Seeds and Some Earth at the IAIA Student Leadership Summit

On February 25th SeedBroadcast and the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station partnered up with the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) for their Student Leadership Summit. It was a day filled with workshops, tours, and presentations meant to spark the stories and actions of empowerment at IAIA.

During this event the newest member of the SeedBroadcast collective, Ruben Olguin, presented his workshop on making “puddle” seed pots out of the Sandia red clay he recently harvested. Ruben is a New Mexico based artist working in earth materials and electronic media. His work draws from his mixed Pueblo and Spanish heritage. His sculptures incorporate traditional/hand processes and incorporate sound and electronic elements. Ruben says, “My practice focuses spending as much time in the desert as in the computer lab.” Ruben has exhibited internationally and his full-dome video work has been seen in Jenna, Germany, Miami, Fl, Santa Fe, NM, and Albuquerque, NM. He has exhibited earth sculpted sound and video installations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, and Marfa, TX. His practice involves community outreach, developing local connections, and teaching STEM-Arts workshops for k-8 grades incorporating land and habitat elements. Olguin achieved his MFA from The University of New Mexico Department of Art and Art History in electronic arts, and holds a B.A. in cinematic art. His goals are to make and teach new media art along with socially engaged art practices. We welcome Ruben as a SeedBroadcaster!

As each group of students came by the Station, Ruben discussed the history of seed pots and their working genius. He then talked about different processes for making these. Students and visitors alike volunteered to jump into the mud with him and build a little seed pot to take home. These were then air-dried until rigid enough to move.

It is no wonder that so many cultures around the world made seed pots to store their seeds in. Clay is a superior material for seed storage. The clay keeps the seeds out of light, stabilizes the temperature, wicks away moisture, and keeps rodents and bugs at bay. It is literally a protective body holding the seed and keeping its earthy dreams alive until the day comes when it is buried, transformed, and gives its passage to set roots and create life again. The seed pots are beautiful, heavy, balanced, and imperfectly perfect with fingerprints molded inside and out.

The IAIA community explored the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station and found seeds to take home. One young lady was trying hard to find a regional corn that was short season, hardy, and tolerant of everything a dry, rocky, too cold/too hot home could nurture. Luckily we still had some Millennium Corn from seed saver Bevin Williams up near Cortez. It seemed like the perfect fit. She was so excited and grateful that these seeds were being shared with nothing more than an honest word of thanks and pass it on. Thank you!

We also met Daniel McCoy Jr who is a student at IAIA and determined to finish school and get back to his roots in Oklahoma where he can share a love of the simple, resilient life of farming and gardening with his family. He shared his story with us. Listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/daniel-mccoy-jr-shares-a-story-about-growing-up-on-a-farm-in-oklahoma

IAIA is an arts institution based in Santa Fe, New Mexico devoted to Native American and Alaskan Native Arts education. Students attend from around the country with the majority coming from many of the 562 federally recognized tribes creating a truly multi-cultural space of learning. What also makes IAIA unique as an educational site is its emphasis on connections between the depth of cultures past, present, and future while emphasizing well-being, sustainability, and the land which bring this community together in creativity and strength. This is part of the IAIA Center for Lifelong Education (CLE).

As part of this programming the CLE facilitates a community garden, greenhouse, and raised-bed low tunnels, encouraging students to be involved and bring their skills and efforts to helping make local food and health a part of their everyday. From the latest technology in season extrenders to traditional waffle gardens and terraces, the community at IAIA experiments with growing food and growing a deep cultural knowledge of life based in land, plants, seed, food, language, and culture.

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal #6

The latest edition of the SeedBroadcast Journal is now available in print at various locations around New Mexico and the nation.   We will also have it available at our Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station and you can download it here.

Thank all of you who sent us a submission. 

You make this Journal unique and keep the seed stories alive.

Let us know what you think.

SeedBroadcast Report for 2015

Every year since our founding in 2011, SeedBroadcast grows bigger and digs deeper and 2015 was no exception. It was our busiest year yet. We continue to be a collaborative and creative community project working with extremely diverse partners and individuals throughout the bioregion, the continent, and the globe. We continue to function as a collective cohort whose focus is to engage agency and open-source practices in support of agri-Cultural resilience and do so through encouraging diversity and subjectivity both internally within the collective and externally in the world around us. Finally, we continue to create this work wherever the calling takes us: to gardens, farms, on the street, at museums and galleries, farmers markets, government agencies, parks, parking lots, schools, festivals, and much more. For there is no place where seeds do not inspire and transform relationships, empowerment, and radicle action as agri-Culture.

