Tomorrow's Garden
As a retired Tucson public school educator, Tomorrow’s Garden has become my passion. Why? Because it is a resource for our future and our future will be in the hands of today’s and tomorrow’s students of all ages. It is a garden that encourages and stimulates thinking about the future of the Sonoran Desert’s continuing ability to support and sustain a viable food supply for its inhabitants.
Roger Pfeuffer working on a ramada in the garden
Brad Kindler with Sosa Carrillo white Sonoran pomegranate
This project began as an idea discussed among board members, staff and volunteers around 2014. In 2017 it captured the imagination of our first Coverdell returning Peace Corp Fellow, Brad Kindler. He was enrolled in a Masters program at the University of Arizona School of Landscape Architecture and is the author of much of the following information that he gleaned through a community process involving a diverse set of participants focusing on both expertise and youth. The concept plan was completed in May 2018.
Brad’s plan said it best: “Honoring Tucson’s diverse community and unique history, Tomorrow’s Garden seeks to punctuate Mission Garden’s historic timeline with a demonstration of sustainable and innovative agricultural practices that have the capacity to adapt to changing climate as well as build community through design process and project implementation.”
Honoring Tucson's diverse community and unique history, Tomorrow's Garden seeks to punctuate Mission Garden's historic timeline with a demonstration of sustainable and innovative agricultural practices that have the capacity to adapt to changing climate as well as build community through design process and project implementation. - Brad Kindler
Scroll through this map tour to explore the design solutions for the Tomorrow's Garden laid out in Brad Kindler's plan.
What will Tomorrow’s Garden contain? That is yet to be finalized! Do you have any ideas to share with us about what would best help answer these questions about our future:
- What should we be growing to increase our food supply?
- What should we look to add to or to eliminate what we grow as climate change and water scarcity impacts us more and more?
- What ancient crops and gardening techniques have been successful for thousands of years and should be continued?
- What new scientific gardening techniques should be demonstrated in Tomorrow’s Garden?
Here are some thoughts to consider:
- Passive rainwater harvesting and rainwater harvesting tanks.
- A greenhouse that may support climate-controlled aquaponics and other experiments.
- Drought-tolerant plants. Native and introduced edible weeds, selected succulents, and other food-bearing perennials. Choosing plants that thrive in extreme heat and drought.
- Community action. A visitor-oriented shaded center structure to facilitate education and interpretation.
- Sustainable building materials. Locally made adobe, ferrock pavers, and desert materials shade structure.
- Traditional technology. Experimentation with companion planting, olla irrigation, seed selection.
- Dryland farming, a traditional farming technique that utilizes heirloom crop diversity and maximizes available soil moisture.
Engelmann Prickly Pear Flower
Additional ideas include:
- Improved varieties orchard - featuring selections of fruit trees that have been cultivated for superior fruit and arid adaptability.
- Micro-basins are featured in the landscape to collect water run-off and allow this precious resource to slow, spread, and sink into the soil.
- Date palm trials - experimentation with a delicious arid-adapted crop.
- Compost - forms the basis of sustainable soil fertility.
- No-till permanent beds - additions of organic matter and the reduction of compaction promote soil health and improve water holding capacity.
- Agro-voltaics, the co-location of energy and food production. A small-scale system allows for research and experimentation.
- Vertical and rooftop gardens.
Brad Kindler showing the garden to schoolchildren
This is Mission Garden’s use of its rich agricultural past to help create a sustainable route to food security in the Sonoran Desert for the future of its diverse population.
Join us in making this happen!
