#sonorandesert — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #sonorandesert, aggregated by home.social.
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Went out looking for a barn owl, ended up finding great horned owl fledglings instead! They still have baby fuzz on their face and the tiniest makings of "horns." There were 3 total; I'm not sure if mama was one of them or if was 3 young'uns but wow!
#phoenix #arizona #sonorandesert #greathornedowl #owls #BirdWatching #birding
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Here’s the 9th page of my new art project, an Illustrated Journal—my art & notes celebrating the little things in everyday life, like watching a favorite rom-com, cooking with yummy veggies, taking an art class & buying new art supplies! See more on my latest blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/new-paint-an-old-rom-com-small-veggies
#art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #blog #blogging #Tucson #SonoranDesert #ClimateChange #climate #romcom #food #veggies
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Saw something today I've never seen before! A Western screech owl tucked away in their little cactus home! So pleased I was able to get a couple decent photos of it.
#sonorandesert #phoenix #arizona #saguaro #owl #birding #westernscreechowl
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#Trump Bulldozed a 1,000-Year-Old #ArcheologicalSite to Make Room for a Second Border Wall
#DHS was in talks with the #WildlifeRefuge that hosts the ancient site to make sure it was protected, a local archeologist said.
Adam Federman
April 30 2026, 7:01 p.m."A rare archaeological site in the #SonoranDesert was bulldozed by a Department of Homeland Security contractor involved in building the latest sections of Donald Trump’s #BorderWall, according to multiple sources briefed on the incident.
"The area, in a remote corner of Arizona’s #CabezaPrieta #NationalWildlifeRefuge, is a nearly 280-by-50-foot etching in the desert sand known as an #intaglio.
"Last Friday, without any notice, a contractor working for DHS cut a roughly 60-foot swath across the middle of the intaglio, doing irreparable damage to the 1,000-year-old artifact.
"Cabeza Prieta, one of the largest wilderness areas outside of Alaska, also encompasses lands sacred to the #TohonoOodham Nation, which borders the refuge to the east. The O’odham have fought to prevent border wall construction across their reservation and during Trump’s first term largely prevailed; they also managed to protect the intaglio and a nearby burial site that they consider to be part of their ancestral lands.
" 'I liken it to destroying the Nazca lines — something that culturally we should have been relishing and promoting. Not destroying,' Rick Martynec, an archaeologist, said in a phone interview, referring to the hundreds of figures drawn into the deserts of southern Peru.
"The destruction was confirmed by a federal employee with direct knowledge of the incident, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal."
Source:
https://theintercept.com/2026/04/30/arizona-archeological-site-bulldozed-border-wall/#USPol #TrumpSucks #CulturalErasure #ProtectTheSacred #TohonoOodhamNation #ArchaeologicalSite #DestroyingHistory #Fascism #NativeAmericanHistory #NativeAmericanCulturalHeritage
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Tonight I'm filming the batty bats at the hummingbird feeder from above, camera extended on a pole above the tripod.
Well, that's the plan. I thought I'd be clever and set everything up before dark. This time I've got the light and camera hooked to external power banks, so no worries about the light in particular running out.
I set everything up, went inside to read Mastodon and...the damn light turned itself off. Dunno why, but going out to turn it back on scared them off.
They're back now, but only hitting the feeder without the camera/light set up. But, that feeder is almost empty and I put an extra-rich mix in the feeder being filmed, so I think they'll go back to it. Here's an iPhone clip through my dirty office window. There are at least 6 of them tonight, maybe more.
