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New On Our Blog

A Tomato's Story Revealed

A Tomato's Story Revealed

| Sheryl Joy
When Chef Molly Beverly partnered with us to grow Prescott Heirloom Tomatoes last summer, she also became this tomato’s newest advocate and researcher. And in doing so, she brought us an entirely new understanding of this regional treasure...
Seed Policy Update 2021

Seed Policy Update 2021

| Lissa Marinaro
Skeg taṣ, The past year has been one of many trials and tribulations. We collectively have lost family, friends and co-workers, from the youth to the elders of our communities. Storefronts have closed and access to things we take for granted has been limited. Our water supply is also a growing c...

Adopt-A-Crop Update 2021

| Joel Johnson
Thank you to everyone who donated to the 2021 Adopt-A-Crop fundraiser. Here's an update on how all of the crops are doing! Atlixco Quelite: The durability of this lamb’s quarters relative has been incredible to watch. Before July brought long-awaited rain to the Sonoran Desert, the crops in ...
It used to be that families stewarded their own seeds, saving and selecting from year to year.  If you have rural roots, you probably wouldn’t have to go back more than a few generations to find this practice in your own family. But things have changed.  Since the 1950’s the seed trade has become...

Farewell to an NS/S Leader and Friend

| Alexandra Zamecnik
We would like to honor Angelo Joaquin Jr., a friend of Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S), who passed away earlier this year. Angelo, of the Coyote Clan of the Tohono O’odham Nation, became a board member in 1990, and part of the staff as the Native American Outreach Coordinator and Diabetes Project Dir...

Remembering Laura Kerman

| Lissa Marinaro
by Karen Reichhardt Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S) is honored to celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman and seedkeeper during this year’s Women’s History Month. Laura Kerman (1895-1999), a Tohono O’odham woman from Topawa, Arizona, is recognized as an influential resource and inspiration durin...
Winter Garden Update

Winter Garden Update

| Joel Johnson
by Joel Johnson, Seed Production Technician After several weeks in the upper 70s, a late January snow on the Santa Catalinas reminded us that we really did have a winter! Now we’re back to blue skies and spring sprouts. Lots of changes are taking place in the Conservation Center grow-out gardens—...
Adopt a Crop End-of-Summer Update

Adopt a Crop End-of-Summer Update

| Joel Johnson
The thermometer is still dancing between 99 and 100 as I write in mid-October, but I’m branding this our “end of summer” update in hopes that maybe wishing will make it so.   Those of you Sonoran Desert dwellers know that calling this summer a challenging growing season is an understatement. Nat...
Climate change is having an effect on the growing season in the southwest. Monsoon rains are coming later, summers are drier, and gardens are being planted later.

Unpredictable Monsoons Affect Planting Times

| Sheryl Joy
by Sheryl Joy, Collections Curator In the Greater Southwest, El Dia de San Juan (June 24) has long been celebrated as the time of the coming of the summer rains.  A time to celebrate the end of the dry-heat, to rejoice in the crack of lightning, the crash of thunder and the rush of rain that mean...