New On Our Blog

Tohono O'odham Cowpeas: Growing, Harvesting, and Cooking

May 14, 2018 | Melissa Kruse-Peeples

As spring turns into summer, gardeners are asking what crops can be planted that will actually survive the impending burning inferno that is Southern Arizona’s summer. At Native Seeds/SEARCH we encourage gardeners not to be afraid of the summer heat but to embrace the arid-adapted varieties of th...

Trip Report: Supporting Native Farmers

April 27, 2018 | Nicholas Garber

The work of Native Seeds/SEARCH focuses on empowering local seed stewardship through education and putting agricultural biodiversity in the hands of regional farmers. After all, what good is the agricultural diversity if no one is growing, eating, and stewarding these crops in their places of or...

Reviving Jack Beans

April 17, 2018 | Melissa Kruse-Peeples

Imagine if you could take a time machine and visit an ancient Hohokam agricultural field 1,000 years ago. The crops in that field would contain corn, green-striped cushaw squash, and tepary beans – varieties familiar to contemporary Pima and Tohono O’odham farmers. But you might also find an unu...

Caring for Tomato Plants in the Desert

April 10, 2018 | Laura Neff

In the low desert, it is ideal to start tomatoes by seed early in the season to allow the plant to be transplanted as soon as the threat of frost is over (around early to mid March through early April in the low desert areas of Tucson). Tomato seeds need about a 6-8 week growing period before yo...

ARIZONA GIVES DAY: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

March 28, 2018 | Joy Hought

By Joy Hought, Executive Director. Published March 28, 2018. Did you know that southern Arizona is home to the earliest documented agriculture in the United States? For over 4000 years the farmers of this region have sustained their communities by growing nutritious, desert-adapted crop varieties...

Germination Testing at Home

March 19, 2018 | Laura Neff

As a home gardener and seed saver, you can use the same principles of germination testing to make sure your seeds are going to sprout when planted. You may have some packets of seeds that are a few years old, or recently saved some seeds and are curious if they are viable. Seeds are living things...

Trip Report: Native Health Traditional and Community Gardens

March 13, 2018 | Laura Neff

It was a brisk Saturday morning, February 24th, when three Native Seeds/SEARCH staff traveled from Tucson to Phoenix to offer assistance with weeding and planting seed at the Native Health Traditional and Community Gardens in Phoenix. Access to the spacious farmland in the heart of Phoenix at Ind...

Understanding and Nurturing Desert Native Bees

March 05, 2018 | Laura Neff

Do you know that every desert native bee is a wonder woman? The females of these mainly solitary, stingless bees are pollinators supreme in gardens, orchards, and natural spaces. Yet they go about their vital work largely unsupported. It’s time to correct this – and you can be part of the solution!

Growing Teosinte (Zea mays parvaglumis)

February 05, 2018 | Store Staff

There is so much to learn about the mysterious teosinte that I was stumped when asked to create a report on growing it, so I’ll simply share what I’ve read and observed while studying the plants growing at the retail store in mid-town Tucson, Arizona.

CSG Highlight: Orchard Community Learning Center

January 18, 2018 | Laura Neff

In 2017 NS/S donated over 3,916 seed packets to 157 organizations, and we are ready to kick off 2018 with the next cycle of Community Seed Grants. If you are a part of an organization in the Greater Southwest region that supports educational, food security, and community development projects, the...