Garlic festival shares its namesake’s history

Garlic has a long history in the Santa Cruz River Valley, having been grown by Spanish colonists, the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui people, Chinese immigrants, people of African descent and Mexican farmers.

The Mission Garden will highlight the varieties found on its grounds during the Garlic Festival on Saturday, July 29. It’s returning after its 2021 debut that drew around 500 people.

The garden is an agricultural museum dedicated to preserving the last 4,000 years of agricultural history of the Tucson Basin region through the growth of heritage crops and heirloom trees.

Garden supervisor Emily Rockey said most people aren’t aware that there are different types of garlic.

“That’s why we want to have this festival,” she said.

“There’s so much diversity out there, but all we are used to seeing is the white garlic in the grocery store. At this festival, you will be able to see different shapes and sizes of garlic and flavors. Some are purple-striped, and some are white. Some are hardneck, and some are softneck.”

The garden committees will discuss their garlic at tables set up throughout the grounds.

“We thought it would be cool to let each of our garden committees describe garlic they are growing in their garden and what recipes they would suggest,” Rockey said.

Volunteers will offer garlic tastings, in raw and roasted forms. More than 200 volunteers help the staff to maintain the garden’s 4 acres. This year, a volunteer, who works as a chef, will make garlic ice cream and soup.

Farmers who grow and harvest garlic in the area will bring their goods, and give talks and demos. These local partners include Dreamflower Garden, Breckenfeld Family Growers and the Iskashitaa Refugee Network.

Varieties of garlic will be for sale and attendees can purchase garlic for eating or for growing.

At the Garlic Festival, patrons can explore the gardens and learn more about the native and desert-adapted plants grown onsite. Rockey said events such as the garlic festival can give consumers a greater knowledge of how their food is grown and harvested.

“People make these connections when they come here and have exposure to these plants. It is important for people to know where their food comes from,” Rockey said.

Garlic Festival
WHEN: 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 29
WHERE: Mission Garden, 946 W. Mission Lane, Tucson
COST: Free admission but donations accepted INFO: 520-955-5200, missiongarden.org

This article appears in Jul 20-26, 2023.