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Woolly Star is a small (7mm) but lovely lavender flower that grows in groups in our Tucson, AZ yard in Spring. Here’s one I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal, drawn about 6x life size. 😃 Read more on my latest blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/twice-as-nice-two-types-of-spring
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecology #nature #outdoors #flower #wildflower #BloomScrolling #Spring
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It's that time of year! 🌼 Some fun saguaro facts:
- Saguaros do not begin blooming until they are at least 30-35 years old
- Each flower is only open for 18-24 hours
- Saguaros appear to flower in a counter-clockwise direction, with buds first appearing on the east side, then the north, and then the west#arizona #phoenix #sonorandesert #bloomscrolling #saguaro #cactus #CactusBlossom #flowers
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Our Penstemon (illustrated here for my Perpetual Journal) have gone to seed & I just harvested & spread 100s of the seeds around our Tucson, AZ yard. 🌸😍 Read more on my recent blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/pretty-pink-penstemon-petals
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #flower #wildflower #BloomScrolling #Penstemon #Spring
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Earlier this year we had over 30 Queen Butterflies eclose in our yard! 😍 Here’s my Perpetual Journal art chronicling this excitement! I also posted 3 Butterfly success stories with photos on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/lots-and-lots-of-queen-butterflies
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #insect #arthropod #entomology #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly
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Here’s the 8th page of my new art project, an Illustrated Journal—my art & notes celebrating the little things in everyday life, like watching the ISS, counting chrysalises & seeing Raccoon tracks! See more on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/lots-and-lots-of-chrysalises
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #nature #outdoors #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #environment #ecology #flower #wildflower #BloomScrolling #poppy #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #pupa #chrysalis #ISS #Raccoon
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Here's the set up, with lesser long-nosed bats flying at normal speed. If you zoom in, you can see the camera's back screen above the left tripod. The video light is on the right tripod.
#bats #WildlifePhotography #SonoranDesert -
Wow, this is extremely early for the Sonoran Desert toads to be out. I think it's a combination of the early season warmth we've been having and the fact that I was watering the pomegranate tree and forgot to turn the water off, so it probably soaked the ground enough that the toad thought it was the monsoon rains happening.
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2/2: Many of our Spring wildflowers started blooming in January & February this year, including this Lupine I illustrated in my Perpetual Journal. Read more on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/mid-winter-flowers
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #ClimateChange #climate #flower #wildflower #Lupine #BloomScrolling #Spring
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1/2: Many of our Spring wildflowers started blooming in January & February this year, including this Mexican Poppy I illustrated in my Perpetual Journal. Read more on my blog https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/mid-winter-flowers
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #ClimateChange #climate #flower #wildflower #poppy #BloomScrolling #Spring
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These guys welcome you at Saguaro National Park.
#saguaronationalpark #arizona #sonorandesert #wanderlust #travel
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Lightning storm over saguaro cacti, Sonoran Desert, Arizona, United States
© Jack Dykinga/Nature Picture Library
#UnitedStates #Arizona #photography #SonoranDesert -
Hype for the Future 133PHX: Central Phoenix
Introduction Overall, the City of Phoenix is the most populated of the state capitals in the United States of America and serves as the county seat of Maricopa County, Arizona. While the largest city that is not a county seat, Mesa, is also located within the county, the suburban locale is not technically included within the city limits of Phoenix and is to be treated separately. Features While the City of Phoenix sprawls largely from north to south and contains notable sites such as the […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/03/13/hype-for-the-future-133phx-central-phoenix/
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For #SuperbOwl Sunday, here’s my Perpetual Journal art of 2 very superb owls: 2 Great Horned Owls calling back & forth (duetting) along with a Cooper’s Hawk & a small Mexican Poppy plant.
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #poppy #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #birdsong #hawk #CoopersHawk #Owl #GreatHornedOwl
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For #SuperbOwl Sunday, here’s my Perpetual Journal art of 2 very superb owls: 2 Great Horned Owls calling back & forth (duetting) along with a Cooper’s Hawk & a small Mexican Poppy plant.
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #poppy #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #birdsong #hawk #CoopersHawk #Owl #GreatHornedOwl
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For #SuperbOwl Sunday, here’s my Perpetual Journal art of 2 very superb owls: 2 Great Horned Owls calling back & forth (duetting) along with a Cooper’s Hawk & a small Mexican Poppy plant.
