Raman Tate
Raman Tate is a person who shows love and is easy to love. His handshakes are strong and endearing. He is able to form a genuine human relationship with others. As one of the earliest gardeners, Mr. Tate has contributed to the Cherry Street Garden Club for 9 years. He has been involved with the Cherry Street Community Garden since 2013, and while he was shy at first, he is now an outspoken member of this community. Everyone notices when he is missing. Mr. Tate appreciates that the community has brought him many good friends. He explains that “One thing I love about Cherry Street Garden is [that] we all stick together.” He remembers the time he started gardening, “I never had a garden when I was a kid”. Fellow gardeners helped him water the plants, weed, and pick vegetables. They cooked the harvest and shared food with him. But Mr. Tate was a quick learner. Soon he learnt to grow green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cabbages, mustard greens, sweet chard, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and okra. “They all are my equally favorite” he explains as he shows us around his two garden-beds. Mr. Tate waters his plants liberally, trying to soak the garden beds, because, according to him, “this is the most important thing to do if you want the garden to turn out right.” Mr. Tate grew up in Milwaukee around the Midtown and Park View neighborhoods. He moved several times until he moved out of his mom's house and started living in Cherry Court at age of twenty-eight. Mr. Tate has been living here since 2012. He loves walking around his neighborhood. We see him smiling, and chatting with his neighbors or staff, connecting with the people he encounters. Mr. Tate is fun to be with; he maintains a friendly relationship with everyone at the Cherry court building. He chats and hangouts with people at the lounge, the lobby, and when they meet at the Cherry Street Garden occasionally. At age of fifteen, he joined John Marshall High School. He clearly remembered that his first day is a Monday, September 14, 1998. He used to walk to school from his house every morning, from 44th St & Meinecke to 64th St & Capital. The walk usually took around an hour. “That was my slimmer day,” He added. He remembers his teacher Peacy Johnson who was his mentor. “God sent her as an angel to me," explains Mr. Tate. He adds with a mischievous smile that he did give Ms. Johnson a little bit of hard time! Mr. Tate is caring, loving, and kind. During one of the weekly Garden Club meetings, Mr. Tate baked two delicious pound cakes for everyone to share. He likes to bake and cook the veggies that he grows in his garden. Although he cooks everything from greens to cabbage rolls to pork steak rice and gravy, his real specialty is the pound cake that he shared. It is a recipe he got from an old friend and good neighbor, Sally. His mother taught him how to cook, and he has been cooking for over twenty years. Mr. Tate is also very good with numbers. He can complete mathematical operations within seconds without writing them out on paper. He tells us, “I solved them within the snap of a finger in my head.” He is also good with dates. He can swiftly calculate the day when an individual was born if he is given the day, month, and year of birth. He remembers the exact dates of important events in his life and important dates such as the birthdays or anniversaries of other club members. These are some of the unique abilities Mr. Tate possesses. Mr. Tate loves to make other people smile. He does so by cracking jokes and doing things for other people. Every week he helps set up the Garden Club meeting, “The garden means a lot to me, it’s hard to explain. It just does,” he explains. He believes that the garden “can put a positive dose in people’s head!” |
Mr. Tate shares why he joined cherry garden club and his experience of being a part of the club.
Mr. Tate recalls list of the places he has moved out and live in.
Mr. Tate talks about his special talent with number that he is proud of.
Mr. Tate talks about how he walked to school every day.
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