Cambodian refugee, Kimli Sieng, utilizes P-Patch community garden to grow herbs that remind her of home
I was in five refugee camps including refugee camp Khao I Dang, one in Thailand, and another in the Philippines. I stayed in the camps for five years. I came here in 1987.
By SEAneighborhoods
Front Porch
June 7, 2021
Excerpt:
What is your favorite vegetable/plant to grow that connects you to your family heritage?
I don’t have a favorite plant, I just plant what I eat! Like mint, chives, lettuce, Asian parsley, watercress, lemongrass. I cut the lemongrass then put them in water and grow them in my house. Also, Thai basil. I buy it from Chinatown, then I eat the leaves and keep the stem and plant them here. This here [pointing to plant] looks like taro, but it’s not taro; it doesn’t have roots like potato. You cut the stem and cook it. In Vietnam, they make salad; we make sour soup, or you can fry it.
You grow only one time, then you just put compost on it and you keep getting more babies! Then I share the leaves and the seeds. Today I brought cilantro seed and mustard greens to plant. In Vietnam they use these greens to make a pancake called bahn xeo.
How does growing food help you maintain a connection to your heritage?
When I finished school, I moved to Phnom Penh so I was in the city. But my family on my father’s side grows food. They live in the countryside in Kompong Thom. They have rice fields and plant fruit all around the house.
