Seed Teachings! Native Seed/SEARCH Seed School.

 A collection of Native Seed/ SEARCH seeds

If you have not heard of Seed School http://www.nativeseeds.org/events/seed-school then we encourage you to listen to what the seeds at Native Seed/ SEARCH have to share. 

"Seed School is a groundbreaking, six-day educational course that trains people from all walks of life to build local seed systems rooted in the ancient tradition of seed saving. Practiced by farmers and gardeners for thousands of years, seed saving strengthens food security at the community level, empowering people to reclaim control over their food supply. Students walk away from this innovative learning experience with the knowledge and inspiration to start their own independent seed initiatives, such as community seed libraries and exchanges, seed growers cooperatives, heirloom seed businesses, and participatory plant breeding projects."

 Seed School is a rare and wonderful experience where seeds are the teachers and guides that transport everyone into a shared sense of wonder, longing and seed action. Seed school is held at the Native Seed /SEARCH Conservation Center where over 2,000 varieties of arid-land adapted seeds are stored, packaged, held, honored, listened to and kept in circulation.

The seeds encase the learning. 

The recent gathering, held in April, brought people together from all over the world.  At the opening seed circle students spoke to the reasons for committing their time and energy to seed school, from feeling the necessity to change life styles, to the need to revive local food practices, wanting to pass on seed knowledge to grandchildren and a deep longing to find community.

Joy Hought, who has a  diverse background in public broadcasting, seed science, crop genetic conservation and food systems, and Rowen White, who is a seed saver, educator and co founder of Sierra Seed Cooperative http://sierraseeds.org/  were the main facilitators during the six day intensive. Guided by the seeds that surrounded the gathering space, Joy and Rowen introduced the seed school investigators to the magic of seeds, the science and genetics, pollination and breeding, the practice of seed saving, how to take this information back to their communities and the importance of the story that is held in each seed.

Learning how to save tomato seeds

The following is a poem written by Joy during the SeedBroadcast workshop on Seed Story

                                     I offer a string of seed word beads.

 Peel   treasure   secret   stowaway   traveler   message   solace   pocket
 Held close intimacy min
 Small sweaty hands                    
 A record of places, memory
 My private memory of times spent with earth.
 Messages   totems   gems   clatter   click   tumble 
 Pocket lint
 I shaped this                   
We made this 
We send this into the future
Words from then contained in now                 
To another then and then and then
Traveler   message   pocket   private
 Move across distances across time
 The seed is the traveler and I am the stowaway
 I am the donkey the seed on my back.


Rowen White sharing with students :

Listen to the seed stories shared during this years seed school:

SeedBroadcasting from Lobo Growers Market and UNM Sustainability Expo

UNM Cornell Mall on Earth Day

SeedBroadcast partnered up with University of New Mexico Lobo Growers Market and Sustainability Expo for a celebration of Earth Day and the seeds that grow Earth. Located on Cornell Mall on the main campus of University of New Mexico, this gathering was organized by the Sustainability Studies Program and brought together the Lobo Growers Market, food trucks, and a variety of local organizations dedicated to healthy and vibrant communities in common with resilient environments.

Spring greens and beets

Farmers and gardeners are just beginning spring harvest and they were at the Lobo Growers Market selling salad and braising greens along with root crops and summer transplants. There was much talk of the season ahead and the gardening optimism for an abundant and successful year to come.

Red Tractor Farm had a dozen varieties of tomatoes for sale

Juan selling greens at Los Jardines Institute growers stand.

Diverse organizations were present to inspire ecologic and caring relationships among people, plants, animals, resources, and wisdom. Implementing art and creativity, healing and learning, empowerment and action, good food and community the Sustainability Expo offered a truly public space for the celebration of Earth Day. As the University commons demonstrated people from all walks of life participated.

Seed Balls

RAICES Remembering Ancestors-Inspiring Culture-Empowering Self

SEEDS: A Collective Voice, Communty Seed Mural

At the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station folks came by to listen to seed stories, copy seed saving information, pick up seeds from our seed library, and talk about seeds and why they matter so much.

