You’re invited to help Janos Wilder and the staff from Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails expand the community garden at the Children’s Museum Tucson at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 19.

Wilder and his staff will be planting all sorts of vegetables from Native Seeds/SEARCH, including native watermelon, beans, corn, peppers and others. When the vegetables are ready to harvest, they’ll be used in a special dish at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, with a portion of the proceeds going to the museum.

Wilder does a lot for this community, but this one hits on a lot of levels. There will be other festivities as well, being that the garden work coincides with the museum’s birthday bash.

Here’s the press release with the rest of the details:

Tucson, AZ — The Children’s Museum Tucson is expanding its community gardening on Saturday, March 19 with a little extra help from local chef Janos Wilder. Planting of the garden will take place at 10:00am and will grow regional vegetables and fruits thanks to Native Seeds/SEARCH. The produce will be featured in a special dish at Janos’ DOWNTOWN Kitchen + Cocktails with a share of the proceeds benefitting the Museum.

Families coming down for the planting are encouraged to stay for the Museum’s Birthday Bash also taking place on Saturday, March 19 from 10:00am to 2:00pm with free admission all day.

The planting list includes Hopi Red Dye amaranth, Alamos amaranth, O'odham Pink beans, Maricopa sweet corn, Havasupai Mix sunflower, Tohono O’odham Yellow-Meated watermelon, Del Arbol de Baja California Sur chile, Negro de Valle chile, Ordoño Wenks Yellow Hots chile, Mrs. Burns' Famour Lemon Basil, Texas Wild Cherry tomato, Punta Banda tomato as well as a “For the Birds and the Bees" Wildflower Mix.

The Children’s Garden is made possible through the generous support of the Children’s Museum Tucson’s Board of Directors and Slow Food Tucson.

Slow Food Tucson is affiliated with Slow Food USA, which supports Slow Food International. Slow Food is a global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment.

Native Seeds/SEARCH conserves, distributes and documents the adapted and diverse varieties of agricultural seeds, their wild relatives and the role these seeds play in cultures of the American Southwest and northwest Mexico. They promote the use of these ancient crops and their wild relatives by gathering, safeguarding, and distributing their seeds to farming and gardening communities.