Library Re-Imagined: Gardening, Food, and Cultural Connections
by Michelle Beadle Holder, PhD
One of my favorite childhood memories is of me going to the library with my mother and siblings to read and check out books. I continue to enjoy going to the library for academic, professiona,l and personal projects, including those related to food and culture.
For me there is something gratifying, thumbing through the pages of a book, especially when it comes to food. Yet nothing beats the full experience of seeing, touching, smelling, tasting and interacting with edible plants. The experience becomes even more meaningful when contextualized within history and culture.
At the Howard County Library System’s (HCLS) E. Miller Branch, in Ellicott City, Maryland, I had the opportunity to engage multiple senses, contribute to installation of the cultural connection demonstration garden project, and speak to the coordinator of their Enchanted Garden.
The Enchanted Garden:
Walking through the black iron gates of Miller Branch’s Enchanted Garden I felt like I was entering a magical world. This was the same feeling I had when my mother took me and my siblings to get our first library card. I felt like a whole new world had opened up to me. Installed on a quarter-acre piece of land, the main purpose of the library’s Enchanted Garden is to teach children and the larger community about plants.
The Enchanted Garden connects its visitors to the magic of nature by engaging the senses through the multisensory garden and other garden beds. As someone who only has recently become intrigued by flowers. I was drawn to the shaded sitting area which had beautiful hydrangeas. My auditory sense was awakened by the gentle flow of water over rocks in the small stream. It was so lovely to see children with their parents and grandparents as well as people with disabilities enjoy the tranquility of the garden with me. When a volunteer offered me flowers to take home to plant in my own garden, I quickly said yes please. I took a tiny piece of this enchanted wonder with me.
In addition to flowers, the garden includes vegetable demonstration raised garden beds. For example, one garden bed includes examples of superfoods, like spinach and broccoli. There is also the three-season garden, which at the time had cool weather crops. The garden had sections dedicated for blueberries, strawberries and raspberries each of which was loaded with yummy berries.
Cultural Connections Project: Interview with the Librarian
In 2018 I had the pleasure of helping to plant Enchanted Garden’s first cultural connections garden bed together with Ming, a volunteer who was born in China. The Cultural Connections garden bed comprises edible plants that represent cultures from different parts of the globe. These plants include vegetables and herbs often used in Asian cuisines such as the Japanese Cucumber, Thai Basil, and Lemongrass. Other plants include okra which has its origins in West Africa and is often used in dishes as gumbo and other dishes across the African Diaspora. Cilantro which is often included in Mexican dishes such as salsa are also included in the cultural connections garden bed.
I had the chance to talk to Ann Hackeling, the Enchanted Garden Coordinator and Research Specialist. Here is some of what she had to say about the cultural connection project, the inspiration and vision.
Michelle: How did the idea of the Cultural Connections garden bed come about?
Ann: The HCLS Miller Branch is celebrating our diverse community by hosting classes, events, and a new garden bed. Susan Stonesifer, our Miller Branch manager, developed the idea and reached out to several staff members.
Michelle: What is the vision for this garden bed?
Ann: Our vision for the Cultural Connections bed is to forge a connection with our visitors through food and gardening. We hope that visitors to the garden will see part of their history and experiences when they see what's growing in our garden and specifically in this new bed. We strive to create a garden where people feel included, represented, and at home. The new Cultural Connections bed supports this vision.
Michelle: What do you hope visitors will take away from seeing this garden bed?
Ann: We hope visitors will take away four main things. The first is goodwill. To me goodwill has to do with feelings of support, approval, and trust. The goodwill I hope that visitors take away is twofold. It includes generating a feeling of approval and support for our efforts to represent different cultures in our community through gardening. And I hope it says that our library system supports, welcomes, and honors diversity.
Second, I hope that the cultural connections garden project, provides visitors inspiration to grow their own food, and even more to grow something unusual from another land and to embark on the path of learning about a different culture.
The third hope is to inspire visitors to come back, to ask questions, to value what we offer at our library.
Finally, we hope to provide information about vegetables that can be grown successfully in Howard County.
Michelle: How is the Cultural Connections bed similar or different from the other beds and sites in the Enchanted Garden?
Ann: The Cultural Connections bed is similar to other beds because it showcases vegetables, but it is also different because of the vegetables. Each has a different theme that usually celebrates the food. For example, Peppers Galore is all about peppers, Culinary Herbs is all about herbs popular in cooking. The Cultural Connections bed is about our community. It begins to tell the story of who lives in our community and allows food to create bridges between people.
What is the vision for this garden bed?
Our vision for the Cultural Connections bed is to forge a connection with our visitors through food and gardening. We hope that visitors to the garden will see part of their history and experiences when they see what's growing in our garden and specifically in this new bed. We strive to create a garden where people feel included, represented, and at home. The new Cultural Connections bed supports this vision.
It was lovely to both experience and contribute to the development my local library’s vision for greater cultural connection. I learned from a fellow volunteer that amaranth, also know as callaloo in Jamaica, is a popular leafy green in China.
Below is an article to learn more about this leafy green.
Read More…