A group of elementary students from Monte Vista Elementary showed up to take a closer look at seeds and help draw pictures to add to the seed story bulletin board. One young student demonstrated the goggled eye approach to having fun while learning.

Here are several seed stories from some awesome, inspiring, and gracious growers of the seed revolution.

Evening Seed Stories at Native Seed/SEARCH

SeedBroadcast met up with some Tucson seed savers at Native Seed/SEARCH retail store in Tucson, Arizona on April 14th.

NS/S
"Since its founding, Native Seeds/SEARCH has been dedicated to this calling to conserve the rich agro-biodiversity of the arid Southwest because of its genetic and cultural importance. What began as a humble operation with seeds stored in chest freezers has grown to a state-of-the art conservation facility, a host of innovative programs and educational initiatives, and an organization recognized as a leader in the heirloom seed movement. Preserved in our seed bank are nearly 2,000 varieties of aridlands-adapted seeds, many of them rare or endangered. We promote the use of these ancient crops and their wild relatives by distributing seeds to traditional communities and to gardeners worldwide. Currently we offer over 500 varieties from the NS/S collection (which we grow out at our Conservation Farm in Patagonia, Arizona) alongside native crafts, gifts, foods, and more. These one-of-a-kind seeds and items are available through our online store, annual seedlisting, and at our retail store in central Tucson."

NS/S Library housed at the retail store in Tucson

NS/S also has a Seed Library at the retail store that anyone can sign up to use with the agreement that borrowers will return their collected seeds to the Pima County Seed Library, the NS/S library, or a local seed library in other parts of the country.

This is not the only way that seeds can be shared. Local gardeners have also organized several seed swaps in the area along with a social media network called Tucson Backyard Gardening on facebook to share local gardening information. Chad and Diana are administrators for this group and said that requests keep pouring in to get involved.

Chad and Diana are local gardeners and administrators for Tucson Backyard Gardening

Several folks brought seeds to share and it seemed appropriate to use the trunk of a car to engage in this seedy business, which made everyone laugh.

Chad names 10 different varieties of beans.

A sunny look at Trumpet Vine seeds

From discussions about breeding frost tolerant sunflowers to picking out the names of different beans to sharing personal stories, the evening was serious fun and a celebration of local seeds. Here are some of the seed stories that were shared with us.

UNM EarthDay

EarthDay SeedBroadcasting
Come by SWAP seeds and share your seed stories!

Sustainability Expo and Growers Market
April 22, 2014
10 am - 2pm
UNM Cornell Mall
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Don't Forget the wild and native seeds and plants!

Tory Taylor from Montezuma, New Mexico and Dubois, Wyoming gave us this seed story to remember:

Don't forget the wild and native seeds and plants! Domestic plants are fine, but there are many wild plants which can compliment and suppliment your diet. The wild plants often grow themselves; people don't need to till, weed, and water - just harvest in season! Wild Rose Hip Tea, Dandelion, Lamb's Quarter, Cota, Dock, and many, many other wild plants grow themselves.

My favorite salad green, wild or domestic, is mountain sorrel.  To me a dandelion in not a weed to be dug out or sprayed with poison, but is a wonderful salad green and roasted root coffee.

Consider educating yourself about wild and native plants. This will broaden your eating and harvesting experience and make you a better gardener.

Compartiendo Semillas and a Prayer for Rain

San Ysidro Labrador

A Mi Glorioso Padre Eterno, humildemente te doy gracias por la vida de tu servidor, San Ysidro Labrador, Patrón de los labradores. El cual que por los siglos nos ha mantenido, vuestro sembrado libre de langostas y temblores. Pidemos a tu servidor, San Ysidro Labrador, que por tu sudor y trabajo con que fuites fatigado, liberta vuestro sembrado del ladrón acostumbrado de no tener temor al Criador de esta Tierra. Liberta vuestro sembrado de la tempestad, de la sequía y del granizo que daña vuestro labor, le pedimos por el amor del Gran Señor. San Ysidro Labrador, Cortesano del Señor, Hasta el año venidero, nos despedimos de ti. Adios mi querido Santo, San Ysidro Labrador, te dejamos en la compañia del Gran Señor.

