A Hohokam Pithouse Replica, "Three Sisters" Crops, and Metates - OH MY!
Are you ready to help our garden thrive and continue growing? We’re looking for cash, gift card donations, and items needed to nurture and beautify our garden at Steam Pump Ranch.
NOTE: To view an interactive flyer where you can click on links for more details on items on the list that are underlined, click here to access the interactive flyer.
Every contribution supports the continued growth and beauty of the Heritage Garden and surrounding spaces at Steam Pump Ranch. With your help, we can:
Email us at info@ovhistory.org — we’d love to hear from you.
Garden Volunteers Planting Wildflowers, February 2026
Garden Volunteers on Wednesday Meet Ups, February 2026
Check out our volunteer page for other opportunities—whether you come solo, bring a friend, or join as a group, you’re always welcome!
On February 18, 2009, the Town of Oro Valley Resolution (R)09-10 authorized the Oro Valley Historical Society to oversee planting, maintenance and touring of the garden. The garden site location was determined according to the Master Plan for Steam Pump Ranch 2005.
Lucy’s Warbler Nest Box in Heritage Garden made by Denzil Walker 2025
In 2011 the Tohono O’odham Nation generously funded the Heritage Garden project. Their support made it possible to install protective fencing to keep wildlife out, develop curriculum for local schools, and purchase essential garden supplies.
In 2020 – Bryan Family Trust provided funding for raised beds, tanks, soil, seeds, educational program lesson plans.
In 2025 Home Depot in Oro Valley continued this spirit of support by replacing the fencing and providing materials to build a shed – keeping our tools safely stored and sheltered from the elements.
The Heritage Garden is a living classroom, preserving traditional Native American crops and sharing the agricultural knowledge that has shaped this region for centuries.
Based on the “three sisters”: Tohono O’odham 60-day corn, tepary beans, and Tohono O’odham squash – the garden may at times also feature sunflowers, heirloom melons, tomatillos, peppers, squash, beans, okra, onions, cucumbers, herbs, amaranth, tobacco, and chiles. These heat, drought, and alkaline-tolerant plants reflect the agricultural knowledge of the desert’s first farmers.
Corn in different forms
The garden also includes Hohokam grinding mortars of bedrock that were donated to the Oro Valley Historical Society by Henry K. Zipf, great grandson of George Pusch.
Looking to purchase desert seeds? Learn more about Native Seeds/SEARCH who conserves and shares the seeds of the people of the desert Southwest and Mexico.
Come to the Heritage Garden at Steam Pump Ranch to see a replica of a Hohokam-style pit house based on one discovered in Honey Bee Village that was probably twice the size of our model!
Pit House Replica at Steam Pump Ranch in the Heritage Garden
In this Hohokam Pithouse video, Allen Denoyer, a Preservation Archaeologist with Archaeology Southwest, explains how these houses were made by the Hohokam, ancestors of Tohono O’odham in Southern Arizona. Download a rough transcript of this video provided by Pima Community College.
The replica is based on houses that were discovered during excavations at Honeybee Village in the Rancho Vistoso area. See this replica in the Heritage Garden at Steam Pump Ranch in Oro Valley, Arizona.
Thanks to the dedication of our incredible volunteers—led by Joyce Rychener—and the many community groups who joined us for days of service, the Heritage Garden has flourished in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
Honey Bee Village is one of the largest Hohokam villages in the northern Tucson Basin. Lying near the base of Pusch Ridge in the Rancho Vistoso development, it was occupied from about A.D. 750 to A.D. 1300. This prehistoric village covers about 75 acres. The core area, consisting of approximately 12 acres, contains a ball court for social gatherings, a large walled compound, and a series of trash mounds containing artifacts that represent nearly 500 years of occupation. An estimated 150-200 pit house structures may exist at the village.
The nearby Sleeping Snake Village also contained a ball court and a large number of pithouses.
Watch excavations of AD 1000 Hohokam homes and discover how this agricultural society lived through the items and structures they left behind. In this video, Henry Wallace, Senior Research Archaeologist with Desert Archaeology, Inc., provides information about the Hohokam people and their life at Honey Bee Canyon, and the excavation of their village
Preservation of the core area of one of these Hohokam villages is essential to gaining a better understanding of the thousands of years of history in Oro Valley. Archaeological excavations were conducted at the site in 1988.
