Friends Of Tucsons Birthplace Inc

Programs: Celebrating agricultural and food traditions:san ysidro harvest festival, tucsons birthday celebration, pomegranatefestival, membrillo fest, agave heritage festival, cholla bud harvesting. Educational programs:heritage fruit tree pruning and propagation workshops for schoolchildren, cholla bud harvesting &. Agave history & trincheras-building,audubon birding trip, seed-harvesting workshops, mission and orchard tourof northern sonora. New construction and additions:historic reconstructed chicken coop, expanded irrigtion, childrensgarden shade structures, terra-formed and planted medicinal garden andmexican garden, extended trincheras/agaves in entryway walk. Outreach & collaborative partnerships:tucson city of gastronomy exhibits at tucson meet yourself, 4th annualethnobotany trip to oaxaca, mx, national phenology network; ironwoodtree experience. Ongoing & new partnerships:community food bank; las milpitas; himdag ki tohono oodham culturalcenter; ironwood tree experience; native seed/search; arizona statemuseum; pima county public seed library; tucson audubon society; goodwillgood futures; tusd; ua; iskashitaa refugee network; tucson-unesco city ofgastronomy. Grants and awards:us fish7 wildlife grant; rio neuvo mutipurpose facilities district; bill omalleyawarded top historical preservation project for mission garden; commongrounds award; stonewall foundation grant. Press:considerable attention from local, national and international pressthanks to our role in the unesco city of gastronomy and the generalincreasing interest in our agricultural interpretation of history and careof local archeology. Garden activities:hosted educational programs for tucsons multicultural classrooms;hosted an average of two public groups per week, conducted workshops on:- heritage fruit tree pruning and propagation;- cholla bud harvesting and preparation;- agave history and hohokam trinchera construction;- identification of orchard birds; and- heritage seed selection and saving. Weve hosted students and the public for, salpointe impact week,archaeology underneath the garden, partnering with many organizationsincluding tucson audubon, tucson meet yourself,; and the nationalphenology network for site monitoring, community foodbank, las milpitasat cottonwood farm, the himdag ki tohono oodham cultural center,native seeds/search, the chinese cultural center, the environmentaleducation exchange, the ironwood tree experience, arizona state museum,pima county public seed library,goodwill good futures, and iskashitaa refugee network. Celebrated traditional agriculture and foodways:in may the san ysidro planting festival; in august tucsons birthday; inseptember pomegranate preparation; in october the membrillo fest, andwe even had time to organize another of our now-famous learningjourneys to historic oaxaca. Join us next year and every year to honortucson through these traditional celebrations, and to go on some of ourlearning journeys to sonora and historic farms in arizona. Last but not least, mission garden was a major inspiration for tucsonreceiving the honor of being designated the very first unesco city ofgastronomy in the united states, a wonderful recognition of how we havecelebrated the amazing longevity and the historical depth of ouragricultural heritage at mission garden.