Because of its hard kernels, huruskwapu is most resistant to storage pests and traditionally was the preferred variety for storing. When all the grinding was done by hand, women preferred using maasiqa'o because it is soft and easier to grind, but it did not give as good a blue color to food as sakwaqa'o or huruskwapu. Another method of cultivation involves gardening on self-irrigated terraces along the mesa walls below villages. Terrace irrigation is possible because of the perennial springs at each village that originally permitted settlement. Some of the garden terraces at Bacavi have been in use since C.E.1200.
Traditional crops grown in terrace gardens include melons and squash.
Farming and gardening are essential elements of Hopi culture - acts of faith that provide religious focus. Hence most Hopi men still cultivate fields and the women maintain gardens. However, in recent generations, especially over the last 50 years, the acreage under cultivation has significantly declined. This is because the Hopi no longer rely on their fields and orchards for food, and participation in the market economy has increased the availability of wage employment on the Reservation.