2015 was a fruitful year where we established deeper connections with familiar partners and cultivated new relationships around the region. What we noticed this year in particular is that seeds are growing in many creative and exciting ways and people are challenging themselves to establish community connections, build solidarity, and make their voices heard. Many more people are trying their hands at gardening and seed saving, the Seed Library movement is continuing to grow regardless of being threatened by industrial-ag and government regulatory commissions, and seeds are bringing together interdisciplinary collaborators, across farming, art, gardening, science, performance, health, and education.

SeedBroadcast was founded on the mission of “agri-Culture.” As one word that sums it all up, we are committed to returning the culture to agriculture and hearing the voices, honoring the hands, and germinating the life of local resilience in food, seed, and empowerment. During the last year we continued this work through our major yearly programming of the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station, Seed Story Workshops, and the bi-annual agri-Culture Journal. We were also thrilled to be partners with Santa Fe Art Institute Food Justice Residency with our project |UN|silo|ED|. In 2015 we began a SeedBroadcast donation campaign with our fiscal sponsor Little Globe and located funding sources to support programming with partnering organizations and individuals. Finally we worked with Native Seed/SEARCH (NS/S) to write a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Climate Change Solutions Fund Grant, which we were awarded in partnership with NS/S for 2015 – 2017.

SeedBroadcast at Barrio Logan Seed Bank and Chicano Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

In 2015, the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station toured New Mexico, Colorado, and across Southern Arizona and California. During these tours we partnered with Seed Libraries, organizations hosting Seed Exchanges, schools, community garden groups, marches and festivals, and at museums and galleries. At each of these locations we had the incredible opportunity to meet people from all-over and record Seed Stories, from older rural farmers, to indigenous seed stewards, to homeless guerilla gardeners, to refugee gleaners, to young garden hipsters…. And this to name only a few. Connecting with this wide array of people concerned with open-pollinated seed and the state of local food is an incredible opportunity to redefine agri-Culture and hear in it the many voices it demands. At each event we broadcasted and recorded Seed Stories, shared seed saving resources, set up art stations for drawing, and gave away seeds. All the seeds we gifted went with a commitment, a promise that the recipients would feed their families and communities and grow/save some seeds to pass on to others.

In May 2015, we were honored to be invited to perform at the International Seed Library Forum in Tucson, AZ where we met Seed Librarians from around the globe, recorded seed stories, distributed resources, and participated in policy action against shutting down community seed libraries and seed exchanges. We were also panelists on two public forum panels, “Oral Histories and Cultural Memory-Banking Documentation for Seed Libraries,” and “Publicizing Seed Libraries and Their Missions in Your Community.”

In 2015, we recorded over 100 new Seed Stories. We broadcast these through the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station and online via social media, through our blog and on our Soundcloud page. Here is a link to all of the Seed Stories recorded year-by-year: https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/sets

After completing projects and participating in events we publish SeedBroadcast blogs online. Here are blog posts from each of the 2015 events:

ABC Seed Exchange, Albuquerque Public Library, Albuquerque, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/juan-tabo-library-spring-seed-fair.html

Anton Chico Seed Exchange, Anton Chico, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/2015-compartiendo-las-semillas-en-anton.html

Santa Fe Seed Exchange, Homegrown New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/santa-fe-seed-exchange.html

Silver City Garden Expo, Silver City Coop, Silver City, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/seedbroadcast-spring-tour-silver-city.html

Owingeh Ta Pueblos Seed Exchange, Peñasco, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/owingeh-ta-pueblos-y-semillas-gathering.html

Aztec Seed Savers and screening of Open Sesame, Aztec, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/seedbroadcasting-with-aztec-seedsavers.html

Bees and Seeds Festival, GMO Free New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/06/bees-seeds-time-of-action-and.html

Community Day, Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Albuquerque, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/07/seedbroadcasting-from-albuquerque.html

Urban Refuge A.R.T.S., Valle de Oro, Albuquerque, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/07/seedbroadcasting-from-urbanrefuge-arts.html

Sierra Farmers Market, Truth or Consequences, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/08/truth-or-consequences-with-seed.html

Habitat: Exploring Climate Change through the Arts, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/10/seeds-and-our-future.html

Celebración de Cultural Familia y Tradiciones, Peñasco, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/07/seedbroadcasting-from-celebration-de.html

