Rooted in the home garden and in the nation's landscape: Women and the emerging Hebrew garden in Palestine

Abstract

In the early 20th century, the Hebrew women in Palestine found the fulfillment of their economic, social, and emotional needs in gardening. Their gardens were women's means of shaping their surroundings, mainly in the family sphere but also in the community sphere (school and kindergarten gardens, kibbutz gardens). The project was an outcome of the shared interests of pioneer women, city dwellers, and Jewish women's organizations, which differed in their social status and life goals, yet shared a common fertile ground. Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources that deal with women, gardens and the history of the Zionist settlement in Palestine, this paper argues that planting gardens was the Hebrew women's modest way of creating a ‘space of their own’, where they nurtured and fostered beauty, productivity, self-esteem, mutual help and friendship, while overcoming class distinction. Meanwhile, in planting gardens, women gained a share in the Zionist nation-building project, which was primarily male dominated.