent a restoration of degraded land that avoided potentially hazardous contact with the old landfill, countered erosion along the entrance path, and improved the path with plantings that show this ancient technique for harvesting water in a place where rain is rare.
Spanish Colonial garden and orchard Mission Garden's main entrance opens onto an orchard whose first trees were planted in 2012. Ethnobotanist
Jesús Manuel García-Yánez collected these trees in collaboration with the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project. As of 2023, the orchard grew close to 200 heirloom
figs,
grapefruit, limes, oranges,
quince,
pomegranates,
olives, and stone fruit such as
peaches and
apricots. Many of these trees were propagated from older trees found in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. For example, the Sosa Carrillo cultivar of the
Black Mission Fig came from a centenarian tree at the
house where
Leopoldo Carrillo and his family lived in downtown Tucson. Photographs from the 1930s show that tree, and the family's descendants believe that it grew from a cutting from the San Agustin Mission’s orchard. The Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project establishes the legacy of trees like that cultivar through such interviews, as well as by reference to accounts written 150–300 years ago, such as records for missions and mining towns. Mission Garden grows several cultivars of the Mission grape that come from arid regions. For example, the original stock for Mission Garden's Niagara grape came from
Capitol Reef National Park’s Fruita Rural Historic District. The other notable variety here is the
Canyon grape, which is edible even though it is small and seedy. Grapes are planted to show three forms of
vine training: arbors,
espaliered, and goblet (also called
head training or
bush training). on fence The Spanish Colonial garden also features vegetables and medicinal or culinary herbs. They are planted as they would have been inside older Spanish orchards so that they benefit from the foliage and soil of surrounding trees. Mission Garden’s choices here are influenced by letters that Jesuit missionary
Phillip Segesser wrote home in the 1750s. His letters asked for seeds of plants like
flax,
turnip,
carrot,
beet,
cauliflower,
fennel,
caraway,
anise, sage, mint,
chicory,
garlic,
celery,
chives, and
marjoram. Based also on gardening in modern Spain, the Spanish Colonial garden might also grow food like
spinach,
cabbage,
artichoke and
cardoon,
fava beans,
potatoes,
leeks,
peas,
radishes, and carrots; and herbs like
chamomile,
calendula,
basil,
borage,
dill, and
parsley. Ornamental flowers also abound in and around this garden, adding beauty and attracting pollinators.
Early agriculture and Hohokam gardens Archeological research has shown that people who lived along the Santa Cruz River millennia ago emphasized a foraging diet. Farming strategies appeared after 2100 BCE, the point when sites in New Mexico and Arizona show that maize had arrived from Mesoamerica. People in the Tucson Basin transitioned to bigger and more permanent settlements as the cultivation of maize slowly became more important to them. There is evidence by at least 2100 BC that the Hohokam used
pithouses for living in, for storage, and for ceremonies. These early farmers populated stable, agricultural settlements in the Santa Cruz River’s fertile floodplain, and used canal systems for bringing water to their crops. The archeological record also shows that the canals were expanded and crops such as cotton and agave were domesticated shortly after. At that time, Hohokam homes along the river were organized around formal courtyards, with groups of courtyards having their own cemeteries, agave roasting pits, and ballcourts. A small-cobbed variety of corn, as well as squash and beans dated around the same time, show that early agriculture here included the synergistic
three sisters used by various Indigenous peoples across Central and North America. There is also evidence that this
prehistoric agriculture included
amaranth. To show variants of these and other crops that succeeded in this arid environment, Mission Garden grows food crops such as
grain amaranth,
cushaw squash, chapalote corn,
tepary beans, and
little barley. Mission Garden also grows both wild and domesticated versions of cotton. In addition to featuring crops such as those noted above, the Early Agriculture and Hohokam gardens also show farming methods that were used here.
O'odham gardens Mission Garden shows the field crops that the
Tohono O’odham farmed before contact with Europeans, when they relied to a large extent on monsoon rains and therefore emphasized foods that grow in warmer months. These crops include a fast-growing corn (
ki:kam ku:n), greens such as amaranth (
chuhuggia i:wagi), and tepary beans (
bab:wi). A food-related detail that a visitor might learn in this area is that O'odham farmers compare tepary beans to the stars in the Milky Way. After European contact, the Tohono O’odham also farmed garlic and wheat. The White Sonora wheat is a noteworthy heritage grain now being used by craft bakers such as Don Guerra. In addition to pre- and post-colonial crops, Mission Garden demonstrates methods for cultivating such crops, as these methods also changed over time.
Mexican garden To represent Mexican influences on food growing in the area, Mission Garden emphasizes a relatively short period around Mexico’s independence from Spain and the purchase from Mexico by the United States of what is now the state of Arizona. It was a time when Mexican farmers grew some crops in small, irrigated fields or
huertas. Each one typically grewe just enough food to support a family. Drought-tolerant crops such as winter wheat and
barley were typical, as were beans, chilies, onions, and melons. Spanish Colonial canals or
acequias distributed water to these fields. But the
acequia-supported system of
huertas collapsed as population in the area grew. Around that time, Tucson was a small town with dirt roads. Many people washed clothes and cooked meals in their backyards, activities that were often done under a small lean-to or
ramada supporting shade-providing plants. Hispanic Tucsonans probably lived much as do the modern-day inhabitants of
Magdalena de Kino, Mexico. Their small gardens would likely have grown corn (
maíz), squash (
calabacitas),
fava beans (
habas),
chard (
acelgas), and
prickly pear (
nopales). Culinary herbs such as
rosemary (
romero) and mint (
hierba buena) would have been cultivated, as well as medicinal herbs such as
rue (
ruda) and wormwood (
estafiate). Their fruit trees likely included Mexican sweet lime, quince, mulberries, and
loquats; their flowers likely included
hollyhocks (
San Joséses),
geraniums (
geranios), marigolds (
cempasuchiles), and
hibiscus (
hibiscos).