Seed Keepers of the Gila, Gila, NM

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/seed-keepers-of-gila.html

Mancos Seed Exchange and Spring Hoedown, Mancos, CO

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/seedbroadcasting-from-mancos-seed-swap.html

Balboa Park, City of San Diego, San Diego, CA

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/more-art-and-seeds-or-magic-of-ending.html

Patagonia Seed Library, Patagonia, AZ

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/seedbroadcasting-from-patagonia-public.html

Wild Willows Farm and Education Center, San Diego, CA

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/wild-willow-farm-and-education-center.html

A Thousand Plates, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/sdsu-food-and-art-panel-discussion-and.html

Barrio Logan Seed Bank, Chicano Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/04/seedbroadcasting-from-barrio-logan-san.html

International Seed Library Forum, Tucson, AZ

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/06/international-seed-library-forum-may.html

Ishkashitaa Refuge Network, Tucson, AZ

http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/06/iskashitaa-harvesting-hope-empowering.html

Seed Story Workshops

Along with MSSBS tours, we have been conducting Seed Story Workshops for several years. These involve gatherings where we screen Letter From a SeedBroadcaster (https://vimeo.com/jeanettehartmann/letter-from-a-seed-broadcaster) then circle round to talk about Seed Stories and how food, seeds, and agri-Culture are a part of each person’s life. We then have everyone spend about 10 minutes writing down thoughts and ideas after which each shares this with a partner. Everyone then returns to writing and finishing a Seed Story. Finally each person records his/her Seed Story with a partner and then assists in the recording of someone else’s story. After these initial workshops some groups head out to record Seed Stories in their neighborhoods.

This year we conducted three Seed Story workshops. One month long workshop with students from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), an evening workshop with the Aztec Seed Savers, and an informal workshop gathering with seed keepers in Gila, NM. The IAIA students worked through four sessions, at the end heading out into their communities to record one Seed Story and bring it back for final post-production editing to be included in a new Seed Library initiative at IAIA. The Seed Story Workshops with the Aztec and Gila gatherings were informal and more intimate leading to critical discussion, free form story sharing, and plans to repeat these gatherings in the future. Here is a Seed Story writing from Dan Dombrowski of Aztec, NM.

Since I started gardening about 10 years ago I enjoy watching the miracle of a tiny seed grow and produce wonderful fruits and vegetables.
My neighbors love that I share the bounty with them. I have been saving some of my seeds to preserve the most successful of the plants. Now I have begun to share seeds and add to mine with locally grown seeds that do well in our climate and soil conditions.
I enjoy producing healthy produce for my family.

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal

The bi-annual SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal has been in print since the autumn of 2013. It is a collection of printable materials about resilient seed, food, and community health. It includes essays, poetry, photos, drawings, recipes, and more. Like all SeedBroadcast projects it is a free, open-source project that involves the creative agency of all who participate. Contributors of these materials are from around the globe and each receives a stack of journals at their doorstep to share with their community. The majority of the journals are distributed through the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station, dropped off at locations around New Mexico, and additional stacks are sent to partners across the nation. All editions are also available on-line via free downloadable pdf.

Here are links to the 2015 editions:

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal, Spring 2015
http://seedbroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/SeedBroadcast_agriCulture_Journal_files/SeedBroadcast%20Spring%202015%20-%20WEB%20pages.pdf

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal, Cultivating Diverse Varieties of Resilience #5
http://seedbroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/SeedBroadcast_agriCulture_Journal_files/SeedBroadcast%20Autumn%202015-WEB2_1.pdf

|UN|silo|ED|

Our partnership with Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) and their Food Justice Residency was the highlight of our 2015 programming bringing together residents, indigenous performance artists, UNM Art and Ecology students, Rowen White’s Seed Sevas, New Mexico farmers and gardeners, and the central New Mexico arts community to ask, “What is Food Justice” and map these answers out through a presentation of curated objects, audio soundscape, and public events. This project was titled |UN|silo|ED| and it was presented at SFAI from April 27 – June 27, 2015 in the Lumpkin Room.

During these two months of our residency, we worked both outside and inside our project space to bring together all of the Food Justice materials, record and edit Food Justice audio from interviews, and facilitate discussions and |UN|silo|ED| events. On May 16th we organized a daylong public event at SFAI, which included a seed saving workshop by Rowen White, immersive dance responses by Dancing Earth and collaborators, a pot-luck lunch of local homemade food, and an evening Seed Swap.

Then on June 20th we helped SFAI celebrate the end of their Food Justice Programming at their public Lunch@SFAI event where we presented |UN|silo|ED| and also performed with the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station.

