Thanks to the Pro Neighborhoods Endowment Fund held at Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, Mission Garden is offering four more free workshops this coming season for our neighbors and community partners. The people we are inviting to sign up for the workshops are residents of our surrounding neighborhoods (Barrio Sin Nombre, Menlo Park, Kroeger Lane, Barrio Hollywood, A Mountain, Panorama Estates, Barrio Santa Cruz), and members of the communities whose agricultural traditions we are honoring here at the Garden: O'odham, Yoeme/Yaqui, Chinese, African American, Spanish and Mexican.

The educational programs we offer are by nature “learning in community.” In other words, rather than individual teachers or experts dictating curricula, the programs are interactive and participatory. Participants share knowledge and skills through hands-on agricultural and ethnobotanical projects. These include planning, planting, and maintaining garden plots, as well as understanding traditional plant usages (e.g., crafts involving plant materials, recipes, or medicinal applications). This knowledge and experience can be applied outside Mission Garden in participants’ homes, schools, or other community spaces, thereby increasing individual and neighborhood participation in community planning and problem-solving. It also enables individuals to build on strengths and helps identify and utilize existing resources.

Participant criteria:

• Must live in Barrio Sin Nombre, Menlo Park, Kroeger Lane, Barrio Hollywood, A Mountain, Panorama Estates, or Barrio Santa Cruz neighborhoods

• Members of the communities whose agricultural traditions we are honoring here at the Garden: O'odham, Yoeme/Yaqui, Chinese, African American, Spanish and Mexican.

These workshops are available for those who meet the requirements of the program. If you would like to confirm your involvement, please contact Mission Garden Event and Education Coordinator Abby Rhinehart at abby@missongarden.org

Upcoming Workshops