Moore medicinal garden This area honors
Michael Moore, an herbalist whose expertise included medicinal plants of New Mexico and Arizona. Mission Garden samples plants native to the arid lands of northern Mexico and southwest United States. Plants typically growing in this area include
jojoba, wild tobacco,
desert verbena,
damianita,
Western mugwort,
Indian root, and
Mormon tea. Because such plants are adapted to the arid environment and require little water, visitors are encouraged to consider them for both landscaping and herbal remedies. This garden is another place showcasing combinations of traditional and modern knowledge.
Chinese garden , sometimes called Chinese date This area represents foods that Chinese Tucsonans grew between 1870 and 1930. Many of these people came from
Taishan, in southern China, originally to work on the
Southern Pacific Railroad and in mines. Some stayed in Tucson to work as farmers, growing and selling foods that Europeans had introduced such as strawberries, potatoes, carrots, lettuces, and spinach. They farmed small plots along the Santa Cruz River that they rented from landowners such as Leopoldo Carrillo. The Chinese farmers took their produce to town in wagons, keeping it fresh with wet gunny sacks. They sold this produce door to door, paying a percentage of their earnings to the landowners who they rented their small farms from. They also kept fruit trees such as apples, peaches, and
jujubes. Foods that these early Chinese farmers grew for themselves included
bitter melon (
fu qua),
long beans (
dou jiao), and
Chinese broccoli (
kai lan). Mission Garden also documents the history of Tucson’s Chinese grocery stores. There were 60 such stores in 1938, and 80 by 1974. Hispanic Tucsonans being their main clientele, the two communities developed an important symbiosis. The grocers kept gardens behind their shops to grow food for themselves such as amaranth (
yin choy),
winter melon (
don qua),
luffa, eggplant, and
goji berries. They also grew orange,
kumquat, grapefruit and
pomelo trees, as well as stone fruits such as peaches, plums, and apricots. The choices in this area of Mission Garden reflect a collaboration with the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center that honors the legacy of the Chinese farmers who influenced the local food culture. Seeds that had been saved for generations were given to Mission Garden, for example, heritage bitter melons, luffas, long beans and garlic chines. Visitors studying these plants might imagine what they would be able to eat here if they had to survive in this desert. Answers might include mesquite beans, cactus fruit, and agave. This area honors Nancy Zierenberg, who worked with the Arizona Society for many years. The Tucson chapter of this society helped develop this area of Mission Garden. The plants in this area include
foothills palo verde,
ironwood, mesquites (including the
screwbean),
jojoba, wolfberry,
whitethorn acacia,
creosote, and many varieties of cactus.
Territorial and Statehood gardens As of 2023, these gardens were still being planned. They will eventually explore agricultural traditions that characterized these periods in the history of
Arizona. For example, because the state's early economy emphasized the five Cs of copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (i.e., tourism), cotton and citrus are planned for this area.
Yoemi garden As of 2023, this garden was being developed in collaboration with local
Yaqui or Yoemi communities. Yoemi people first arrived in the area along with Spanish colonists. Other groups of Yoemi came at the end of the 19th century to escape unsafe conditions in northern Mexico. The gardening traditions of these people include varieties of
basil, leafy greens, corn, and wheat. This garden also features gourds that can be made into ceremonial instruments.
Africa in the Americas garden People of African descent have also influenced the Tucson area for a long time. First,
Estevanico the Moor visited the watershed that Mission Garden celebrates back in 1539. The expedition of
Juan Bautista de Anza also included people of African descent. This expedition went from
Tubac Presidio to
Monterey, California, and back again to Tubac in 1774. Among the soldiers who established the
Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón in 1775 were four people of African descent. Later arriving Black settlers brought their gardening practices and modified them to succeed in the desert. For example, grains such as
sorghum and
millet that are native to Africa could grow in the Sonoran Desert. But
rice, which is also an African staple, needs more water than the region provides. In part because of isolation from other groups of people, these people's gardening practices had to be self-sustaining all year long. Many of the bottles in this tree were found during Mission Garden's development.
Structures in Mission Garden ramadas at Mission Garden in foreground To the left of the main entrance is an adobe brick building with a porch made of
ocotillo branches. This area functions mainly as a gift shop and a repository for information that typically interests visitors. Resources there include, for example, extensive plant descriptions and summaries of the archeological research that informed Mission Garden's establishment. (Mission Garden's website includes an alphabetically organized list of its plants. The locations where each plant can be found are also given.) A number of free-standing
ramadas and arbors are scattered around the grounds, where visitors can find shade and places to sit. Restrooms are located on the east side of a professional kitchen. The kitchen is for preparing foods that feature Mission Garden's produce. For example, the gift shop sells orange, grapefruit, and lime marmalades, and the San Ysidro Festival shares
pozole de trigo (a soup from Mexican cuisine that can be made with
hominy or wheat). A reconstructed pithouse was built by middle and high school students in a project led by experimental archeologist Allen Denoyer. This replica was based on a pithouse floor that was excavated during Mission Garden's development. Mission Garden also has a granary and a chicken coop; these small buildings were originally a gift to the
Arizona State Museum from the
Tarahumara of Mexico. A general purpose building has staff offices, a library, and indoor meeting space that is used for some educational events. There are also special areas that directly support the gardening, such as greenhouses and tool sheds. Finally, a 72-foot-long, 6-foot-high wall runs between Mission Garden's West wall and Grande Road. The wall is made of ByFusion blocks, which are made from shredded and then fused
plastic waste. This wall has murals that were painted by teenagers from the Boys and Girls Club's Pascua Yaqui Clubhouse. == Public engagement ==