This afternoon we drove to the
Farm at Agritopia in Gilbert because our references suggested that we could purchase
Tepary beans* in the store at this complex.
There were no beans to be had and, except for the eateries on site, not much of anything going on there at this time of year. However, it was as weird and wonderful as the coined phrase,
agritopia, would suggest!
The community was kind of freaky in appearance i.e. not southwestern in any way (lawns!) - almost like the neighbourhood in the Jim Carrey movie "The Truman Show" , where an
insurance salesman/adjuster discovers his entire life is actually a television show.
Apparently, the land was originally reclaimed from the desert in the 1920s, to grow cash crops such as alfalfa, cotton and wheat. Over the years, under the stewardship of the Johnson family, the land became a vision to preserve agriculture in an ran area rapidly becoming urbanized.
They "worked with land planners, builders and the Town of Gilbert to create Agritopia a community that preserved agriculture in an urban-relevant way, and village life with vibrant connected neighbour hoods. commerce, education and open spaces. The Farm was carved out of the original farm, destined to become a permanent expression of the joy and timelessness that family".
At the Agritopia website you can
read their story and
see a film of the site.
*Tepary bean, is native to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico and has been grown there by the native peoples since pre-Columbian times. It is more drought-resistant than the common beans and is grown in desert and semi-desert conditions from Arizona through Mexico to Costa Rica.
We tasted them in hummous at the Desert Botanical Garden when RL's brother and wife were here in Feb. ; they wanted seed to attempt to grow them in Alberta!