Go to our video library to find more historic information.
Lettuce & Landscapes Jack Bros. Lettuce Packing Sheds, Somerton, AZ – Oracle Historical Society
Did you know lettuce was first grown in Arizona during the territorial days, but didn’t become an important crop until the late 1970s? Today, thanks to the favorable climate of the Yuma County area, Arizona ranks second in lettuce production in the United States.
Lettuce & Landscapes PP 2025 Old West Icons Bronco Busters – Oracle Historical Society
Oracle Historical Society Historian Royal John Medley shares the fascinating story of Arizona’s lettuce industry in this colorful illustrated presentation.
Click here to view the presentation in which all contents and intellectual property are protected by Copyright 2025 by Royal John Medley.
Desert Giant Brand, Mitchell Packing Company, Phoenix, AZ
Lettuce and Landscapes was awarded the status of “Best Paper Presented” in 2016.
Oracle Historical Society – visit the museums and explore the town.
Art, Adoption, and Appropriation – Hopi Imagery and the Arizona Citrus Industry – Circa 1920’s -1950’s
Lettuce and Landscapes – An Illustrated History of Commercial Row Crops in Arizona (Circa 1920’s-1960’s)
Step into the Legend of Earl Linwood Francis – An Arizona Life (7/25/1931 – 8/15/1966)
Watch Labeled as Art on the AZPM YouTube Channel – John Royal Medley Jr. has collected more than 280 citrus crate labels that create a unique lens through which to view over a century of Arizona’s history. Themes include Victorian, tourism and cowboy and there is a surprising story involving a Sun Devil.
ARIZ-GLO Brand – Citrus and Saguaros Oracle Historical Society Darling Groves Chevrolet Truck
Take a stroll in the past with postcards and citrus crates from 1900s – 1950s in this beautifully illustrated presentation by Oracle Historical Society Historian Royal John Medley.
Click here to view the presentation in which all contents and intellectual property are protected by Copyright 2025 by Royal John Medley.
ARIZ-GLO Brand – Citrus and Saguaros Oracle Historical Society – Cactus Pete
Ariz – Glo Brand, McKellips Mutual Citrus Growers, Inc., Mesa, AZ
Oracle Historical Society – visit the museums and explore the town.
Art, Adoption, and Appropriation – Hopi Imagery and the Arizona Citrus Industry – Circa 1920’s -1950’s
Lettuce and Landscapes – An Illustrated History of Commercial Row Crops in Arizona (Circa 1920’s-1960’s)
Step into the Legend of Earl Linwood Francis – An Arizona Life (7/25/1931 – 8/15/1966)
Watch Labeled as Art on the AZPM YouTube Channel – John Royal Medley Jr. has collected more than 280 citrus crate labels that create a unique lens through which to view over a century of Arizona’s history. Themes include Victorian, tourism and cowboy and there is a surprising story involving a Sun Devil.
Archaeologist and dedicated garden volunteer John Barthelme captivated visitors with a hands-on demonstration of traditional stone tool making using obsidian.
Guests also had the opportunity to view fascinating displays of African animal bones, along with replica human and prehuman skulls—bringing ancient history vividly to life.
School Field Trip with Paul Canez Discussing Cacti
In October 2025, our naturalist, Paul Canez, took a group of seven children and their parents on an educational tour of the Sonoran Desert. The tour started at Honey Bee Canyon, where they explored the flora and fauna within the park. They then traveled the short distance to Steam Pump Ranch to the Heritage Garden, where the children explored a replica of a Hohokam home, learned how to use a metate to grind corn, and picked carrots, tomatoes, squash, and other vegetables.
A big treat was that our Heritage Garden Director, Joyce Rychener, helped them find a unique Tohono O’odham watermelon that had been growing all summer. The boys and girls were able to experience their amazing taste and smell firsthand. It was a truly memorable experience for the children as well as for their families.
School Field Trip with Paul Canez and Joyce Rychener_October 2025
