Sabrina Ho--immigrant home gardens

     I was pleasantly surprised to find a whole range of literature analyzing the meaning of gardens, after doing my presentation on Ecology of Eden. The particular article I found fascinating was Immigrant home gardens: Places of religion, culture, ecology, and family by Mazumdar &  Mazumdar (2012). In past literature, a garden can function for three things: well-being, a reservoir for memories, and identity. These researchers took it a step forward, and analyzed the strategies for gardening in immigrants from  India, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran, Taiwan, and China. The researchers found four additional functions of gardens for immigrants: a sacred space, cultural space, ecological space, and family memorial space. 

    There were a lot of extremely interesting observations in the paper, depending on the religion and region of the person being observed, but there was one I wanted to point out. In regards to gardens as a sacred space, researchers noted that families that were Hindu and Buddhist formulated their gardens differently than other religions. These two religions do not have a mandated day and time to pray and/or meditate; rather, they rely on private everyday meditation in the home, which "becomes a sacred microcosm made meaningful through artifacts, flowers and trees" (Mazumdar &  Mazumdar, 2012). These gardens, in other words, were their altars. Hindu and Buddhist families garnished their gardens with symbols and statues and photographs, with an abundance of nature. I thought that this was a very clear example of how important nature is to religion, and vise versa. For some religions, nature is a part of their prayer and practice. 

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