Here is the blog post from our project |UN|silo|ED|:
http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/2015/06/creatively-re-storying-our-seeds-at.html

Upcoming 2016 Projects

Partnership with Native Seed/SEARCH: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Climate Change Solutions Fund Grant titled, “Capacity-Building for Climate Change Resilience in the Southwest’s Food Systems”

Finally in the spring of 2015, we worked with Native Seed/SEARCH to partner on a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Climate Change Solutions Fund Grant titled, Capacity-Building for Climate Change Resilience in the Southwest’s Food Systems.” In early summer we received news that it was awarded to Native Seed/SEARCH as the recipient and SeedBroadcast as a co-pi/partner. With this funding SeedBroadcast will be working with Native Seed/SEARCH and farmers across New Mexico to creatively document bioregional seeds and climate appropriate agri-Culture. Through seasonal photo essays and interviews, SeedBroadcast will work with farmers to share their stories about growing food in a changing climate while cultivating eco-resiliency. These will be published via our SeedBroadcast blog. Over the next year, we hope to seek more funds for this project to publish a book.

Articles and Press

Campbell, Brian and Veteto, James. “Free seeds and food sovereignty: anthropology and grassroots agrobiodiversity conservation strategies in the US South.” The Journal of Political Ecology 22. 2015: 458-459. Online.

Esperanza, Jennifer. “Green Planet.” THE Magazine May 2015: 59. Magazine.

Fasimpaur, Karen. “Forum Sows Big Ideas About Tiny Seeds.” The Daily Yonder 10 May 2015. Online. 17 February 2016.

Kinkaid, Eden. “What is Your Seed Story? FoodTank.com. 13 June 2015. Online. 14 June 2015.

Lamberton, Ken. “Seed Saviors.” Edible Baja May/June 2015: 132. Magazine.

Roffman, Seth. “|UN|silo|ED| SeedBroadcast.” Greenfire Times June 2015: 21. Newspaper.

Shores, Elizabeth. “Art & Ecology: Exploring the Origin of Food Through Art.” Edible Santa Fe February/March 2015: 44-45. Magazine.

2nd Annual ABC Seed Library Seed Fest.

Seeds for the seed swap

It is that time of year again, the days are gradually getting longer, the weather is slowly warming, buds are beginning to come alive on the trees and there is a green tinge emerging in the landscape.  All of these signs tell us it is time to wipe the dust off our seed stashes and bring them out into the changing light.

The 2nd annual ABC Seed Library Seed Fest was held at the beginning of February and was SeedBroadcast's first event of 2016.   This annual festival of the seeds is coordinated by Brita Sauer who has spearheaded the seed library movement in Albuquerque by starting the ABC Seed Library at the Juan Tabo branch.

This years event was held at the main downtown library on a unseasonably warm Saturday. The day started with a seed swap which brought together a huge crowd of people from all walks of life and of all ages. Many varieties of seeds in many varieties of containers were arranged on tables, hand written labels explaining each variety of seed enticed us to delve into the wonder of what we might discover.

Seeds bring out the best in people, and so this was a time of open generosity, swapping seeds and  connecting through our mutual attraction to the potential that these seeds hold.  People met each other for the first time and shared their stories of planting practices, their anticipation of finding a new seed and their hopes for the coming growing season.  There was an air of excitement and expectation to find a new seed and a new story.

This annual seed fest also provides a time to learn more about seeds and local growing practices for the unique climate of the southwest.  Sean Ludden from the Bosque Seed Collective kicked off this section with a workshop on saving vegetable seeds. Many people were activated to ask poignant questions to deepen their knowledge so they could expand their seed saving for this coming season.

 After his presentation Sean graciously shared this seed story with us:

 
The next presentation was by Ruben Olquin who spoke about the history of indigenous seed collecting and the development of the tradition of storing seeds in seed pots. These seed pots are an essential part of the Southwest Native American culture. These pots not only store seeds but also the  deep-rooted cultural history. Seed pots can keep seeds viable for years, as we know from the seed pot that was found on First Nations Land. Inside this closed pot were an ancient variety of squash seeds that were over 800 years old. Students at the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg successfully revived this seed and now are growing out this unique bright orange squash and are  re-distributing the seeds.

