The Bottle Tree The American Bottle Tree has a rich history in Americana that reaches back to Africa and tracks with the story of slavery in the southern US and more recently adopted as garden art in today’s backyards. The belief that spirits lived in glass bottles dates back to 1600 BC in Africa, [...]
Ron Finley Community activist and “Gangsta Gardener,” Los Angeles Ron Finley is an urban gardener and community activist/ organizer in South Central L.A., where he grew up with seven siblings. His early career began in fashion design, which was quite successful, but once the recession hit, his business collapsed. In 2010, he decided to [...]
Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffery, Sr. Clean Greens Farm & Market, Seattle, WA The Reverend Dr. Robert Jeffery Senior has been a lifelong advocate for building strong and self-sustaining communities. For nearly forty years, he has worked to empower BIPOC communities in the Central District of Seattle. Over the years, he has founded several campaigns [...]
Dr. Christopher Schell Assistant Professor, Sciences and Mathematics, University of Washington, Tacoma Chris Schell is an evolutionary ecologist and spokesperson for environmental justice. Dr. Schell’s research interests mesh with his concerns about environmental racism and the struggle for equity in communities of color. In addition to his teaching and research studies, he often counsels [...]
Dr. Tanisha Williams Botanist, ecologist, and founder of #BlackBotanistsWeek Tashina Williams was born and raised in Washington DC where she learned all about plants and the wonders of nature from her Great Grandmother. Her Great Grandmother grew African Violets that would bloom year-round, and when Tanisha got her house, the first thing she purchased [...]
Nyema Clark Founder and Director of Nurturing Roots Farm, Beacon Hill, Seattle, WA South Seattle native Nyema Clark, a 33 year-old social justice organizer, founded Nurturing Roots Farm on Beacon Hill in 2016 to fulfill a dream – a dream to create something for the community that would involve healthy activities, a place to [...]
George & Mary Jane Washington First Black homesteaders of Washington territory & founders of Centralia, WA George Washington was born in 1817 in Virginia. His father, a slave, was sold and relocated when George was just a baby. His mother left him in the care of a white family, the Cochrans. The Cochrans and [...]
Juneteenth at Kruckeberg Botanic Garden: Celebrating Black Botanists Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of Black slaves in the U.S. following the civil war. While Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery more than two years earlier, Juneteenth commemorates June 19th, 1865 when emancipation was officially enforced in Texas, one of the last slave-owning states. In [...]
Walt’s Notes for March/April Can’t stop it – the advent of spring! Even with our cool to cold weather and quite a bit of rain to further keep temperatures down, buds are emerging, flowers appearing – it’s a busy time for the senses. One of my favorite harbingers of spring is the Oso berry, [...]
Intern Profile: Hillary Ethe | February 2021 By Clare McLean Meet our new garden intern, Hillary Ethe, a horticulture student at Edmonds College. Her work for us is enriched by her background as a birder, volunteer forest steward and science educator. Q: What are you working on in the garden right now? Building beautiful [...]