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Partner Gardener Program

 

 

brightly colored small chiles growing on green plant

Be a Partner Gardener and help grow more seeds. When we each grow a little, it adds up to a lot! Want to help conserve seeds but don’t have a farm to grow them on? You can grow a variety together with a seed-growing team. 

  • Open to anyone with some gardening experience and garden beds to plant in.
  • This year we will be growing the Ordoño chile pepper.  Each partner gardener will grow a minimum of 8 plants, then return 50% of your seed harvest to NS/S at the end of the season (you keep the rest!)
  • Our season will begin with a mandatory Garden Meeting on July 18, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Conservation Center in Tucson.  This is where you will receive your plant starts as well as training about growing the crop.
  • We expect that growing 8 chile plants will require at least 16 square feet of garden space or room for 8 one-gallon pots.  The plants will also need to be located at least 300 feet from any other chile or chiltepin varieties.
  • Your returned seeds will help increase seed stocks of these rare seeds so they are available for future generations!

Learn More about the Ordoño Chile Here

Timeline:
Application due date: 7/10/23
Program acceptance letter sent by: 7/11/23
Gardener meeting with NS/S staff and teammates: 7/18/23
Plant your starts by the end of July

Apply here to be a Partner Gardener.