Abstract
The tradition of planting and maintaining home gardens is an expression of culture and represents an intense interaction between humans and plants. Forty-nine home gardens in northeastern Thailand were surveyed and found to be quite rich and diverse. The gardens contained domesticated plants, species that are not native to the area, and local non-domesticates. We focused on women's gardening practices as behaviors that create an intensive interaction with the physical and social environment and found that women are increasing their management and manipulation of non-domesticated resources. Home gardens, maintained primarily by women, are part of a continuum of resource areas that are constructed and utilized. The maintenance of specific plants in the gardens provide a source of stability in the rapidly changing cultural, social, and economic environment.
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Additional information
Geraldine Moreno-Black is an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department of the University of Oregon. She has conducted research on human nutrition and human ecology in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Her work in Thailand has focused on the use of non-domesticated plants and animals in the diet and as a source of income. Her interests also include community supported agriculture as a form of environmental activism and conservation, women's issues in nutrition and health, Latina health issues, and Pacific-Rim cuisine.
Prapimporn Somnasang, an Associate Professor in the department of Community Medicine at Khon Kaen University, is trained as a nutritionist and is currently working on her doctorate in nutritional anthropology. She has done work on the nutritional status of women and children in northeastern Thailand, micronutrients, as well as consumption of wild food. She is a recipient of the 1994 Margaret McNamara Award.
Sompong Thamathawan, an Associate Professor in the School of Biology, Institute of Science at Suranaree University of Technology in Nakorn Rachasima, Thailand is a systematic Botanist. He received his Doctorate from Innsbruck University and specializes in palynology and the investigation of vegetation in saline conditions.
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Moreno-Black, G., Somnasang, P. & Thamathawan, S. Cultivating continuity and creating change: Women's home garden practices in northeastern Thailand. Agric Hum Values 13, 3–11 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538222
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538222