How often do you get the chance to try an exclusive garlic loaf from Barrio Bread, learn how to grow your own garlic, and even taste garlic-flavored ice cream? Well, you can at Mission Garden’s Garlic Festival from 8 – 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 29, of course.
Also, aside from knowing that there won’t be any vampires at the event, the Garlic Festival is absolutely free to attend at 946 W. Mission Ln. Mission Garden’s staff and volunteers planted multiple varieties of garlic during the winter and have been tending it carefully for months. Now, they’re excited to show off what they’ve grown at the Garlic Festival in July.
It’s a great opportunity to learn about garlic, how to grow it here in Tucson, and then to taste it in a variety of ways.
Eating at the Garlic Festival
Starting when the garden opens at 8 a.m., the Garden Shop will have 50 loaves of garlic bread made by Don Guerra at Barrio Bread. This is a special garlic loaf not regularly offered at Barrio Bread and made with garlic grown at Mission Garden.
There’s a limit of one loaf per customer. If you’re familiar with the long lines at Barrio Bread’s shop near Broadway Boulevard and Country Club Road then you know it’ll be wise to show up early.
Over in the Garden’s Event Ramada, Mission Garden volunteers will be offering tastings of three specialty garlic — Chinese, Italian, and Mexican — each offered raw, sauteed, and roasted for tasting comparison.
In Mission Garden’s Placita, guest vendors and local farmers will be selling their garlic and produce.
These include Breckenfeld Family Growers and Dreamflower Garden. Iskashitaa Refugee Network will offer their prepared garlic goods and Tucson Chocolate will feature garlic ice cream, made with sweet roasted garlic and dates. Chef Enrique Alcantar will be making a garlic dish as well.
Agua Frescas will be available in the Placita.
Other Things To Do
Garlic will be on sale, both for culinary use and for planting in your own garden. The garlic meant for planting will come with growing instructions. While you are at the Garden Shop, pick up I’itoi’s onions for planting and inspect our new collection of seed packets from Native Seeds/SEARCH.
Explore the Timeline Gardens to learn about each distinct garlic variety grown by each cultural group, and take home different traditional recipes suggested by garden volunteers and chefs.
Lastly, don’t forget to enter the raffle for a chance at winning a fabulous gift basket of garlic-related products.
Mission Garden is located at 946 W Mission Ln. For more information about the Garlic Festival and more, visit missiongarden.org.
Article written by:
Matt Sterner
More about MattAt a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.
He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.
If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.