Prayer for Rain

Look to our dry hills and fields, dear God, and bless them with the living blessing of soft rain. Then the land will rejoice and rivers will sing your praises, and the hearts of all will be made glad. Amen.

On April 12, Anton Chico residents held their 2nd annual Compartiendo Semillas en Anton Chico. The daylong event consisted of morning workshops, potluck lunch, and an afternoon sharing seeds and conversation.

Organizers for the event stated, “This seed swap is being coordinated to give our community a place to share heirloom, open-pollinated, locally grown and saved seeds. We hope that this event will provide a gathering place for everyone to share the agricultural wisdom present in our abundant valley. The saving and sharing of these seeds and know-how is so important for the future of our locally grown and resilient crops, as well as, the health of our families and community. This food we grow is the best! From our backyard gardens to the local fields of market vegetables, to our home kitchens and kitchens across the region, our community can grow the food we need to sustain and support our families and neighbors in great health.”

Among the speakers were Nick Maestas, Delfinio Velasquez, Leroy Lucero, Janis Verela, Pat Minor, Marietta Sullivan, and Jeanette Hart-Mann.

Delfinio Velasquez talks about his garden.

The morning workshops covered a broad range of topics such as seed saving, local farming, food preservation, agricultural education and kids, water rights, and economic development. These presentations prompted a familiar conversation highlighting questions and comments about how to build a resilient and caring agricultural community.

Pat Minor demonstrates canning.

Nick Maestas called this the multiplier effect when talking about economic development, but it was clear to all in attendance that every one of these issues needs to be addressed in order to encourage a strong and healthy community. From educational empowerment, to seeds, to growing food for people, to developing a sustainable economy; every piece is an essential part of the puzzle.

Lunch proved this point.

Posole

With homegrown ingredients and the amazing talent of many local cooks, a potluck lunch of homemade red chile, posole, taquitos, beans, sopa, tortillas, and cornbread was served, which was delicious and satisfying.

Finally the highlight of the day began. The seed exchange.

Shared seeds came from Anton Chico fields and gardens, Santa Rosa yards, and donations from Guadalupe County Extension Service. These included mirasol chile, varieties of corn, beans, greens, onions, herbs, and flowers. All were open-pollinated and ready to be planted. From local gardens, these seeds will soon become healthy food and saved seed for sharing at the next seed exchange.

Marianita Velasquez shares bunching onions.

Pearl Maestas said that the event was a great success and she looks forward to another seed exchange in 2015.

Nick Maestas and Pearl Maestas pick out seeds.

Compartiendo Semillas en Anton Chico was sponsored by New Mexico Acequia Association, NRCS, Guadalupe County Extension Service.

Mora Seed Swap. SEEDS-The Local Revolution.

                                     I appear dead before I am alive

Although often quite small, inside my skin a tree can live

I can survive hundreds of years without food or water

I can be as small as dust or as large as a foot ball

Humans and animals eat me
I can fly, swim and hitch a ride

I can survive freezing, fires and intense droughts.

 What am I?

Local seeds for the Seed Swap

High elevation corn donated by Bevan Williams from Cortez

The 2nd Annual Seed Swap and Gathering was held on April 6th, 2014, at the St Gertrude Parish Hall in the center of the small but vibrant village of Mora, New Mexico.  It was one of those spring days with flurries of snow and cold winds but the local community brought a warmth and resilience into their gathering place by the sharing of precious seeds, local wisdom, food and gratitude.

