About
The Heartland Trial at Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) is an initiative designed around three main objectives:
To provide food and medicine from plants grown on the property for the City of Superior, Queen Valley, Kearny and other nearby Copper Corridor towns, without degrading the site in the process.
To create a cooperative partnership that includes local residents, working with experts in wildland agriculture, rainwater harvesting, construction, and other areas.
To demonstrate and educate local community members and anyone worldwide in high desert environments about the process of creating and benefitting from a sustainable desert food forest.
The Land
Boyce Thompson Arboretum has been generous in loaning us five acres of pristine Sonoran Desert Land adjacent to the Arboretum. The property is close to US 60 and bordered by Queen Creek to the south and the Tonto National Forest to the north. The land slopes gently to the south and west, and the slope is covered in grasses and other native plants such as creosote, jojoba, wolfberry and prickly pear. Near the Queen Creek boundary of the property, there is a fertile, shaded floodplain with a small tributary wash. This area supports legume trees including mesquite and palo verde trees in addition to many grasses and forbs; it is also home to a large number of wild animals including mule deer, javelina, jackrabbits and others.
Progress & Plans
In the spring of 2024, the team began to map the site, with the intent of future rainwater harvesting activities. During the summer, the team and a small group of local volunteers (thank you!!) have been moving rocks and debris to construct little dams along the small tributary wash. There hasn’t been enough rain this summer to see if these dams have successfully slowed the flow of water through the wash, but we’re hoping the winter rains will be more generous.
Plans for next year include looking at sheet flow on the slope, and marking contour lines to build larger rock dams. None of these structures is permanent; they can all be removed fairly easily should the need arise to return the land to its original state.
