Volunteers at the seed planting of the garden last year
Saturday, June 4, 8:00-11:00AM at Mission Garden
Free, with suggested $5 donation at the garden gate
Help us celebrate the inauguration of Mission Garden’s Africa in the Americas Garden. Mission Garden strives to represent crops and cuisines of as many of the cultures that have participated in agriculture here over thousands of years including, now, the people of African descent who have been here for hundreds of years.
This event will include an interpretation of the garden by garden committee members Michael Engs, Floyd Gray, and others. Come see the crops that have been planted, the sculptural “bottle tree,” and other items representative of the gardening and landscape experience of people of African descent in the Americas.
Mission Garden staff and Africa in the Americas Garden committee members will talk about why this garden is important and what it represents.
There will be dance as well by the Barbea Williams Performing Company, and traditional games to enjoy amongst friends within the garden.
Later in the morning dishes will be served that represent seasonal crops available in spring used in some of the favorite cuisine experiences of Africa in the Americas Garden committee members. Squash casserole, green cowpeas, cornbread, okra, grilled onions, lemon pie and peach cobbler are all on the menu. There will be drinks, too.
More about the event:
This is a joyous occasion for garden volunteers and staff who have been working on planning this new garden. A committee has been working for two years on ideas for what we originally called the African-American Garden. The original idea was to represent the gardening and cuisine preferences of African-Americans moving to Arizona in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But through the work of committee members, we came to understand that people of African descent have been here as long as people of European descent. After the Christian reconquest of what is now Spain in the late 15th century, some Moorish people of North African origins stayed and converted to Christianity. They were among the first colonists, military and missionaries coming to the Americas from southern Europe. The Africa in the Americas Garden is an attempt to encompass that earlier heritage as well.
The Africa in the Americas Garden will contain crops originating in Africa (okra, sorghum, cowpeas, watermelon, etc.) as well as crops important to American cuisines of people of African descent.
The Saturday June 4 inauguration of the Africa in the Americas Garden will be an opportunity for people to see what’s been planted so far and to see the other special chairs, planters, and a sculptural “bottle tree” that have been included in the design. You’ll also learn more about the reasoning behind what’s been planted and experience some food that has been prepared for this event.