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #poppy #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #birdsong #hawk #CoopersHawk #Owl #GreatHornedOwl
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For #SuperbOwl Sunday, here’s my Perpetual Journal art of 2 very superb owls: 2 Great Horned Owls calling back & forth (duetting) along with a Cooper’s Hawk & a small Mexican Poppy plant.
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #poppy #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #birdsong #hawk #CoopersHawk #Owl #GreatHornedOwl
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For #SuperbOwl Sunday, here’s my Perpetual Journal art of 2 very superb owls: 2 Great Horned Owls calling back & forth (duetting) along with a Cooper’s Hawk & a small Mexican Poppy plant.
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #outdoors #poppy #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #birdsong #hawk #CoopersHawk #Owl #GreatHornedOwl
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Here’s the 4th page of my new art project, an Illustrated Journal—my art & notes celebrating the little things in everyday life. I like how my color scheme on this page naturally gravitated toward early Fall colors! See more on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/food-fall-butterflies-and-star-wars
#ArtAdventCalendar #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #blog #blogging #Tucson #SonoranDesert #ButternutSquash #JaneGoodall #Apple #Cottonwood #Autumn #FallFoliage
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Do you know what a group of Ravens is called? Here are 7 that I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal. Learn more fun collective nouns for birds on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/ravens-soaring-overhead
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #nature #wildflower #BloomScrolling #insect #arthropod #arachnid #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #mite #bird #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #Raven
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Do you know what a group of Ravens is called? Here are 7 that I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal. Learn more fun collective nouns for birds on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/ravens-soaring-overhead
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #nature #wildflower #BloomScrolling #insect #arthropod #arachnid #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #mite #bird #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #Raven
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Do you know what a group of Ravens is called? Here are 7 that I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal. Learn more fun collective nouns for birds on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/ravens-soaring-overhead
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #nature #wildflower #BloomScrolling #insect #arthropod #arachnid #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #mite #bird #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #Raven
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Do you know what a group of Ravens is called? Here are 7 that I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal. Learn more fun collective nouns for birds on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/ravens-soaring-overhead
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #nature #wildflower #BloomScrolling #insect #arthropod #arachnid #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #mite #bird #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #Raven
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Do you know what a group of Ravens is called? Here are 7 that I illustrated for my Perpetual Journal. Learn more fun collective nouns for birds on my blog post https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/ravens-soaring-overhead
#SciArt #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #PerpetualJournal #blog #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #nature #wildflower #BloomScrolling #insect #arthropod #arachnid #bug #bugs #bugstodon #butterfly #mite #bird #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #Raven
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Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/#SolarPunkSunday #RegenerativeAgriculture #RegenerativeFarming #RestorativeAgriculture #ClimateChangeFarming
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Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/#SolarPunkSunday #RegenerativeAgriculture #RegenerativeFarming #RestorativeAgriculture #ClimateChangeFarming
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Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/#SolarPunkSunday #RegenerativeAgriculture #RegenerativeFarming #RestorativeAgriculture #ClimateChangeFarming
-
Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/#SolarPunkSunday #RegenerativeAgriculture #RegenerativeFarming #RestorativeAgriculture #ClimateChangeFarming
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Could This #Arizona Ranch Be a Model for #Southwest Farmers?
Oatman Flats has undergone a dramatic transformation, becoming the Southwest’s first #Regenerative #Organic Certified farm and a potential source of ideas for weathering #ClimateChange.
" 'We embraced the abundance of #heirloom and native crops in the #SonoranDesert,' Hansen said. 'We are looking at the land and asking it what we should grow, rather than asking the land to grow what we want.' " - Dax Hansen, owner of Oatman Flats Ranch.
