Ramona Farms Tepary Beans

Owner Ramona Button and her husband Terry have been farming land near Sacaton, Arizona on the Gila River Indian Reservation since 1974. Starting with alfalfa and barley, they then leased additional land from family and the Akimel O’Odham (Gila River Pima) community members to expand their crops to include cotton, corn and wheat. However, when they found an old jar of her father’s tepary bean seeds and the community began to request they grow the Bafv (tepary bean), Ramona knew they had found their mission to bring back this nearly extinct staple. Today, Ramona Farms grows multiple beans and ancient grains including wheat berries, garbanzos, black eyed peas, heritage whole wheat flour, heritage corn products (including corn meal, polenta and grits) and multiple varieties (black, brown and white) of the beloved tepary bean, which has been handed down for countless generations about the Akimel O’Odham peoples.