SeedBroadcasting at 2017 Bees + Seeds Festival

BUZ
SeedBroadcast and the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station will beeeeeee at the GMO Free New Mexico Bees + Seeds Festival!

We will be recording Seed Stories. Bring your story to share!

May 20 from 1pm - 9pm
Tractor Brewing
1800 4th St NW
Albuquerque, NM

Bees + Seeds Festival Event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/338589483177502/

SeedBroadcast Celebrates Seed: The Untold Story in Albuquerque

SeedBroadcast and the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station is partnering with the Guild Cinema and SEED: The Untold Story to celebrate the revolution of SEED in Albuquerque.

Bring your Seed Stories to record and your Seeds to Swap! Join us for the Albuquerque premiere of SEED: The Untold Story at the Guild Cinema! Q&A with director Taggart Siegel on Nov. 15

Locally grown, open-pollinated seed, growing healthy food, and caring for our family, communities, and earth will transform our world. 

November 15
We will be set up on the curbside from 7pm - 1030pm
Guild Cinema
Albuquerque, NM

SEED: The Untold Story is an award-winning documentary about the dramatic loss of seed diversity and the movement to restore future of our food, from the filmmakers behind The Real Dirt on Farmer John and Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?

Visit SEEDthemovie.com/trailer to watch the trailer.

Waggle Dancing at the Bees + Seeds

Local artists, Cloudface and Al Na'ir painting murals to be auctioned off and benefit the event

GMO-Free New Mexico has been organizing annual events for many years calling on Albuquerque to get up and get out and spend time acknowledging the importance of bees and seeds in our lives while building solidarity within Albuquerque communities to advocate and act for these tiny, yet essential beings. This years 2016 Bees + Seeds Festival was a tremendous event with thousands of visitors. The festival took place at Tractor Brewing Company, occupying their parking lot and interior of the brewery and definitely drawing crowds to drink beer, hang out with friends, listen to music, and have a good time. But what does having a good time and drinking beer, singing and dancing have to do with saving a keystone species and the quickly dwindling biodiversity of plants and seed? I would say many things when we build the capacity as a community to realize that everything we have in life comes from these creatures and all our relations. Perception, mindful attention, love, celebration, and gratitude are the seeds of this revolution.

Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

Throughout the day SeedBroadcast met lots of local gardeners, several seed savers and many people who were looking for a place to share seed and get seed. The Juan Tabo ABC Seed Library http://abqlibrary.org/seeds was also at the event so we sent folks over to talk with Brita Sauer about their local seed library and how to participate. Here is a Seed Story from Brita about the seed library . This was recorded in 2014 at the opening of the seed library.

https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/librarian-brita-sauer-talks

SeedBroadcaster, Ruben Olguin talking seed with a group of visitors

There was talk of community garden projects taking place around the city. One in particular is the Veteran Farmer Project https://www.facebook.com/veteranfarmerproject where veterans, active service, and National Guard people can take free farming classes and get hands-on experience in vegetable and livestock production. Other gardeners talked about the strange seasons and unusually warm late winter, unusually long, cool spring and many seeds that just did not want to sprout.

Gathering seeds and meeting new friends inside the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

Kids flocked over to the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station to draw pictures and post them on the bulleting board. Many people sat inside the van and listened to Seed Stories. We also handed out lots of seed with the promised exchange that they would try to save some seeds and pass them on.

Seeds: A Collective Voice mural

The festival also included Seeds: A Collective Voice http://www.seedsacollectivevoice.org project organized by artist Jade Leyva who has been working for the last three years on community seed murals to bring attention to seed, bees, healthy community, sustainability, and the environment.
All of theses murals will be shown at the National Hispanic Cultural Center…coming soon.

New Mexico Bee Keepers, honeycomb

Food is Free Albuquerque, seed paper

Many local environmental and social justice organizations were tabling to share information and even something more. The New Mexico Beekeepers Association http://nmbeekeepers.org had honeycombs from a top bar hive to demonstrate how bee architecture brings form and function together to create healthy homes for bees to raise their young, store food as honey, and occasionally birth a new queen.

Also present and celebrating great success was Food Is Free Albuquerque https://www.facebook.com/Food-is-Free-Albuquerque-1453889834882483/?fref=ts inspired by a national movement to take back our food! The Albuquerque contingent was founded by a group of mothers and kids gleaning every nook and cranny of Albuquerque to bring healthy, free food to everyone who needs it. It was great to meet the crew and see the seed paper and free plants they were handing out. Here is a Seed Story from Erin Garrison, recorded at the Civic Plaza Earth Day Celebration where she talks about the project.

https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/erin-garrison-talks-about-the-newly-formed-food-is-free-albuquerque

Juntos information

How can we have seeds, bees, and food without clean water, air, and a healthy environment? In Albuquerque, like in many cities across the country, communities of color and/or those in marginalized areas are at the greatest risk of exposure from the toxic plume of dominating culture, i.e. exploitation. This includes water contamination, air pollution, industrial and political bulldozing, and food deserts. Juntos https://www.facebook.com/JuntosNM is a newly formed organization bringing together Latina/o youth and mothers to organize for environmental and social justice. Here is their word of intent:
“Juntos organizes and engages grassroots volunteers and leaders, especially Latina/o youth and mothers from the International District, South Valley, and Westgate, in developing the People’s Clean Power Plan, including holding appointed and elected officials accountable for state implementation of an environmental justice inclusive Clean Power Plan, as well as research, visioning and development of a local campaign that addresses air pollution and quality issues in Latina/o communities in Albuquerque.”