 After Sunday morning church services people slowly arrived with their carefully hand-packaged seeds, food to share and knowledge. The day was convened by Marleny Alfaro of Mora Grows Seed Library http://moragrows.wordpress.com and Rodger Gonzales of Los de Mora Local Growers' Cooperative. Marleny is a native of the island of Cuba and has land she and her family farm in Mora. Rodger is a native of Mora, is the president of Los de Mora, and is a mover and shaker in his home community.
Marleny and Rodger lead an opening to evoke into the room each of the 50 or so community voices.  We heard from bee keepers, cattle growers, community members wanting to learn a new sustainable way to live their lives, a young couple from Cleveland, who have started a small company to promote healthy living in their village, from Casa de Cultura http://www.casadeculturalvnm.org/ about an upcoming Las Vegas Seed Exchange, from Small Family Farm and about new food growing initiatives for Mora County.

Rodger Gonzales local grower and activist.

The Mora County watershed includes forested uplands, pasture lands and lowland valleys with a high water table that have been utilized for traditional agricultural practices. So this highlands valley has a history of growing and was at one time in the early1900's known as "the bread basket of New Mexico" for its unique variety of wheat.  The present day community came together to sit with this historical knowledge and looked to the future of contemporary growing practices with a collaborative vision.

Nick Morrow talks about his local farm and the importance of hand tools

Throughout the day there were discussions, informative workshops on the importance of bee keeping, seed-saving, soil conservation, use of hand tools, permaculture and encouragement to support the re-emergence of a local economically viable growing community. The Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station was parked outside the parish hall and became the educational attraction for the younger participants.

Seed Wall in the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station.

Marleny Alfaro seed-saving presentation

 Marleny opened her presentation on seed-saving with a loud and clear voice,  "Seed-saving is one of the most important things we can do. To encourage a new economy we must think from a seeds perspective."

 The Mora County Community is surely doing this by looking towards each other to learn, to collaborate and to share. They are holding the seed of their dreams and listening. They are making waves and taking action. They are forming cooperatives, they are planning a new main street, successfully fighting fracking and they are making a difference.  

We can all learn from this unique New Mexican Community. 

So please we invite you to take a moment and listen to the following seed stories:

SeedBroadcasting at Native Seeds/SEARCH on April 14, 2014

Bring a seed and share a seed story.

Meet us at Native Seeds/SEARCH Retail Store in Tucson, Arizona for an evening of SeedBroadcasting and seed stories.

April 14, 2014
500 pm - 700 pm

Native Seeds/SEARCH Retail Store
3061 N Campbell Ave
Tucson, Arizona

2nd Annual Anton Chico Seed Exchange

Homegrown SeedBroadcasting in Anton Chico.

Anton Chico Seed Exchange
April 12, 2014
9am - 2pm

Anton Chico Community Center

Bring your local heirloom seeds to swap!
Workshops and Lunch included.

Event is free and open to all.

Decorah Seed Savers Exchange Spring SWAP

Last month we took a beautiful day trip to Decorah Iowa to swap seeds and stories at the Seed Savers Exchange Spring Garden School & Seed Swap. 

More pictures here by Seedbroadcast Iowa.

Greeted by a host of amazingly welcoming seed workers, we quickly came to find that SSE is not only filling gardens with great seeds, but also cultivating an incredible crop of bright young agri-Culture workers- new and experienced growers eager to get involved in seed production, and to examine more deeply the relationships between food and social customs, cultural histories, anthropological developments, and throguh these various lenses, create new ways to build networks among seed savers.
With backgrounds ranging from market growing to grad school, horticulture to anthropology, studio arts to literary studies, from a lab full of Chinese medicinal herbs, to Appalachia- the number of perspectives on the importance of seed diversity at Seed Savers was exceeded only by the actual diversity of seeds in their commercial and preservation collections.
Throughout the day conversations returned to an appreciation for the aesthetic beauty of heirloom vegetables, their being "food for the soul", and to the important role interested amateurs continue to play in preserving plant biodiversity.

Mora Seed Swap

Stop by and share in the wisdom of seeds as Mora Seed Swap hosts their annual potluck, Seed Swap, and conducts a seed saving class.

SeedBroadcast will be there to share seed stories and the open-pollinated how-to's of many other inspiring seed folks. We will also be recording seed stories. So bring a story to share!

