Taking Root: Community and Culture
While gardeners are growing and nurturing plants in the Danny Woo Community Garden, they are also growing and nurturing their community and the cultural identities that exist within it.
The Danny Woo Community Garden as a Gathering Place
From its beginnings, the Danny Woo Community Garden has been bringing people together. During the early 1970s, a wide range of people including local business owners and civil rights activists joined together to create the Garden, see “Information and History” page. Today, the Garden continues to bring elderly gardeners, volunteers, children, and other community members together.
For the past forty years, the Garden has been a social center where the elderly citizens of the Chinatown-International District can gather – for exercise, to grow healthy food, and to connect with the earth and with one another. In the late 1960s, many social clubs in the Chinatown-International District such as the Filipino Social Improvement Club began to close down. [i] Doug Luna explains that these clubs provided a place for the elderly members of the community to “socialize and … be outside [of] their room,” whether shooting pool or talking over a cup of coffee. Luna also recalls the unusually high number of deaths that occurred during the years following their closure. He blames these deaths on the lack of places for the elderly to socialize. This issue was exacerbated by the fact that neighborhood’s residents by and large lived (and continue to live) in high-rise single room occupancy (SRO) apartments. The arrival of the Danny Woo Community Garden in 1975 helped to alleviate the social isolation felt within the community, and continues to do so today.
Leslie Morishita, former garden manager and architect responsible for the design and construction of the Garden’s tool shed, recalls a particular instance in which the gardeners exemplified the importance of the community built at the Garden: [ii]
Felipe [didn’t] have family nearby, so I think Inter*Im and the gardeners became kind of a family surrogate for him. Everybody [was] very fond of him. When he turned ninety we had a big birthday party in the garden for him. I think that he was very touched. It kind of showed how much people care about the Garden, and also just about Felipe because a ton of people came from all over the neighborhood, not just gardeners.
Gardener Chen Guijiuan explains that the harvest season in particular brings the gardeners together: “In August and September, during the harvest, wow, we have so many squashes, so many vegetables! You give a little, I give a little, everyone gives to each other. It’s so great, all the old people are in such a good mood!” [iii]
Not only does the Garden bring its elderly caretakers together, it also unites the greater community. Volunteers from throughout the city have the opportunity to join monthly work parties; service-learning students from nearby schools and universities work in the Garden; and the Children’s Garden program connects the elderly gardeners with the youth of the community. Additionally, special events such as the popular summer Pig Roast draw people of all ages from throughout Seattle into the Garden to share a delicious meal and good conversation. The Pig Roast, conducted in traditional Filipino style, was started by Uncle Bob Santos shortly after the Garden’s opening and continues to be held by InterIm CDA in the Garden each July.
Preserving Culture
The Danny Woo Community Garden holds great cultural significance in the Chinatown-International District. Not only does it provide a space for immigrant gardeners to observe their cultural practices surrounding food and cooking, but it also serves as a cultural incubator where culture can be passed from generation to generation.
The Chinatown-International District has been a cultural hub throughout Seattle’s history. The neighborhood has been home to immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines, and many other Asian nations since the nineteenth century, making it “uniquely multiethnic.” [iv] The Danny Woo Community Garden allows the immigrant elder gardeners and other community members to express and connect with the cultures of their homelands through the growing of traditional Asian vegetables, social interaction, and the Asian-inspired architecture of the Garden. It has been noted many times that one can often guess where a particular gardener is from based entirely upon the plants that are grown in his or her plot. [v] Two gardeners explain the cultural significance of the Garden: [vi]
Since we are Korean, we eat Korean food. We eat a wide range of Korean food, especially things like lettuce, chives, and spinach. We can get them from the Garden and eat fresh food and we get to enjoy that experience rather than buying produce – we can feel the difference.
Last year I planted a lot of wosun (celtuce). When they came up, I gave some to some friends. They were really happy! ‘Wow, this is so precious! We can’t buy this here!’ I just gave them a few stalks of wosun and they really prized them. They said it has been a long time since they had something so tender, so fresh… This is something money can’t buy.
With the addition of the Children’s Garden in 2009, the Danny Woo Community Garden also helps to preserve the culture of the Chinatown-International District by promoting intergenerational sharing. The Children’s Garden program annually serves approximately 150 students from the surrounding community through garden-based summer camps and school-year education programs. [vii] While these programs touch upon important topics such as healthy eating, the origins of food, and ecological sustainability, perhaps the most important topic is that of culture and the ways it is present in food and cooking. The program provides opportunities for students and elderly gardeners to interact in meaningful ways, be it through cooking lessons from gardeners such as Chen Guijiuan, or through the sharing of traditional gardening techniques. [viii] As noted by Rachel Duthler, by teaching the children of the community about the “unique knowledge being stored in the plants and in the Garden,” we can keep the cultural traditions of the gardeners alive. [ix]
[i] Luna, Doug. Interview. 15 November 2000.
[ii] Morishita, Leslie. 17 November 2000.
[iii] Roots and Fruit.” Online video interview. Vimeo. 2016. Web.
[iv] Hou, et al. Greening Cities, Growing Communities. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2009. Print.
[v] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015 & Morishita, Leslie. Interview. 2000.
[vi] Roots and Fruit.” Online video interview. Vimeo. 2016. Web.
