Tohono Chul Park, a taste of the desert

Savor the Park ’s “Taste of the Desert”

Download brochure about our program.

You may be familiar with the sweet, red fruits of the saguaro or prickly pear, but have you tasted the carob-like flavor of a ripe mesquite pod or put a zing in your mouth by biting into the mother of chilies? Join us at Tohono Chul Park to experience a taste of the desert!

Our “edible desert” program starts in the classroom with a presentation on the plants used today and in the past by the peoples of the Southwest. Next is a guided tour of the Park’s 49-acre desert preserve. After a visit to the Park’s Ethnobotanical Garden one might even practice some hands-on plant preparation. Finally, a meal of local plants is served – a true desert culinary adventure!

Taste of the Desert
Program Length: 3 hours
Cost per person: $35
Attendees: 10 minimum/30 maximum

To schedule “A Taste of the Desert” event for your group, contact Jo Falls, Director of Public Programs at Tohono Chul Park :
520-742-6455 ext. 228 or jofalls@tohonochulpark.org

Join us for the Park's "Taste of the Desert" edible adventure!

Last Update: 4-30-08.
Contact Webmaster

About the Park's Ethnobotanical Garden

Ethnobotany studies the relationships between cultures and their plants, providing us with a window to the everyday lives of other peoples and a better understanding of different cultural values, religious practices, and connections to the natural world.

Plants have been utilized by the Tohono O’odham, and the Hohokam before them, in many ways – as food, medicine, and materials as well as a source of cultural identity. These plants may be wild, cultivated (purposefully grown), domesticated (adapted to be more useful), or introduced (brought to the New World by Spanish or other European settlers).

The Park's Ethnobotanical Garden displays the types of plants they used for food, basket making, medicine, and cultural ceremonies. The summer crops feature native plants flood farmed by the Tohono O’odham on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, as well as indigenous plants they harvested for their fruit, seeds and fibers. The winter crops feature plants the Spanish and other Europeans brought with them to the New World. These crops helped to bring the Tohono O’odham to the missions to live because they were a guaranteed food source during the time of year that food was scarce. The weather station is located in the southeast corner of this garden. Stop by to read the log of the month’s high and low temperature.

7366 N. Paseo del Norte, Tucson, AZ 85704
(520) 742-6455


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Last Update: 4-30-08. Contact Webmaster
	About the Park's Ethnobotanical Garden Ethnobotany studies the relationships between cultures and their plants, providing us with a window to the everyday lives of other peoples and a better understanding of different cultural values, religious practices, and connections to the natural world. Plants have been utilized by the Tohono O’odham, and the Hohokam before them, in many ways – as food, medicine, and materials as well as a source of cultural identity. These plants may be wild, cultivated (purposefully grown), domesticated (adapted to be more useful), or introduced (brought to the New World by Spanish or other European settlers). The Park's Ethnobotanical Garden displays the types of plants they used for food, basket making, medicine, and cultural ceremonies. The summer crops feature native plants flood farmed by the Tohono O’odham on the banks of the Santa Cruz River, as well as indigenous plants they harvested for their fruit, seeds and fibers. The winter crops feature plants the Spanish and other Europeans brought with them to the New World. These crops helped to bring the Tohono O’odham to the missions to live because they were a guaranteed food source during the time of year that food was scarce. The weather station is located in the southeast corner of this garden. Stop by to read the log of the month’s high and low temperature.
7366 N. Paseo del Norte, Tucson, AZ 85704 (520) 742-6455