FULL - Milkweed Soup Cooking Demo and Sampling Celebration
In early summer, Ho-Chunk people celebrate the foraging season for common milkweed flower buds, known as “Mahic” (MAW-heench) in the Ho-Chunk language. The mahic is cooked up into a delicious brothy soup with other vegetables and tiny dumplings.
Milkweed soup tasting and sweetgrass braiding were just two experiences brought together local Ho-Chunk tribal members and garden visitors in the Indigenous Garden at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Join Indigenous Garden facilitator Rita Peters (Ho-Chunk) and Herb Garden horticulturist Erin Presley as we cook up and share the last of our 2022 milkweed harvest along with some insight into Ho-Chunk gardening and culinary traditions!
About Rita Peters, Indigenous Garden Facilitator at Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Rita Peters is a 25-year old student at Madison College and has worked with Olbrich Botanical Gardens for four years, both in outdoor gardening and visitor service positions. She is of Ho-Chunk and Menominee descent and inherited a deep respect for the land from her lifelong involvement in traditional Ho-Chunk culture. This upbringing continues to inspire and inform her pursuit of a degree in Conservation Biology, and she loves to share her cultural heritage in language, song, dance, art, food, and gardening.
About Erin Presley, Herb Garden Horticulturalist at Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Erin Presley left her heart at Olbrich Botanical Gardens while interning there in 2005. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison she gardened for nearly a decade in the private sector before returning to Olbrich in 2014, where she manages the Herb, Woodland, and Pond Gardens.
Part of the Teejop and Beyond: Celebrating Native Nations of the Great Lakes series in partnership with Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison. Visit madpl.org/teejopandbeyond for more info.