[vii] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
[viii] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
[ix] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
The Danny Woo Community Garden as a Gathering Place
From its beginnings, the Danny Woo Community Garden has been bringing people together. During the early 1970s, a wide range of people including local business owners and civil rights activists joined together to create the Garden, see “Information and History” page. Today, the Garden continues to bring elderly gardeners, volunteers, children, and other community members together.
For the past forty years, the Garden has been a social center where the elderly citizens of the Chinatown-International District can gather – for exercise, to grow healthy food, and to connect with the earth and with one another. In the late 1960s, many social clubs in the Chinatown-International District such as the Filipino Social Improvement Club began to close down. [i] Doug Luna explains that these clubs provided a place for the elderly members of the community to “socialize and … be outside [of] their room,” whether shooting pool or talking over a cup of coffee. Luna also recalls the unusually high number of deaths that occurred during the years following their closure. He blames these deaths on the lack of places for the elderly to socialize. This issue was exacerbated by the fact that neighborhood’s residents by and large lived (and continue to live) in high-rise single room occupancy (SRO) apartments. The arrival of the Danny Woo Community Garden in 1975 helped to alleviate the social isolation felt within the community, and continues to do so today.
Leslie Morishita, former garden manager and architect responsible for the design and construction of the Garden’s tool shed, recalls a particular instance in which the gardeners exemplified the importance of the community built at the Garden: [ii]
Felipe [didn’t] have family nearby, so I think Inter*Im and the gardeners became kind of a family surrogate for him. Everybody [was] very fond of him. When he turned ninety we had a big birthday party in the garden for him. I think that he was very touched. It kind of showed how much people care about the Garden, and also just about Felipe because a ton of people came from all over the neighborhood, not just gardeners.
Gardener Chen Guijiuan explains that the harvest season in particular brings the gardeners together: “In August and September, during the harvest, wow, we have so many squashes, so many vegetables! You give a little, I give a little, everyone gives to each other. It’s so great, all the old people are in such a good mood!” [iii]
Not only does the Garden bring its elderly caretakers together, it also unites the greater community. Volunteers from throughout the city have the opportunity to join monthly work parties; service-learning students from nearby schools and universities work in the Garden; and the Children’s Garden program connects the elderly gardeners with the youth of the community. Additionally, special events such as the popular summer Pig Roast draw people of all ages from throughout Seattle into the Garden to share a delicious meal and good conversation. The Pig Roast, conducted in traditional Filipino style, was started by Uncle Bob Santos shortly after the Garden’s opening and continues to be held by InterIm CDA in the Garden each July.
Preserving Culture
The Danny Woo Community Garden holds great cultural significance in the Chinatown-International District. Not only does it provide a space for immigrant gardeners to observe their cultural practices surrounding food and cooking, but it also serves as a cultural incubator where culture can be passed from generation to generation.
The Chinatown-International District has been a cultural hub throughout Seattle’s history. The neighborhood has been home to immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines, and many other Asian nations since the nineteenth century, making it “uniquely multiethnic.” [iv] The Danny Woo Community Garden allows the immigrant elder gardeners and other community members to express and connect with the cultures of their homelands through the growing of traditional Asian vegetables, social interaction, and the Asian-inspired architecture of the Garden. It has been noted many times that one can often guess where a particular gardener is from based entirely upon the plants that are grown in his or her plot. [v] Two gardeners explain the cultural significance of the Garden: [vi]
Since we are Korean, we eat Korean food. We eat a wide range of Korean food, especially things like lettuce, chives, and spinach. We can get them from the Garden and eat fresh food and we get to enjoy that experience rather than buying produce – we can feel the difference.
Last year I planted a lot of wosun (celtuce). When they came up, I gave some to some friends. They were really happy! ‘Wow, this is so precious! We can’t buy this here!’ I just gave them a few stalks of wosun and they really prized them. They said it has been a long time since they had something so tender, so fresh… This is something money can’t buy.
With the addition of the Children’s Garden in 2009, the Danny Woo Community Garden also helps to preserve the culture of the Chinatown-International District by promoting intergenerational sharing. The Children’s Garden program annually serves approximately 150 students from the surrounding community through garden-based summer camps and school-year education programs. [vii] While these programs touch upon important topics such as healthy eating, the origins of food, and ecological sustainability, perhaps the most important topic is that of culture and the ways it is present in food and cooking. The program provides opportunities for students and elderly gardeners to interact in meaningful ways, be it through cooking lessons from gardeners such as Chen Guijiuan, or through the sharing of traditional gardening techniques. [viii] As noted by Rachel Duthler, by teaching the children of the community about the “unique knowledge being stored in the plants and in the Garden,” we can keep the cultural traditions of the gardeners alive. [ix]
[i] Luna, Doug. Interview. 15 November 2000.
[ii] Morishita, Leslie. 17 November 2000.
[iii] Roots and Fruit.” Online video interview. Vimeo. 2016. Web.
[iv] Hou, et al. Greening Cities, Growing Communities. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2009. Print.
[v] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015 & Morishita, Leslie. Interview. 2000.
[vi] Roots and Fruit.” Online video interview. Vimeo. 2016. Web.
[vii] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
[viii] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
[ix] Duthler, Rachel. Personal Interview. 07 May 2015.
