food growing in Tucson AZ?

[wayfinder]

Any recommendations for food growing in an apartment in a desert?  Given the size constraints of apartment living, I'm looking for ideas of outdoor container growing, or indoor ideas.

I'm thinking I can probably manage an indoor table of small potted culinary herbs (thyme, mint, rosemary, etc).  Aloe vera will probably be fine outside (being a desert plant).

[Gagnante]

Container gardening can be a challenge in the desert because the plant roots are not well protected from the heat.  If you do plant in containers outdoors, it's a good idea to use light colored pots, keep the pot itself out of the direct sun and nest them if possible with some insulating material in between them and a larger surrounding pot or box.  The Desert Planning Calendar on this page is aimed a little more at the Phoenix valley, but will give you some idea of what food items thrive at different times of year.  http://www.urbanfarm.org/freebies/  You can grow A LOT of food in the desert, and if you plant appropriate foods at the correct times of year and use your water resources wisely, you can be eating food you grow yourself pretty much year round.

[kissthesky]

I'm from Tucson! I'm not a master gardener but as gagnante mentioned there are definitely some foods that grow surprisingly well in the dessert. Lots of other fun stuff grows well there too, for example prickly pear cactus jelly is delicious :) I'd head on over to the farmers market to see what local people are growing and ask them for tips. And an apartment is fine, not everything can handle the soil and/or harsh sun outside anyway. Do you have a balcony? Upside down tomato growing is pretty easy anywhere. Obviously you can grow all the regular garnishes/herbs inside easily with a regular setup, or can get super fancy and use an Aerogarden or something similar. The UofA has some pretty good suggestions too for which foods and when: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1005.pdf

[lthenderson]

Consider growing sprouts indoors as well as herbs. Very easy to do, cheap and nutritional.

[Footsore Rambler]

The UA Ag extension mentioned above is a great resource, and so is Native Seed Search: http://www.nativeseeds.org/learn/gardening