Growing Tucson's Agricultural Heritage
Mission Garden is a living agricultural museum of Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional local heirloom crops and edible native plants. The Garden is managed by Friends of Tucson's Birthplace, a 501(c)3 non-profit with no religious affiliation. Mission Garden is located at the foot of Sentinel Peak, at the site of the Native American village of Cuk Ṣon (pronounced Chuk Shon), a place sacred to the Tohono O’odham. Current garden plots include: Native Plants, Early Agriculture, Hohokam, O’odham Before European Contact, O’odham After European Contact, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, Yoeme, Africa in the Americas, Medicinal, and Youth. Areas in development include the Grassland, Territorial, Statehood and Tomorrow’s gardens, as well as the Trail of Ndé (Apache) Plants. Learn More
Upcoming Public Programs
Explore
the garden & Mission Garden Shop on your own or book a docent-led tour of Mission Garden.
Participate
in our weekly and monthly classes and help celebrate at our annual events.
Learn
See a timeline that depicts the events and peoples who shaped the region and continue their legacy of stewardship today.
Give Back
Volunteer, steward a tree, become a community partner or make a gift to help keep Mission Garden flourishing.
This episode of AZPM’s ‘Favorite Places’ series was written and narrated by Friends of Tucson's Birthplace board member Richard Fe Tom.
This site is Tucson’s birthplace, and archaeologists have documented 4,100 years of continuous cultivation. The Garden contains over a dozen distinct multi-cultural, ethno-agricultural heritage plots, each representing one of the many ethnic groups that farmed the Tucson Basin over the last four millennia. Crops from these plots have proven to be productive, sustainable and well-adapted to this climate and location. Learn More
Sign up for the Mission Garden newsletter here.
Land Acknowledgment
From the sweat of our brow to the mud under our nails everything we do is rooted in the acknowledgment that we are on the ancestral lands of the Tohono O’odham Nation. We strive to protect and care for this land with the awe and respect that the O’odham have inspired in us. We hope all who experience this place will honor and support the people who have dwelled here through countless seasons, and that we may all thrive together.