Youth Garden

I came to Mission Garden in 2015 because I was taking “Seed Saving” classes at Native Seeds/SEARCH as a classroom teacher. I kept hearing about this heritage garden that was being revived at the base of Sentinel Peak (“A” Mountain). I was intrigued, so I came for a visit and instantly fell in love with the vision of Mission Garden. 

As a classroom teacher, I was thrilled to find a place where my students could “see” the history as they walked through the timeline gardens, a place where my kids could taste ancient, healthy food that would help them thrive nutritionally as well as connect them with their community and our Arizona studies. This was a place where they could learn sustainable planting practices and new skills that we could take back to our school garden. So, I brought my class and gardening club families to the Mission Garden, and after talking with staff member Dena Cowan at the Membrillo Fest that year, I began volunteering to make sure I was doing my part to help this garden achieve their “mission”.

As I volunteered, I began to see that there wasn’t a place for students to dig, plant, and experiment with plants on their own. My friend Janet Burgette and Mission Garden staff member José Gastelum also expressed that it would be nice if kids had a special place in the garden that they could call their own. That was how the “Youth Garden” began. 

The Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace was supportive of our idea. The problem was that most of the space was already allocated for the Timeline Gardens, so we were allocated the space that had once been a compost area. With help from students at Quest for Education and the Arts, and The Idea School, we transformed the former bins into teaching huts, and added our friends, “the scarecrows” designed and built by students.

Over the years, the garden has continued to evolve and many, many friends have added to the Youth Garden to make it what it is today. It has become a place where youth can venture into the world of microorganisms in the soil, dissect a seed to learn the essential needs of a new plant, propagate sugar cane, and taste vegetables and herbs they have never tasted before. They can plant and then return to harvest plants of their choosing. I am especially grateful that this garden gives youth a place to grow “food” especially if they do not have that opportunity at home or school.  

I love it that our students can move rocks in the Hohokam Garden and practice what ancient indigenous children would have done for chores as they let the water flow through the canals into the basins. Then they can walk over and irrigate in the Youth Garden, experiencing the benefits of our modern technology. I love it that the youth garden complements and builds off of all the other Timeline Gardens. I love that classes can come for field trips, families can bring lunch and explore, and youth can design and improve the garden on a regular basis.

All ages are welcome to sow, observe, plant, harvest, taste, and enjoy the fruit of participating in the Youth Garden. Gardens and people need the same things - patience, love and someone who will never give up on them. So, unplug and get your hands dirty here; we believe you will be glad you did!

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

•  Olive