"In Our Mother's Garden": Ethnobotanical Agency and Wellness among Black American Women Gardeners Born Between 1950-2000

This study explores the relationship between ethnobotanical agency and mental and physical wellness among Black women gardeners born between1950 and 2000. Additionally, it explores how Black women's use of their agency in the context of gardening and, ethnobotanical agency, contributes to their mental and physical health. Black women's ethnobotanical agency is assessed through the measurement of both active plant engagement and passive plant engagement. This work is centered around the historical and cultural context of Black women's plant engagement and the impact of plant use on overall well-being. This study is based on the premise that the Black agricultural knowledge has been cultivated in the southeastern regions of the United States of American, namely through historically Black land grand institutions and notable figures such as Booker T. Washington, Margaret Murray Washington, and George Washington Carver. Additionally, Black women's plant engagement both passive and active, are culturally and geographically constructed. This study argues that Black women gardeners plant engagement both passive and active, aids in mental and physical health. This study addresses the following research questions: 1. Which indicators of plant engagement, both active and passive, are most common among Black women gardeners? 2. Which indicators of physical and mental well-being are common among Black women gardeners? The study employs a survey research design which used frequencies distributions to predict common indicators of passive and active plant engagement as well as mental and physical well-being. A womanist analytical approach will be used to analyze data gathered via the 2019 Botanical Knowledge and Use Questionnaire. The sample included over 99 women who identify as Black and live in the United States of America. Womanist theory was used to analyze race, gender, health, and geography among participants. The research found evidence to support the idea that gardening is a womanist tool to achieve and support black women's well-being. These findings also suggest that women within this population experience slightly more mental health benefits, as opposed to physical health benefits