Roots and Seeds Podcast: English
During the spring and summer of 2019, PTC Associate Veronique West and Dramaturgical Intern Kathy Feng followed a group of Chinese seniors through a season of planting, tending, and harvesting their community garden. The garden project was a collaboration between the Carnegie Seniors Program, led by Doris Chow, and the DTES Neighbourhood House Seniors program, led by Simin Sun.
Today, the audio podcast Roots and Seeds, created from interviews and found sound during the gardening season, has been released in three versions: English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
The final words of the podcast look forward to the 2020 growing season and a resumption of the garden work with heritage seeds and a renewed group energy. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the seniors at risk and the social distancing efforts have put an end to their hopes of planting a garden this year. Although their other needs are being taken care of by programs from DTES Neighbourhood House and Yarrow Intergenerational Society, the camaraderie of the garden is lost. For now.
Meet Wai Yu Chan(陈惠如), Hui Qing Chen(陈惠清), Ya Qin Wan(万雅琴), Rui Lian Xian(冼瑞莲), Hui Juan Xie(谢惠娟), Yu Rong Li(李玉蓉), Yu Li(李子瑜), Yu Ying Guan(关玉英) and Ai Xia Zhang (张爱霞), as they tend the garden at the corner of Hastings and Jackson through the summer of 2019.
Roots and Seeds
Narrated by Kathy Feng
Written and edited by Kathy Feng and Kathleen Flaherty
Translated by Simin Sun
Interviews by Veronique West
Produced by Playwrights Theatre Centre
Music: Chan Wai Fat from the Children of Soul Mountain soundtrack and Flowers on Brocade by Hong Ting used in accordance with the Creative Commons license.