My Asian Garden
Huei Young shares a story about how her garden came about.
Submitted by Huei Young 10/06
This entry relates to the present, past.
Categories: Coming to Davis, Nature, Unforgettable Experiences.
My Asian garden has become familiar to many of the people of Davis and beyond as a site for charitable fund-raisers and as an excursion for California garden clubs. However it is not widely known that my husband Frank and I also are very much a part of both historical and present-day Davis.
I was born in China, but grew up in Taiwan and immigrated to America in 1969. My father had a love for flowers and nature, however there was not room at our home for a garden, so he expressed himself through his flower and landscape paintings. He was the inspiration that led me to create my garden. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could come to enjoy it, but I feel that I represent him by sharing my garden with others.
My husband, Frank, was the son of the first Chinese immigrant to settle in Davis. His father came to the United States from Canton in 1897 and worked at a variety of jobs, including at a lumber mill in Placerville and on riverboats between Colusa and Stockton. In the 1920s, he settled in Davis and opened the Sacramento Restaurant on G St. Although he spoke only limited English, all of his dishes were American fare. The only Chinese food served was the chop suey Frank's mother would make for special guests. Many of the well-known figures of early Davis were regular customers at the restaurant, including Joe Pence, Sam Brinley, and Bluitt Howatt, but the family delighted in feeding the less fortunate as well.
Together, we carry on this tradition, with both of us collecting food for distribution to feed the hungry and through my cooking at Davis Community Meals and for special occasion dinners at I-House and Habitat for Humanity.
So both of us have fufilled our family dream of benefiting others by sharing in the things we love right here in Davis.