Workshops, Tours and events
Natural Building and Desert Foods Series 2023-24
Join us for a series that includes hands-on cobbing, plastering, Delicious Desert foods tastings, cooking & processing- a gathering of opportunities to practice what we like to call "The Art and Craft of Place-based Living". Class size is limited to assure learning opportunities.
October 19 Tour and Tasting, 2-4pm
$45
A natural building intro to and tour of 35 years of cob, adobe, rammed earth and repurposed materials projects, and a desert foods tasting, Class size 10.
November 19 Cob building and Desert Foods Tasting, 10am-2pm
$45
During this event, we will be making and using Cob, an ancient mixture of clay, sand and chopped straw, to continue the seed storage building project. Class size 10.
December 17 Cooking & Cobbing, 10:30am-2pm
$45
A Delicious Desert Cooking class and if weather permits, a bit of Cobbing too! We'll feature a recipe from "Eat Mesquite and More" cookbook and other seasonal food prep tips. Class size limited to 6 participants.
January 21 Cob building and Desert Foods Tasting, 10:30am-2pm
$45
Following up on previous workshops, we will continue cob, bottle wall, sculptural elements and plaster work on a small straw bale / cob seed storage building, and focus on seasonal and stored Sonoran Desert Food Forest plant tastings each month, until the heat returns. Class size 10.
February 18 Cob building and Desert Foods Tasting, 10am-2pm
$45
Following up on previous workshops, we will continue cob, bottle wall, sculptural elements and plaster work on a small straw bale / cob seed storage building, and focus on seasonal and stored Sonoran Desert Food Forest plant tastings each month, until the heat returns. Class size 10.
March 17 Cob building and Desert Foods Tasting, 10:30am-2pm
$45
Following up on previous workshops, we will continue cob, bottle wall, sculptural elements and plaster work on a small straw bale / cob seed storage building, and focus on seasonal and stored Sonoran Desert Food Forest plant tastings each month, until the heat returns. Class size 10.
April 21 Cob building and Desert Foods Tasting, 10:30am-2pm
$45
Following up on previous workshops, we will continue cob, bottle wall, sculptural elements and plaster work on a small straw bale / cob seed storage building, and focus on seasonal and stored Sonoran Desert Food Forest plant tastings each month, until the heat returns. Class size 10.
2024 Summer Events
Saturday, July 20, 10am-1pm:
Tie Dye Workshop and Tasting!
To register for this event or inquire about scheduling a custom walk, tour or event, please contact us at
Workshop Testimonials
"wanted to email and thank you again for hosting us this fall.
We learned so much from our stay with you and the students are carrying so much of this inspiration with them!" University of New Mexico Arts and Ecology Program Director
"I also wanted to thank you for a great Workshop yesterday.
I have so many ideas percolating in my head for the use of cob in our homestead. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and of course Jill's wisdom as well with us." MK
seasonal :: educational :: small batch :: slow food
solar-cooked, farm-made Sonoran Desert foods packed in re-usable containers.
- Mesquite or Prickly Pear/Chocolate Chile Sauce try on ice cream, chevre, fruit
- Mesquite/Prickly Pear Barbeque Sauce/Rub sweet, tart, spicy
- Chutney Barrel cactus, Nopal, seasonal ingredients
- Kimchi & Pickles traditional lacto-fermentation with desert ingredients
- Prickly Pear Juice fresh-frozen
- Salsa seasonal, fresh, desert fruits, chiles, lacto-fermented
- Honey Mesquite and mixed florals
- Saguaro / Prickly Pear Elixirs cordials with Agave spirits, cactus fruit, spices
- Herb Salts, Rubs, Oils Barrel fruit, Olive, Chile, desert herbs, organic Olive oil
- Herbal Tinctures, Bitters, Salves & Liniments Chaparral, Passion Vine, Vitex & more
- Ironwood Tempeh, Miso, Edamame, Palo Verde Bean Products
- Other Products as available cactus cuttings for propagation, buds, fruit & pads of Opuntia/Cereus varieties, desert seeds and plants
- Locally made Arts & Crafts, Pottery, Desert Foods Calendars, selected books
Please note: We are a small wild foods farm and learning center. We offer our products to subscribers and members, by appointment.
FOODS: Pre-paid subscriptions for our seasonal products are available through Community Supported Permaculture (CSP) subscriptions.
Many of our products are live culture and lacto-fermented, and require refrigeration.
Pricing varies depending on season and ingredients.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES: We offer farm tours and tastings by appointment, and schedule seasonal farmstands, harvests and workshops.
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Bean Tree Farm is a United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary.
Salve-ation Testimonial
from Nancy: "I wanted to let you know how effective the Salve-ation Creosote salve is.
For years I have random hotspots of itchiness that pop up and have often been scratched raw.
Your wonderous salve is the only application I've found that calms the area, and so I thank you again."