Living Desert Alliance

Keep our Desert and Community Livable and Thriving

October 9, 2025 Having trouble viewing this newsletter? View as Webpage

Desert Foods and Inspirations!

If you've felt a bit trapped from all the summer heat. Now's the time to get out and try something new. Experience the food of our desert and become inspired at Bean Tree Farm and the Santa Cruz Farmers Market.

The Sonoran Desert is a Food Forest

The Bean Tree Farm

Aims to Prove It!

The Bean Tree Farm wants to grow love and hands-on stewardship of our desert environment by helping cultivate a taste for the extraordinary diversity, flavor, and culture of the "Delicious Desert".

Bean Tree Farm blends desert foods, earth care, rainwater harvesting, natural building, and education in a hands-on artisan way. They explore and share ways of living that honor the nature and culture of our desert, inspiring the "rewilding" of urban and suburban communities to build resilience and food security, and empower folks with creative pathways to do so.

Click here to review the latest edition of their newsletter.

Bean Tree Farm is located within a small private residential community and is not open to the public. They ask visitors to sign up to attend, as there are visiting guidelines to share with you before arrival, and parking is limited.

Desert Harvesters Delicious Desert Demos

Santa Cruz River Farmers Market

October 16, 3-6pm

Sponsored by the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, the Santa Cruz River Farmers Market located at 267 S Avenida del Convento, Tucson, features many small gardeners, farmers and specialty food artisans that you won't find elsewhere- including the Abundant Harvest Cooperative.

The Food Bank brings Desert Harvesters to markets to demo and share seasonal and unique desert food recipes and educational materials, like desert plants, foods, cookbooks, bandannas and lots of other goodies!

A great place to visit and learn while supporting our community. Stop by!

See You at the

Tucson Meet Yourself

Festival

October 17th - 19th

The Living Desert Alliance is hosting an information table at the Tucson Meet Yourself festival in downtown Tucson from October 17th to Sunday, 19th. Located in front of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone, this event celebrates the diverse cultures and traditions of Southern Arizona and helps support, honor, and promote the traditional arts and heritage practices of the region

So, come on down and enjoy the festivities. There will be plenty of food, music, dance and folk art, and entry is free.

Make sure to stop by our table for a meet and greet

and to learn more about the Living Desert Alliance.

See You there! Click here to help plan your visit.

We’re (still) Searching for a Bilingual Volunteer!

The Living Desert Alliance would like to have our event material available in both English and Spanish. If you are fluent in both languages and want to help, please contact us. A great way to learn more about our organization and help our mission to Keep Our Desert and Community Livable and Thriving.

A Couple of Updates!

Hudbay’s Open Pit Mine

Water… Impossible!

Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals’ claims it has a “smart” water management plan with a “goal” to “recharge and recycle as much water as we use” for its planned Copper World open pit mine in the beautiful Santa Rita Mountains. Unfortunately, the plan is fundamentally flawed. Click here to review the October 6, 2025 Save the Scenic Santa Ritas article exposing the flawed plan and “The harsh reality (that) Copper World will withdraw tens of billions of gallons of groundwater in the Upper Santa Cruz River Basin with very little of it ever replaced."

***

Benson Aluminum

Recycling Plant

Opposition petition grows to over 3250 signatures!

As reported in our LDA August 4th newsletter, Steel Dynamics, Inc., through its subsidiary, Aluminum Dynamics, is planning to build an aluminum recycling facility near Benson, AZ., right along the San Pedro River. This river is the last free-flowing river in the Southwest and is a biologically rich corridor with protected riparian areas that support rare and endangered wildlife, migratory birds, and clean water for surrounding communities. The emissions, runoff, and industrial activity could permanently damage this fragile ecosystem. Click here to learn more about the opposition and how you can support community efforts to stop this plant from being constructed. Click here to review an executive summary outlining the negative effects the plant will have on the environment and surrounding communities.

🌵

A special THANK YOU to members who have generously donated to our organization.

Your tax-deductible gifts help us protect water resources, assist community partners, and empower members to advocate for our environment.

Donations also fund newsletters, events, and public forums.

Every contribution makes a difference!

Those who would like to donate, click here to support our mission to

Keep our Desert and Community Livable and Thriving.

Living Desert Alliance Website.Stop by for a visit

Living Desert Alliance