You know what.... a giant March Against Monsanto banner

GMO-Free New Mexico https://www.facebook.com/gmofreenm/?fref=ts did a fantastic job organizing this event. At their main booth they were handing out free seeds, plants, seed balls, and non-gmo sodas. Their intention is to make all of this real as a hive mind. To save the bees, share the seeds, grow gardens and food for all creatures, bring people together, work together, dream, and celebrate. This event and the way GMO-Free NM functions as an organization could be likened to a bee colony. There is no “one” at its center. Instead it is made up of many dancers, musicians, farmers, activists, teachers, beekeepers, artists, storytellers, and more. It is a collective of joyous, compassionate, generous souls coming together to waggle dance for the bees and seeds, each other, and Mother Earth.

Free seeds

Seed balls

2016 Bees and Seeds Festival

SeedBroacast and the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station will be at the Bees + Seeds Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Come join us and celebrate local seeds, gardens, farmers, food, and healthy community.

Bring SEEDS to swap and bring a Seed Story to record!

May 28th, 2016
3pm - 9pm

Location
Tractor Brewing
1800 4th ST NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Presented and Sponsored by: GMO-Free New Mexico

SeedBroadcast at University of New Mexico Sustainability Expo

SeedBroadcast will be at the 8th Annual University of New Mexico Sustainability Expo
Join us to celebrate the resilience of SEED.

April 21, 2016
1030 am - 230 pm
Cornell Mall
Main Campus of University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Map: https://iss.unm.edu/PCD/SM/doc/VisitorMapCentral_Numeric.pdf

For details about this event go to: UNM Sustainability Expo
https://www.facebook.com/events/1551327408529235/


What is Sustainability? Come find out and celebrate Earth Week at the University of New Mexico's Sustainability Expo! Now in its eighth year, the Expo will be held on Cornell Mall-- just east of the Student Union Building-- on Thursday, April 21st from 10:30am to 2:30pm. Everyone is invited and encouraged to come.

The Expo offers an opportunity to interact with the community and learn about sustainability. Enjoy a vibrant array of growers' market, food trucks, educational events, and live entertainment including demonstrations, music, bicycle auction, and clothing swap. Engage in zero waste training, educational events, and have a fun time with the community! Learn about sustainable initiatives on campus and in the surrounding community as well as meet local farmers and artisans, and enjoy delicious food, fun, and a lively community atmosphere.

The Expo is organized by UNM Sustainability Studies Program students in the Growers' Market Practicum class who are passionate about educating the campus and community members about sustainable ways of living. For more information about the sustainable food and agriculture initiative in particular, check out the class blog, at abqstew.com.
We encourage your participation and support at this year's Expo!

SeedBroadcasting from Earth Day at Civic Plaza

SeedBroadcast and the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station will be at the Earth Day celebration sharing seeds, stories, and resources.
Come by and share your story about seeds, resilience, and the earth!

April, 22, 2016
5 - 8pm
Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque
See below for more information about the evenings events.

Civic Plaza Presents an Earth Day Celebration
Civic Plaza Presents a free, environmentally focused event in the Heart Of The City
ALBUQUERQUE, NM - EARTH DAY is coming! Civic Plaza Presents an Earth Day Celebration on Friday, April 22 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM. This free event is proudly sponsored by Positive Energy Solar in conjunction with the Young Professionals of Albuquerque.

Earth Day Celebration: Love Your Environment is a community event that is open to all and will feature live music, exhibitors, vendors, locally sourced food, beer and wine, electronics recycling and more. This an opportunity to gather as a community to celebrate, participate, and contemplate this important day.

The event will have an array of exhibitors on hand to talk about Earth-conscious and environment-positive endeavors that help make our region a better place to live. In addition, OFFCenter Community Arts Project will be hosting a recycled materials arts and crafts making area for kids. Plant starts will be available for getting gardens growing. Local arts & crafts vendors will be on site as well. The event will also serve as a launch party for Albuquerque’s 2030 District, a community based initiative to make Albuquerque an even more economically competitive and environmentally healthy community.

Music for the Earth Day will be provided by ¡Revíva! with special guest Lone Piñon. Reviva plays a locally flavored style of reggae and rock, and have made a name for themselves through their inspiring lyrics and unique sound, becoming one of Albuquerque’s best loved and most popular bands. Lone Piñon is a trio that plays the ensemble-driven violin music of Northern New Mexico, a colorful tradition that represents the forging of diverse cultures in this area. The modern musicianship that the members Lone Piñon bring to this music results in an exciting new birth for an old sound that is not to be missed.