By Samuel Gilbert
May 12, 2025Excerpt: "Regeneration Rooted in #Indigenous Practices
"Southern Arizona’s rich agricultural history stretches back more than 5,000 years. By 600 CE, the Hohokam people were constructing North America’s largest and most elaborate irrigation systems along the Salt and Gila Rivers. The descendants of the Hohokam—the Pima and Tohono O’odham—continued to farm the land up to and after the arrival of the Spanish, who began to colonize southern Arizona in the 1600s. They continue to farm in Arizona today.
"At the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, about two hours southeast of Oatman Flats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm uses historic land management practices and grows traditional crops that reflect their respect for the land, plants, animals, elders, and the sacredness of water.
"San Xavier Farm Manager Duran Andrews and his team plant #CoverCrops, rotate fields, and collect #rainwater.
" '[Regenerative agriculture] is nothing new to us,' Andrews said. 'We have been doing this for decades. Harmony between nature and people has been our approach all the time.' Rotating fields and cultivating multiple mutually beneficial species in the same fields improves water and soil quality and biodiversity in this harsh landscape.
" 'You’ve seen what the land looks like in five years; imagine it in 10. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.'
"The co-op grows a variety of native crops that were developed in the region and cultivated for centuries or, in some cases, millennia, such as grains and beans, which they sell online. 'We irrigate them till they sprout, then cut them off till the monsoon shows up,' Andrews said. 'We try to keep crops in that hardy state through all the years and decades they have been here. We try not to get away from how things were done in the past.'
"They also grow White Sonora wheat, introduced to Arizona by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s. 'It was a gift from Father Kino that we have taken as our own,' Andrews said. 'The [San Xavier] community was one of the first to grow this wheat.'
"Following the Mexican-American War in the mid-1800s, the United States claimed parts of modern-day Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Anglo ranchers who moved into the area dug canals to irrigate agricultural fields, transforming the landscape. An 1852 watercolor by surveyor Jon Russell Bartlett depicts a verdant valley with cottonwoods and mesquite trees lining a flowing Gila River as it passes through Oatman Flats Ranch.
"That landscape is unrecognizable today. The lower Gila has gone bone dry after years of upstream diversions, dams, water overuse, and climate change. In 2019, the Gila River earned the title of Most Endangered River by the nonprofit advocacy group American Rivers.
"Standing on the sandy Gila riverbed, which divides the north and south farms of Oatman Flats Ranch, Wang pointed to the nearby invasive salt cedars. Healing the land involves rebuilding the water, nutrient, and carbon cycles from the ground up, 'at the micro level,' he said. 'On the macro level, it’s broken.'
"The ranch team has poured resources into rebuilding soil health by planting #hedgerows and 30-plus species of cover crops, at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hedgerows, mostly native trees, were planted along the edges of the fields to reduce erosion and provide habitat for beneficial species, including #pollinators such as #bees and #hummingbirds.
"The cover crops — #millet, #chickpeas, #sunflowers, #sorghum, sudan grass, broadleaves, and #NativeGrasses among them—are planted immediately after harvesting wheat, to provide 'soil armor,' help conserve water, fix nitrogen in the soil, suppress weeds, attract beneficial insects, and sequester carbon. The once-barren land now supports life for more than 120 species of flora and fauna."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/05/12/could-this-arizona-ranch-be-a-model-for-southwest-farmers/#SolarPunkSunday #RegenerativeAgriculture #RegenerativeFarming #RestorativeAgriculture #ClimateChangeFarming
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Weather the storm by spreading your investments—the benefits of bet-hedging in Sonoran Desert plants
Summary & Analysis by Xochitl Ortiz-Ross of “Shifting Precipitation Regimes Influence Optimal Germination Strategies and Population Dynamics in Bet-hedging Desert Annuals” by Cuello et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/January-2025-Cuello.html#sonoranDesert #plants #precipitation #germination #betHedging #desert
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Weather the storm by spreading your investments—the benefits of bet-hedging in Sonoran Desert plants