Ruben leading his seed pot workshop

The benefits of storing seeds in these clay pots are that the clay can breathe, it wicks the moisture away from the seeds and the pots are designed to let in the least amount of light.  After Ruben's presentation he led a seed pot workshop, showing us how to mix and shape the clay into a perfect storage container.  Hopefully at next year's seed fest some of these seed pots will emerge at the seed swap and be among the envelopes and prescription drug containers.

We are delighted to announce that Ruben is now a member of the SeedBroadcast Collective and he will be joining us on our many 2016 events.

The following is a seed story Ruben shared :

Dara Saville  of Albuquerque Herbalism continued the presentations by speaking on seeds as medicine and food. She activated a lively conversation around wild crafting as opposed to harvesting and at one point a young girl raised her hand and in a sweet but powerful voice said "Please make sure that you ask the plant permission before you pick it."

Dara's presentation on seeds as medicine and food

While all this activity and wisdom was being shared inside the library we were activating  conversations and seed and seed story sharing out on the street with our Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station.

Inside the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

Here are the seeds stories that were shared with us:


 

These seed and wisdom exchanges are some of the most genuine and powerfully connecting times.  There is a palpable reciprocity and reverence with the seeds, with each other and the world in which we live. We come away from these days full of the heart-felt stories that people have been willing to share with us, new seeds in our pockets and a tangible feeling that this seed movement is ever growing and will not be stopped.

Our hope for the future

2016 Anton Chico Seed Exchange and Gardening Get Together

4th Annual Anton Chico Seed Exchange and Gardening Get Together

Saturday, March 5 from 10am - 1pm
Anton Chico Community Center
Anton Chico, New Mexico

Potluck Lunch Provided!

BRING YOUR SEEDS TO SWAP & SHARE GARDENING KNOW-HOW
SEEDS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE UNTIL 1PM

Everyone is welcome, even if you do not have seeds to share.
We hope this seed exchange will support local seed saving and gardening.

Seed saving resources, seed stories, and fun seed projects presented by SeedBroadcast

Sponsored by Anton Chico gardeners, farmers, community center and SeedBroadcast

2016 ABC Seed Exchange in Albuquerque!

SeedBroadcast will be at the ABC Seed Exchange in Albuquerque this Saturday, Feb 6. Bring a seed story with you and make an audio recording to pass on to all future generations. Your story is a vital part of our local agri-Culture! And of course bring your open pollinated seeds to share at the exchange.

Saturday, February 6, 2016
11am - 330pm

Albuquerque Main Public Library
501 Copper Ave NW
Albuquerque, NM

(505) 768-5141
mainlibrary@cabq.gov

It's the 2nd annual ABC Seed Library Seed Fest! Get ready to swap, learn and make with other seedy people!
We'll start things off with a closed seed swap for those with seed to trade and then open things up the rest of the day with lots of seed and information to share from community partners.

Schedule of events:
11-11:30: Closed Swap for Folks with seed to share.

11:30-12:30: Sean Ludden (Bosque Seed Collective) leads a workshop on saving vegetable seed.

12:30-1:30: Ruben Olguin (UNM, Artist) speaks on a history of indigenous seed collecting and leads an adobe seed pot-making workshop (all ages).

1:30-2: Dara Saville (Albuquerque Herbalism) speaks on seeds as medicine and food.

2-3:30pm: A free screening of the film Seeds of Time.

SeedBroadcast will be outside the library the whole day to share stories.

And bonus: First two hours of parking garage parking free with validation!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1062131730505973/

Deadline: SeedBroadcast Journal February 15th 2016

 

Contribute to the 6th edition 

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal

DEADLINE February15th 2015

 SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal is a bi-annual collection of poetry, inspired thoughts, essays, photographs, drawings, recipes, How-to’s and wisdom gathered together from a national call out to lovers of local food and seeds.  This journal supports collaboration and the sharing of seeds, stories, resources, and inspiration within local communities and between individuals, while also providing pollination through diversified regional, national, and international internet-media networks.

 

SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal 

  http://seedbroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/SeedBroadcast_agriCulture_Journal.html. 

It is also available in print at various locations and directly from the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station. If you contribute you will receive a stack of printed copies.

 

Contribute   Participate     Propose

Send us your seed inspired poems, images, photographs, recipes, articles about your work, provocative essays, calls for seed action! 

This year SeedBroadcast is focusing on Seeds and Climate change

The DEADLINE for the next edition is FEBRUARY 15th 2016

Please send your inquiries, proposals, and contributions to seedbroadcast@gmail.com

Images should be at least 300 dpi, 4" X 6" include captions, a short bio and your mailing address.

 

We are looking forward to your contributions.