Blanche Epps

Blanche will teach her grandchildren, neighborhood children, and participants from the Pentridge Children’s Garden her lifelong art of gardening that was passed on to her from her grandmother, uncle, and aunt in South Carolina. Blanche’s gardening is rooted in her Blackfoot and African American heritage and the struggles and triumphs of these two communities. As an elder, Blanche wants to share a sense of cultural identity and history with the young people she teaches, showing them how to grow food their ancestors grew and eat the food their ancestors ate. She hopes this sharing of information and family secrets will reconnect people to the natural cycles and functions of the earth, so that when she asks young people where their food comes from, the only answer will not be “from the corner store or grocery store.” This horticultural art of her indigenous and African ancestors will help her teach a community of young people to feel the earth between their fingers, to know the best time to plant, to listen to the moon for the secrets of an abundant harvest.