Summary & Analysis by Xochitl Ortiz-Ross of “Shifting Precipitation Regimes Influence Optimal Germination Strategies and Population Dynamics in Bet-hedging Desert Annuals” by Cuello et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/January-2025-Cuello.html#sonoranDesert #plants #precipitation #germination #betHedging #desert
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Weather the storm by spreading your investments—the benefits of bet-hedging in Sonoran Desert plants
Summary & Analysis by Xochitl Ortiz-Ross of “Shifting Precipitation Regimes Influence Optimal Germination Strategies and Population Dynamics in Bet-hedging Desert Annuals” by Cuello et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/January-2025-Cuello.html#sonoranDesert #plants #precipitation #germination #betHedging #desert
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Weather the storm by spreading your investments—the benefits of bet-hedging in Sonoran Desert plants
Summary & Analysis by Xochitl Ortiz-Ross of “Shifting Precipitation Regimes Influence Optimal Germination Strategies and Population Dynamics in Bet-hedging Desert Annuals” by Cuello et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/January-2025-Cuello.html#sonoranDesert #plants #precipitation #germination #betHedging #desert
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Weather the storm by spreading your investments—the benefits of bet-hedging in Sonoran Desert plants
Summary & Analysis by Xochitl Ortiz-Ross of “Shifting Precipitation Regimes Influence Optimal Germination Strategies and Population Dynamics in Bet-hedging Desert Annuals” by Cuello et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/January-2025-Cuello.html#sonoranDesert #plants #precipitation #germination #betHedging #desert
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Nature interrupted: Impact of the #USMexico #BorderWall on #wildlife
Scientists on both sides of the border are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s #biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities try to save animals left without access to #water.
By Iván Carrillo 06.27.2024
"In a vast stretch of the #SonoranDesert, between the towns of #SanLuisRíoColorado and #Sonoyta in northern #Mexico sits a modest building of cement, galvanized sheet metal and wood — the only stop along 125 miles of inhospitable landscape dominated by thorny ocotillo shrubs and towering saguaro cactuses up to 50 feet high. It’s a fonda — a small restaurant — called La Liebre del Desierto (The Desert Hare), and for more than 20 years, owner Elsa Ortiz Ramos has welcomed and nourished weary travelers taking a break from the adjacent highway that runs through the arid Pinacate and Grand Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve.
Landscape showing an arid land with bushes and a mountain in the background. The land is divided by a brown wall. In the foreground is a huge cactus."But the dedication and care of this petite woman go beyond her simple menu. Every two weeks, she pays out of pocket for a 5,000-gallon tank of water to distribute to a network of water troughs strategically placed in the area. By doing so, she relieves the thirst of #BighornSheep, #ocelots, #pronghorn, #coyotes, #deer and even #bats that have been deprived of access to their natural #WaterSources.
"'The #crows come to the house and scream to warn us that there is no more water ... it’s our alarm,' says Ortiz Ramos in her distinct northern Mexico accent. Her words sound straight from an Aesop’s fable, but they take on stark realism in this spot. Covering large parts of #Arizona, #California and the Mexican states of #BajaCalifornia and #Sonora, the #SonoranDesert — along with the #LutDesert in Iran — was catalogued in 2023 as having the #hottest surface temperature on the planet, at 80.8 degrees Celsius (177 degrees Fahrenheit).
"Through narrow steel bollards 3.5 inches apart, I observe lush vegetation surrounding the Quitobaquito spring on the other side of the border. 'This vital source supplies both humans and animals over an area of more than 1 million hectares,' Federico Godínez Leal, an agronomist from the University of Guadalajara, explains to me. But now this crucial water source is restricted to the US side due to the construction of the border wall, and I have come with him here to understand the consequences. Godínez Leal and his team have been documenting the stark difference between each side: Their poignant photographs show skeletons of wild boar, deer and bighorn sheep lying on Mexican soil."
#Extinction #BorderWalls #WaterIsLife #RestoreNature #PreserveNature