Urban Farm: Las Milpitas de Cottonwood

Tucson Small School Project and City High School established a partnership with the Community Food Bank in 2011 to expand the City High Garden into a full-fledged small scale urban farm.

The newly-named Las Milpitas de Cottonwood Community Farm is a community resource, open to all: families, schools, and others who want to adopt a plot or get involved in any number of ways.

The farm lies between South Cottonwood Lane and the Santa Cruz River, south of 29th/Silverlake. Volunteer Days take place on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 8-11 a.m. Check the Food Bank website for details.

During the 2011-2012 school year, a group of City High School students participate weekly at the farm with VOICES Instructor Megan Valanidas as part of City High School’s Extended Day Learning Program. The group is growing their own organic vegetables, and gearing up to teach their farming skills to peers and community members. Additionally, City High School students and staff will be visiting the farm on occasion to incorporate food and farming into different subjects, from culinary arts to media arts.

Upcoming EVENTS: 

  • Inauguration Celebration for Las Milpitas de Cottonwood Farm will take place Saturday, January 21 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Join us at the farm for a festive event celebrating this year’s amazing progress!

Farm PRESS: 

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A BIT OF HISTORY: City High School began leasing the garden location from Pima County in 2006, following the Farmacy Project’s involvement in the land. City High School students and staff have been active at the site in a number of ways: building water harvesting swales, tree planting, and growing vegetables, herbs, and native plants. City High School students were responsible for the land each year as part of the school’s City Works gardening class from 2006-2010, taught over the years by Elliott Lax, Mike Spielman, Michael Herzog, and Jennifer Kinser.

An article in the Summer 2007 issue of our CITYSCAPE newsletter sheds a little light on City High School’s history with the land …


 

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