In Parched Arizona, the Produce Gardens Bloom
Indigenous peoples have a long history of growing food in adverse conditions.
By Brett AndersonPhotographs by Adam Riding
New York Times
Brett Anderson and Adam Riding traveled more than 450 miles throughout southern Arizona to report this article.
May 7, 2023
Excerpt:
In the face of a historic drought, gardeners and small farmers across Arizona are growing produce with a surprisingly scant amount of a precious ingredient: water.
They are converting lawns to forest gardens, and tending urban farms in food deserts around Phoenix.
And many are drawing on the agricultural knowledge of Native Americans, who thrived in the arid Southwest before colonization.
Their work is inspiring. And if the rest of the state can follow their example, fast-growing Arizona could serve as a model of how the Southwest can survive a water crisis that is only getting worse.
Kim Elle had never grown anything more complicated than houseplants when she and her husband moved from Georgia to suburban Phoenix in 2021. Faced with a sizable yard in a well-groomed subdivision, she turned to gardening.
But Ms. Elle, a retired Air Force intelligence officer, was motivated by more than the pandemic-induced boredom that drove many homebound Americans to take up gardening. The Southwest was in the throes of the worst drought recorded there in more than 12 centuries, a crisis now in its 23rd year.
“All we hear on the news is that we don’t have any water,” she said. “I’m recreating my yard in a way that uses less water.”
