Desert Harvesters banner. Re-wilding desert cities and suburbs with Sonoran Desert food forests for a delicious and nutritious future.

ABOUT US

Desert Harvesters (DH) is based in Tucson, Arizona, in the beautiful, unique Sonoran Desert. For over twenty years Desert Harvesters has supported and grown community food and water security by inspiring the “re-wilding” of urban and suburban neighborhoods with delicious, drought-hardy, super-nutritious desert food plants, and cooking up affordable, place-based recipes anyone can create in their kitchen: A Grass-Roots Gastronomy!

5 black and white images of native desert foods created using dry-erase art

Welcome to DH’s new website!

This site is under construction until projected completion in 2021. To access the old website, use this LINK. In response to your feedback and input, the new site is designed to be more user-friendly and easier to navigate, visually engaging, organized, interesting, and interactive.

Desert Harvesters is grateful to be able to work within traditional Tohono O'odham,

O'odham Jeweḍ and Pasqua Yaqui homelands, and acknowledge our ongoing commitment

to un-learn and help change colonial behaviors through personal and group work.

Milling & Training Events

For over 16 years Desert Harvesters has offered mesquite pod milling services to the community, using a customized hammermill mounted on a trailer, making this delicious and nutritious local food available and accessible to many. DH also offers pod inspection and mill operation trainings to volunteers and event staff.

Milling and Harvesting Resources

full-color phot of Eat Mesquite and More cookbook

Looking for the Perfect Gift?

Order your copy of Eat Mesquite and More: A Cookbook for Sonoran Desert Foods and Living, or a Delicious Desert Bandana, along with many other wonderful items, available in our online store.

PLEASE NOTE: due to short supply, all cookbook sales are now at retail price.

Buy It Here

Upcoming events

No upcoming events

COVID-19 UPDATE

NEON: Neighborhood Empowerment and Outreach Network

Calling all volunteers!

Are you tech-smart, promotion and social media savvy?

Want to help some well-intentioned Luddites??

Acknowledgements

Thanks for ongoing support and generous funding over many years from the following organizations: Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Santa Cruz River Farmers Market, Las Milpitas Farm; PRO Neighborhoods, Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program; Tecovas Foundation; Threshold Foundation; LUSH; La Cocina restaurant; members of the Tucson community, and the many volunteers, donors, event partners, and old and new friends of Desert Harvesters.
Our fiscal sponsor is Growing Alternative Resource Development and Enterprise Network: GARDEN, Inc.Thanks for ongoing support and generous funding over many years from the following organizations: Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Santa Cruz River Farmers Market, Las Milpitas Farm; PRO Neighborhoods, Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program; Tecovas Foundation; Threshold Foundation; LUSH; La Cocina restaurant; members of the Tucson community, and the many volunteers, donors, event partners, and old and new friends of Desert Harvesters.
Our fiscal sponsor is Growing Alternative Resource Development and Enterprise Network: GARDEN, Inc.

Special thanks and best wishes to DH co-founder Brad Lancaster and his new organization, Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters, for his many visionary contributions to Desert Harvesters.

We look forward to ongoing and new collaborations for Sonoran Desert deliciousness!