Jute tastes like spinach. Which makes sense, considering it’s sometimes referred to as “Egyptian spinach.” At least here in the United States, the ancient plant doesn’t make its name as a gratifying source of vitamin A, but rather for its strong fibers, a favorite among ropemakers as well as textile artists like Molly Koehn. A former artist-in-residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC), Koehn now volunteers with and finds creative inspiration in the museum’s 10,000-square-foot craft garden.

“This has been a really nice way for me to get to know the environment [in Houston], through the lens of a plant, by exploring how to work with these plants,” she says. She’s found that the ideal retting process for the garden’s jute, for example, involves soaking it to separate the usable fibers from the stiffer woody stem for 60 days rather than the recommended 30.

All 70 species represented in the garden can be used to create any number of handicrafts. There’s the jute, of course, which along with the ramie growing next to it is valued for its coarse, durable fibers ideal for burlaps and similar materials. Cotton, too, which needs no introduction. Turmeric, madder, and three different varieties of indigo represent some of the plants humans have traditionally used as dyes.

For paper, there’s papyrus—usually associated with the ancient Egyptians—and the aptly named pith paper plant, from China. Job’s tears grow ready-made beads, already hardened and sporting a convenient hole through the center ready for threading. And the points at the tip of agave leaves can be used as a needle (though perhaps too thick for stringing a bracelet of Job’s tears, like one Koehn made for herself).

The craft garden has been a part of HCCC since 2003, two years after the museum opened to the public. It’s not the only such garden in the country, but according to HCCC associate deputy director Natalie Svacina it’s among the most comprehensive, in terms of both the number of plants and the ability to observe them throughout their entire life cycle. Other institutions reach out to the museum on occasion to ask for advice.

The garden originated from the efforts of Marion Sullivan, Kathy Perkins, and the late Lynn Gammon. Themselves artists, they worked with the museum to conceptualize and plant the beginnings of a truly special space. “They just thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be really cool if we could grow these things and have them, not only for educational purposes, so people could see where cotton came from to make all our cotton clothing, but also have it for the resident artists to use to make things, and for other artists in the community to use and make things with?’” says Sandi Elsik, an HCCC volunteer who has served as the lead gardener for the past nine years. She still consults with Sullivan from time to time.

Around 10 volunteers visit the site once a week. They all try to get together every year for the “wood oats party,” a lighthearted name for pruning back the titular plants as they start to wither, usually in January. Elsik is not a fan of seeing too much brown among the varying green hues. While some die-off is necessary to attract beneficial insects, she wants the craft garden to welcome visitors with a lushness that comes only from tender loving care. She and her partner come once a week, weather permitting, for watering and weeding.

While the garden doesn’t generate enough to supply all the materials for HCCC's monthly Hands On Houston events, some of its harvest finds its way into education initiatives. Koehn is planning to use some umbrella sedge for a basket-weaving class she’s teaching in October, and for another workshop she’s eyeing the garden’s particularly prolific broom corn crop to augment the tall sorghum stalks (broom corn is not a true corn) normally ordered from Mexico.

Svacina describes the garden as offering the craft equivalent of “farm to table.” It’s open for communal artistic and educational use depending on what plants can safely be taken from without compromising the collection. Every time a new resident artist arrives, Elsik gives a tour of the garden with details of all the resources they have at their disposal. Not every artist incorporates the plants into their work, but if they wished to they’re at the top of HCCC’s list.

“First priority goes to our resident artists, then to staff and volunteers, then to schools and other art institutions. There’s somebody from Lawndale [next door] that’s going to be using some of our bamboo, I hope, for an installation that’s coming up…and then just any artist in the Houston community,” Elsik says.

Regardless, though, one doesn’t need artistic inclinations to appreciate what the craft garden has to offer Houston. HCCC welcomes around 12,000 visitors annually, and most of the guided tours begin and end among the plants when weather permits. School groups, kids’ camps, and workshops for families and adults alike all convene here, too. Education often begets inspiration among those who enter the space. Students and resident artists contribute decorative ceramics responding to their surroundings, which are then placed near the plants to add more shape, color, and texture to the garden.

Svacina and Koehn share a laugh over how a group of kids spotted some fallen pecans from the garden’s shade trees. After spending the day learning about plant-based dyes, they asked if they could make their own out of the nuts’ shells. And so they did. Although harvesting is restricted to preserve the overall health of the plants, the garden is still open (and free) to anyone who wishes to enjoy themselves in a shaded spot of nature.

“People from Lawndale will eat their lunch. Neighbors will walk through. Staff will come sit outside. Residents will take a break outside,” Svacina says. “[We’re] wanting to have it be a community space.”