Carolyn Smith
Carolyn Smith is one of the more diligent gardeners in the Cherry Street community Garden. “I hate to miss the water day,” say Ms. Smith. After drinking a cup of coffee for breakfast, she walks to the garden, waters the beds, and sees how the other gardens grow. She does this routinely, every other morning. Ms. Smith explains that everyone in the Cherry Street Community Garden has a different gardening style. She believes that the more you water the plants, the better the vegetables grow. This year however, her two beds are growing slowly, but Ms. Smith is not too worried about them because, according to her, “the roots just need to go deeper before it grows up.” As a self-taught gardener, Ms. Smith started gardening when she was three years old, in her aunt and uncle’s backyard in Aberdeen, Mississippi. She remembers, “I know how to grow. No one was there. I just learned on my own.” Soon, this little gardener and her family moved to Milwaukee. It was 1963. Here, while working in her parent’s garden, harvesting vegetables, Ms. Smith realized that the harvest from her garden gave extra nutrition to the ten children in their family, “We are poor, but we are blessed. We got plenty to eat.” Ms. Smith’s mother once worked at a Chinese restaurant. During that time, the whole family could always get a free tray of fried rice with gravy to eat at night. As the middle child, Ms. Smith helped her family in many ways. She went to different pantries to bring food home in order to feed their big family. “I always knew where to find free stuff. I was a big help to the family,” she concludes. This family spirit continues to inspire Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith worked in the nursing field for a very long time—for over twenty years! During this period, she also received a certificate in Business Administration from Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). She put in all this effort in order to get a higher pay. In 2021, she had to quit her job due to an illness. But now that she is better, Ms. Smith is planning for her next part time position as an inspector at voting sites. “I am ready to go back work whenever I can,” she explains, proudly. Being assiduous is not the only thing Ms. Smith learned from her family. She also learned to cook. Ms. Smith used to stand in the kitchen, watching her parents “cooking, and [then] cook it my way.” She learnt a number of southern recipes from her mother. Her father, who had his own fresh produce business, also mastered in the culinary arts. Pickles, cotija cheese, potato pie and fried corn were his best dishes. Ms. Smith is eager to share her recipe of sautéed yellow squash and okra chowder with us. These are her favorite vegetables. Besides yellow squash and okra, she also planted beets, carrots, jalapeño pepper, chard, lima beans this year. Lettuce is on her list of vegetables she plans to plant next year. As a second-year gardener in the Cherry Street Community Garden, Ms. Smith feels good about returning to gardening. She believes that the garden can bring in different faces every year and in doing so, help build a sharing community. “I see abundance, healthiness, no hunger, and the need for [each] other,” she says that while she waters her neighbor’s garden beds. Then she shrugs as she explains, “I like it, as long as I can do it, I will do it every year.” |
Ms. Smith talks about Cherry Street Garden.
Ms. Smith recounts her memory of a Chinese restaurant in her childhood.
Ms. Smith talks about how her parents made a living when they first came to Milwaukee.
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