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What's in Season? Do you know that we have over 40 local growers, farmers and ranchers who participate in our various markets. Each pick the markets that work well for their busy schedules. To find the market that fits your busy schedule visit our website at www.farmersmarkettucson.com
Apples, Basil, Chiles, Corn, Cucumber, Grapes, Green Beans, Pears, Pinto Beans, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Radishes, Summer Squash, Winter Squash, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes, Zucchini | 
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Tucson Farmers' Markets
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FRIDAY
Tucson Farmers' Market East at Jesse Owens Park
400 S. Sarnoff Dr.
SATURDAY
Oro Valley Farmers' Market
11000 N. La Canada Blvd.
Tucson Farmers' Market Downtown at Maynard's
400 N. Toole Ave.
SUNDAY
Tucson Farmers' Market at St. Philip's Plaza
4300 N. Campbell Ave.
Summer Hours!
8 am - 12pm
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__________ September 14,15,16 
Things will be getting downright CHILE around here!
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Nopal Salad
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(Cactus Pad Salad)
Ingredients:
3 cups diced nopales, cooked until tender and rinsed under cold water
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 cup diced radishes
1/2 diced tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 fresh lime
1/4 teaspoon crumbled, dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup of queso fresco or feta cheese crumbled
1-2 serrano green chiles, finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Place the nopales in a salad bowl with the other vegetables and the cilantro. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper, and pour over all. Toss to blend well.
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Greetings!
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August 17, 18, & 19
Celebrating our Sonoran Desert Heritage Foods.
The Sonoran desert may be dry, but it does provide for us. In a walk around the farmers' market you will find tepary beans, mesquite flour, cholla buds, and prickly pear products like syrup, cactus pads and jams & jellies. Join us as we introduce you to the many foods that I consider our Sonoran Desert Heritage Foods. Come watch some of the city's finest Chef's work their magic with fresh market produce at our market chef demos. All demos begin at 9 am.
Friday, August 17
Tucson Farmers' Market East
at Jesse Owens Park
Tasting & Sampling Table
Saturday, August 18
Oro Valley Farmers' Market
Chef Angel Fabian with Vero Amore & NobleHops
Saturday, August 18
Tucson Farmers' Market
at Maynard's
Sunday, August 19
The Tucson Farmers' Market Sunday
St. Philips Plaza
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 I've lived in the desert for around 12 years now. My first impressions of the desert were filled with mixed emotions of awe, fear, excitement - like falling in love. I was falling in love with the desert. I find you either love or hate the desert with its cataclysmic thunderstorms and flash floods, searing dry heat and periods of intense drought, poisonous critters, and plants full of thorns - I love its harshness, its fragile beauty, and its ability to transform through the seasons.
It is a rough and tumble place. Not only are there insects and reptiles that can seriously maim you, but potentially kill you, like mojave rattlesnakes or swarming killer bees. But it is the plants that get my attention as serious contenders for surviving in a hot arid climate with all their crazy drought tolerant adaptations, not to mention ways of impaling you as you go for a simple evening stroll. I can't walk anywhere without thinking of who walked there before me. So, what possibly did earlier cultures live on in this harsh environment?
Farming was a way of life for some early indigenous peoples of the desert southwest. On our farm, past owners have decorated the landscaping in the yard with several metates and manos found on the property - evidence of food preparation from staple crops like maize that most likely were planted on the alluvial plane in conjunction with the summer rains.
What I'm really interested in knowing more about is the survival of previous cultures that evolved with the desert landscape. What was their definition of 'eating locally'? How did they take care of the food security issue?
I have taken a couple of public classes lately on how to harvest every cactus that grows out there, along with almost every native tree that has a bean pod on it. I tell ya, I have not looked at the desert the same since. No longer is it just this intense ecosystem of thorns and drought tolerant adapted plants, but it is a rich source of food and medicine.
There is so much we could all be doing to supplement our dinner plates from our native food sources. It starts in our own back yards. If we think beyond the grocery store and the farmer's markets, beyond the status quo vegetables we are used to eating, we can get a lot of healthy foods from our own back yards by eating wild. Amaranth and purslane, for example, probably grows in every backyard from Arizona to my stomping grounds of Saskatchewan. Prickly pear, cholla, sagauros, barrel cactus, mesquite, palo verde, and ironwood are all sources of food. If you don't know how or what parts to eat, take a local class.
We are so lucky to have a rich heritage of foods in our area. Harvesting techniques and food preparation methods are being preserved not only by local indigenous groups such as Tohono O'Odham Community Action (TOCA), and San Xavier Co-op Farm, but also local organizations that teach workshops on harvesting the desert and are interested in local food and sustainability issues and heritage preservation such as the Bean Tree Farm, Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture, Native Seed Search, Desert Harvesters, and the Santa Cruz Heritage Alliance. These are only a few of the organizations I could think of off the top of my head.
One small disclaimer: Find out the laws of harvesting desert plants and respect private property, but mostly, respect the plants - you are not the only one relying on them for sustenance.
Tina Bartsch Walking J Farm
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Tucson Farmers' Markets operates four urban green markets that are open 52 weeks a year. We provide a direct connection to over 100 vendors with deep roots in Southwest Arizona, including farms, nurseries, bakeries, meat and seafood providers, cheese makers, and specialty foods producers. The markets offer a vibrant gathering place where friends meet and a shopping resource for learning about food, agriculture and nutrition, and showplace for local agriculture.
See you at the Markets, Manish, Roxanne, Nick, Clayton and Lisa
Tucson Farmers' Markets |
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