Mora Seed Swap
April 6, 2014
St Gertrude's Parish Hall
Junction of HWY 518 & 434
Mora, NM

Seed Swap/Potluck 12 - 1pm
Seed Saving Class 1 - 530pm

Bring:

• a dish for potluck
• 2 glass jars with lids
• a sense of humor

SeedBroadcasting from Juan Tabo Seed Library

New Mexico Bolitas in the re-purposed card catalog

Seed Catalog at the Juan Tabo Public Seed Library

SeedBroadcast partnered up with the Juan Tabo Public Library in Albuquerque, New Mexico to celebrate and kick-off Albuquerque's first public seed library. Folks came from near and far, curous about the call for seeds and wondering what a seed library could possibly be. New Mexico Master gardeners, volunteers from ABQ BioPark, Wes Brittenham from Plants of the Southwest, and Noel Chilton with SEEDS: A Collective Voice Community Seed Mural were also there to share, educate, and inspire visitors to get the year growing with seeds.

Getting up close with the ABQ BioPark Seed Exploratorium

Community Seed Mural

Library visitor helps create the seed mural

The celebration did not attract massive crowds, but what it did was situated in the everyday. The seed library engaged people who are already using the library, surprising them with the new card catalog addition of seeds to be grown, saved, shared, and realized year after year. Library patrons walked by, arms loaded down with books and packets of seeds, heading home to spend the beautiful spring day outside planting.

Inspired by the seedy inspiration spreading across the country and her love of gardening, Juan Tabo Branch Manager, Brita Sauer, decided to organize the seed library and bring people together around seeds. You can listen to her seed story here.

Library patrons explore the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

In Memory of Amy Hetager

Amy Hetager was a remarkable woman with a powerful vision.  Five years ago when she found out she had cancer she decided to dedicate her life to build a community of people dedicated to growing and sharing their own food so she initiated Home Grown New Mexico and the Santa Fe Seed Exchange. Amy, a master gardener, was also involved with many local organizations such as Frenchy's Community Garden and the Milagro Community garden.
SeedBroadcast met Amy two years ago and we were honored to work with her on the 2013 Santa Fe Seed Exchange where Amy shared her story of her grandmother's gifting of seeds. Unfortunately she could not attend this years seed event but her vision and dreams were held by all who attended.



Amy sadly lost her battle to cancer and she will be sorely missed here in our community. Our deep respects go out to her family.

Amy left us an incredible gift of her inspired wisdom and dreams.........

Stories from Ely, IA

Ely Iowa is a rural farm town on the outskirts of Cedar Rapids. Like other small farming communities, its landscape and surrounding architecture are a testament to the current paradigm of corporate agricultural monopoly.

Krob Feed Mill - Ely IA - Becca Kacanda 2014

But Even in the midst of factories like that of Dupont, and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) with its giant post-apolcolyptic sci-fi looking facility capable of processing 3,000 acres of corn into high-fructose corn syrup daily, not to mention International Paper and a coal burning plant, all within a 10 mile radius of the town, Ely, with a population of 1,776, is not without empowered individuals reviving both recreational interest and entrepreneurial opportunity in food production and who are cultivating new enthusiasm for the natural world. 

Ali Eggenberg Alldredge - Seed Starting Demonstration @ Ely Public Library 2014

The Takes family, for example, who have raised 6 kids on their Ely dairy, milking two times a day and marketing milk through Swiss Valley recently purchased, and are in the process of transforming a defunct lumberyard into a local creamery in order to market their milk directly to locals, and in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids grocery stores. They also have plans to churn their own ice cream- which is sure to be a hit, especially for bikers taking the new Cedar River Bike Trail through town.

Ely SWAP

Earlier this month we met up with community members at the the Ely Public Library,  home to one of the first Seed Libraries in the country-initiated in 2011 by Ali Eggenberg Alldredge.

Melissa Sharapova replenishing Ely Seed Library with new seed - 2014

SeedBroadcast Soundcloud

Cheri Frank's Pale Cone Flower Seeds - 2014