Old Town University Blog

Elaine Kimmerly spent her days in a high school classroom for parts of four decades.  But retirement three years ago has allowed for a full-time return to her favorite childhood hang-out -- her garden.

Kimmerly’s father grew up on a grape farm in Patras, Greece, before emigrating to the United States as a teenager.  Her mother’s parents came here from Italy, and her Italian grandmother supported herself in part with a huge vegetable garden and making the best Italian sausage Kimmerly has ever tasted. As a child in Gary, Indiana, she helped her parents raise the usual tomatoes, peppers and vegetables.  Also Mediterranean herbs like oregano, basil and mint. Her parents were restauranteurs and both shared in the cooking; Kimmerly grew up eating dandelion greens picked on country roads  and thinking the only way to eat chicken was with lemon juice and oregano. Iced tea and lemonade were flavored with fresh mint, and a sprig of basil often could be seen popping out of her dad’s shirt pocket. Sundays revolved around a dining room table filled with family and Greek and Italian cuisine.

Kimmerly’s garden in Frankenmuth is anchored by heirloom tomoatoes, varieties of peppers, eggplant, numerous other vegetables, herbs and perennials. She dips into container gardens, combining flowers and herbs that decorate her back patio and those of her friends. For 28 years Kimmerly has been a member of the Herb Society of America, and served three two-year terms as chairperson of Frankenmuth’s Mid-Michigan unit. She also has taught “Intro to Herbs” classes for the Frankenmuth Community Education department, and for more than 10 years has lectured during Herb Day at the Country Shopps in Millington.

She graduated from Purdue with both bachelor and master’s degrees in social studies education. She also taught Spanish and psychology during a 30-year career that finished after more than two decades at Vassar High School.