When
$65. Sign up and pay here. Class will be limited to 10 people. If it’s full, a second class will be taught on February 27. Bring your own sack lunch. COVID-safe, socially distanced seating will be provided. Propagation materials provided by Mission Garden.
This class has been expanded and improved from previous years. Agroecologist and ethnobotanist Jesús García teaches the origins of Mission Garden’s heirloom fruit trees, how to prune them, and how to propagate new trees from the cuttings. Learn all about the unique heritage fruit trees of the Sonoran Desert region, and simple propagation techniques you can use at home to grow your own favorite heirloom fruit trees. Course/workshop includes:
1. Introduction to the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project
2. Basic pruning and vegetative propagation techniques
3. Overview of grafting methods
4. Free Mission Garden heritage fruit tree cuttings and hands-on vegetative propagation practice (take home some potted-up cuttings to grow in the backyard)
Pruning and propagation are age-old techniques to keep trees healthy and productive, and to grow new trees faster than they would grow from seed. The survival of the lineage of fruit trees brought by European missionaries in the 18th century is, in part, due to expertise in pruning and propagation handed down generation after generation. You can help carry this knowledge into the future. All class members will take home some cuttings to grow.
Jesús García has degrees in education and ecology, is a Research Associate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and is a member of the board of Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace.