The Parks Department is looking for grass roots support for a new agricultural heritage museum opening at the Botanical Gardens.

"An agricultural museum was an idea we discussed in early April 2007," said assistant park planner Jameka Kelly. "We realised we had several old pieces of farm equipment including ploughs, cultivators and other things.

"We were trying to determine the best way to display them. They had been in the Botanical Gardens possession for some time and were just sitting outside rusting.

"We figured it would be best to restore them and put them in a setting where the public could view them.

"But we wanted to take it beyond just farm equipment, and talk about Bermuda agriculture."

The new museum will open in the old mortuary chapel next to the kitchen garden at the Botanical Gardens tentatively in early 2009. Admission will be free and available to anyone who visits the Botanical Gardens. Local museum exhibit creator Linda Weinraub of Fluent Museumwork & Printwork is designing the exhibit with the help of freelance writer Liz Jones.

Now museum organisers are looking for the public to help by telling their stories and by donating artefacts, and photographs.

"We are interested in things like any invoices or old bills dating back to the 19th century, old embargo notices, old pails, buckets and old rakes," said Mrs. Jones who is doing a lot of the research and interviewing.

"Apparently, rakes used to look rather different, because they had very long prongs, for raking seaweed in particular.

"We would like to see any letters about farming or crops. I am not sure if we are going to have any luck here but it would be lovely to have old palmetto baskets.

"We are looking for any old crates such as the special crates used for tomatoes in the 1920s, and barrels too.

"There are a whole load of implements to do with arrow roots, strainers, and drying stretchers. Any old scales, any kind of measuring implement.

"Apparently, in Bermuda onion seed was stored in special bottles. Contact us if you have any old onion seed bottle, milk churns or milk bottles; also any photographs."

Mrs. Jones also said they would particularly like to hear about folklore related to farming including superstitions, rhymes and songs.

Mrs. Weinraub said they have a general outline of what is going to be in the museum, but they don't want to reveal too much of the content, just yet.

They want people to take it in as a whole rather than come with preconceived notions.

"The overall concept of the museum is the history of agriculture in Bermuda from the beginning to present day," said Mrs. Weinraub.

"We are also interviewing present farmer to understand the current day story of farming in Bermuda, and also find out about their history.

"Some are first generation farmers, while others are second or third generation. We are really interested in finding out individual histories of farming families in Bermuda.

"We are open to anyone. Maybe their family farmed in the past, or their uncle had a farm, or they have photographs, artefacts or information."

Mrs. Jones said she grew up on a farm in England, so she is familiar with many of the challenges in farming.

"The key thing is how precarious it all is," she said.

Mrs. Weinraub said she doesn't have any personal experience with farming, but she has always been interested in it.

"I am really fascinated, from a scientific perspective, with how things grow," she said. "I find that fascinating. I am also interested in the connection between food and field.

"It just tickles me every single time. My husband and I just started our own garden, and ate our first arugula. It was just wonderful."

Mrs. Weinraub was a museum exhibit designer for 16 years in New York.

For seven years she ran the exhibits department at the South Street Seaport Museum.

As a freelance designer she worked on the New York Transit Museum, The Museum of the City of New York and the New York Philharmonic.

In Bermuda she worked for another company before starting up her own.

More recently she worked on the Somerset Long Bay nature reserve project, among other things.

Elena Strong, exhibit director and interpretive planner, was also involved with the research of the new exhibit.

For more information about the museum, contact Mrs. Weinraub linda@studiofluent.com 504-2288 or Mrs. Jones at 238-0745 or 534-7723 or e-mail ejj@logic.bm.