Celebrating early-settlers F
Ukrainian pioneers put their heart and soul into their gardens
or Canada’s Ukrainian pioneers, gardening was about survival, not therapy. Traditional gardens,
therefore, are an important part of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in Alberta, an open air museum built to resemble pioneer settlements here. By 1930, a quarter-million people from western Ukraine had immigrated to Canada, setting up homesteads across the prairies. The largest number settled in central Alberta. The historic site is located where the
first Ukrainians settled in 1892, north- east of Edmonton. Here, more than 30 buildings along with 10 heritage gardens, eight flower beds and four hot beds, all pay tribute to the history and lifestyles of Alberta’s early settlers. The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage
Village Society was founded in 1971, and in 1975 the province of Alberta acquired the site for a “living history” museum that would honour the contri- butions of these early pioneers. While the museum’s mini-galleries give historical
interpretation to the Life was hard for the Ukrainian pioneers, but flowers relieved the day to day dreariness.
lives of Ukrainian settlers, the gardens provide a different kind of insight. Each of the heritage gardens is attached to a different pioneer residence, whether a burdei (a crude dugout, circa 1900) or a 1918 farmhouse. Ukrainians, like many eastern Europeans, are known for their hearty character, strong work ethic and will to survive. These pioneers put their heart and soul into the soil, and their gardens were a source of not only food, but of satisfaction. Canada’s early settlers had few luxuries, and a well- kept garden was a source of pride to display. Today, that pride is reflected in the
historic gardens of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage interactive museum. All gardens in the village contain vari- eties of produce grown by the pioneers, and are tended and harvested by tradi- tional methods. Simply laid out plots produce pota-
For pioneers gardening was about survival. 54 • Fall 2016
toes, parsnips, beets, beans and cabbage, while frequently used plants such as lettuce, parsley, onion and garlic are placed close to the entrance of a pioneer home. Some of the plants serve both nutritional and medicinal purposes. Early settlers used worm- wood to ease stomach pains, and mint,
localgardener.net
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