The urban campus of American University in Washington, DC is known for its green spaces. Its grounds serve as an arboretum, caring for nearly 400 different species and varieties of woody plants. During this Spring’s Campus Beautification Day, a new…
IntroductionIn the fall of 2016, The Korea Gallery’s scheduled decade-long run at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) was coming close to its end. The question arose – what do we put in its place? A fun challenge, but a…
In 2013, the Neighborhood Farm Initiative (NFI) received a generous grant from the DC Humanities Council to conduct oral histories with community gardeners in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2008, NFI is a community organization dedicated increasing…
Holly Walker is a Plant Health Specialist at Smithsonian Gardens. I sat down to talk with her on November 27, 2017 about entomology, her background and some of her current undertakings with Smithsonian Gardens. Could you tell me about your role with…
I was gardening in our community garden, located in Washington DC, just ten blocks from the Capitol Building, the home of the U.S. Congress. Our community garden is an oasis of peacefulness and my soul is refreshed when I garden there. On 9/11, after…
I grew up gardening with my mother. She is an avid gardener with an encyclopedic knowledge of plants. One of my favorite childhood games to play with her was to point at plants and ask "what's that?" More often than not, she would recite the common…
This story was created by teachers who participated in the Smithsonian Gardens & National Postal Museum professional development workshop "Telling Garden Stories in the Digital Age," July 2014. The teachers were challeneged to explore green…
This story was created by teachers who participated in the Smithsonian Gardens & National Postal Museum professional development workshop "Telling Garden Stories in the Digital Age," July 2014. The teachers were challeneged to explore green…
This story was created by teachers who participated in the Smithsonian Gardens & National Postal Museum professional development workshop "Telling Garden Stories in the Digital Age," July 2014. The teachers were challeneged to explore green…
This story was created by teachers who participated in the Smithsonian Gardens & National Postal Museum professional development workshop "Telling Garden Stories in the Digital Age," July 2014. The teachers were challeneged to explore green…
Since she was young, Maria's dream has been to have a place with lots of flowers. Asking herself to make the dream come true she figured out that the solution was to make a garden for herself and others. I had the chance to interview with Maria and…
Natalie is a teacher, gardener, dancer, and owner of a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. I had a chance to sit down with the amazing multi-tasker and talk to her about gardening. She grew up around gardens and even though gardens have been…
As a child Heisi watched her father grow various vegetables in their backyard in Washington, D,C. It was then that she realized she would like to follow in her father’s footsteps and grow a garden of her own. Though her father was an expert in…
I interviewed Laura G. and asked her several things about her colorful garden. Her garden has grown in the last year. She told me, “gardening takes the stress away from work and dealing with problems daily." Nicolas: Why did you start gardening?…
On May 16, 2014 I interviewed Simon. He has a garden and is growing tomatoes. “Gardening is a very great way to relieve stress and enjoy my own time,” Simon said as he watered his garden. He told me about his childhood and how his father was the one…
Ramon G. is from Toluca, Mexico. Ramon has been gardening ever since he could remember because that’s what he was taught to do since he was young, to work in the fields. Maria: When did your interest in gardening start? Ramon: As a kid I didn’t like…
Sixteen teenagers. Four iPads. Two days. One summer on an urban farm in Washington, D.C. Lots of questions. Every summer Common Good City Farm welcomes a group of local teens as part of their Summer Youth Program. The teens in this employment program…
Until late winter of 2007, my only productive interactions with plants had been with the most common houseplants. Neither our family's efforts during my childhood to grow tomatoes nor my obstinate individual ones to grow watermelons in conditions I…
I am a gardener and veteran garden guide at Monticello. I was inspired by my grandfather Harry, who was a first generation Italian American. My grandfather always maintained a wonderful garden. I have fond memories as a young boy climbing high up in…
For the past three years, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum has been leading a collaborative Smithsonian project on Urban Waterways. The project comes out of a desire to explore the various issues facing urban communities and document the…
For the past three years, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum has been leading a collaborative Smithsonian project on Urban Waterways. The project comes out of a desire to explore the various issues facing urban communities and document the…
The Neighborhood Farm Initiative is a non-profit in Washington, D.C. that brings people together to gain skills to grow their own food in our city. Founded in 2008, our founders wanted to make sure that adults had access to garden education in D.C.…
