Jenn,

For desert hardy edible plants check out the appendix within Brad
Lancaster's book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond. Below
is a link to his website which also has pdf's of these pages. Click on
the title "Multi-Use Plant Lists and Water-Requirement Calculations
for Tucson, AZ" which will take you to the appendix.

For vegetables, Native Seed Search (website also listed below) has a
good list of heirloom seed developed for conditions in the southwest.
However, there are many types of non-native veggies that can be grown
from October through April and I recommend Seed Saver's Exchange, the
third link below.

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/tucson-az-plant-lists/
http://www.nativeseeds.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=1
http://www.seedsavers.org/

Have you planned the space where you will be growing/living? This
group is relatively new and small, but you can ask here for info on
that if you haven't.

Best Regards,
Jaime M. De Zubeldia


--- In tucson_permaculture@yahoogroups.com, "jenn_seaman"
<jenn_seaman@...> wrote:
>
> I am very happy to say that I will be relocating to Tucson from Kansas
> City. I am hoping / planning to fill my small backyard with an edible
> landscape; however, not having lived in the desert before I want to
> make sure that I choose the best trees and vegetables for the area. (I
> am planning to harvest rainwater to help offset watering needs.) Ideas
> for the best citrus trees and vegetables for the area would be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance for your feedback.
> Jennifer
>