Locally sourced cuisine from Dig & Serve and Food Karma will be served from the Silver Spoon, a top-of-the-line mobile kitchen in a newly remodeled Airstream trailer that will make its premier at the Earth Day event as Civic Plaza’s own pop-up restaurant. Local microbrews from Marble Brewery, Rio Bravo Brewing Company, Bosque Brewing Company and Boxing Bear Brewing will be available.

Attendees to this free event are encouraged to drop-off electronic devices they would like to have recycled. Electronics recycling is provided by Natural Evolution, New Mexico’s first recycler certified to the E-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronics. They are also the first tribally owned, solar powered certified electronics recycling facility in the U.S. Electronics recycling is free (an $18.00 fee applies to the recycling of televisions only).

This is a free event and, like all Civic Plaza events, it is family friendly / dog friendly / bike friendly. The Earth Day Celebration is produced by Civic Plaza Presents and DowntownABQ MainStreet Initiative. Please join us in the heart of the city for this celebration of Mother Earth!

CONTACT: Damian Lopez‐Gaston, Director of Event Services, SMG managed Albuquerque Convention Center; (505) 768‐3818, dlopez‐gaston@albuquerquecc.com.

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 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/

Seeds and our Future

Inside the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station

Downtown Block Party beginning to gather crowds

SeedBroadcast partnered up for the Habitat – Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts during the Downtown Block Party in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a kick off for our current focus on the role of seeds, seed savers, and resilient grassroots ecology to cope with climate change, we were interested in asking people on the street to share their thoughts while sharing seeds and stories.

Taking a picture of Orianna Pavlik's Seed Story drawing

The event was filled with artists led projects and local organizations sharing innovative ideas and works which harness the power of sustainable energy, community, and creativity. People roamed the street and playfully engaged with these projects while talking about an unfathomable future that seems so distant yet present with each decision made in our daily lives. Everyone seemed to say that the future is here and its high time that we all begin to walk the talk.

Gathering Seed

If seeds could talk, they were talking on this day. Everyone who showed up at the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station seem to be drawn to the seeds as if they were beckoning them with their belief in the potential for the future. In the sprouting of life and sustenance. Even though planting season was winding down everyone we met was keen to begin dreaming of next years gardens and the walk these seeds would take them on to try their hand at growing their own food, saving their own seeds, and sharing these with others.

Many thanks to our guest SeedBroadcasters, Andrea Gohl, Clark Frauenglas, Orianna Pavlik, and Joanna Keane Lopéz who helped out during the event recording Seed Stories and helping visitors with all this seedy fun.

Andrea demonstrating how not to eat corn

Here are some Seed Stories that were shared with us:

Phil Trujillo and Julie Holt share Seed Stories from HABITAT Downtown Block Party in Albuquerque, NM where they talk about finding old gourd seeds and following old timey traditions to grow gardens, save seeds, and share this with others.
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/phil-trujillo-and-julie-holt-talk-about-looking-for-lost-seeds-and-why-it-matters


Lynn picked up some SeedBroadcast seeds at Habitat - Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts and then shared her Seed Story and dream of changing her life to be closer to the earth and growing an urban forest with local resources.
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/lynn-shares-a-seed-story-about-growing-an-urban-forest-with-local-seeds-and-greywater


Iona Vernon and Noel Mollinedo share their Seed Story from Habitat - Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts in Albuquerque, NM where they talked about foraging for food in the mountains and the importance of seed sharing to keep our food alive.
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/iona-vernon-and-noel-mollinedo-share-a-seed-story-about-mountain-foraging

SEEDY Habitat: Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts

We will be SeedBroadcasting with Habitat: Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts during the Downtown Block Party in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This will kick off a very special SeedBroadcast project that we will be growing over the next several years, focusing our creative seedy cultivation on the role of local seeds, seed keepers, and regional foodsheds to feed communities and build resilient agri-Culture in the fact of Climate Change.

We will have a fantastic group of artists from Land Arts of the American West and UNM Art and Ecology working with us during this event.

Bring your Seed Stories to record and open-pollinated seeds to share!

Saturday, September 12, 2015 from 1pm - 4pm
On Central Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets
Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico

In partnership with 516 ARTS

Here is more information about other events and activities during the Block Party.

516 ARTS is organizing a collaborative season of public programming in the fall of 2015 that explores climate change through the arts to create a platform for education and dialogue. The public programs for HABITAT: Exploring Climate Change Through the Arts will include: a series of exhibitions at 516 ARTS; the popular Downtown Block Party; special events with guest speakers; film screenings; and youth programs.

Climate change is an urgent issue of both global and local concern. The Southwest can be considered one of the most "climate-challenged" regions of North America, with rising annual temperature averages, declining water supplies, and reduced agricultural yields. In New Mexico we've already seen destabilized and unpredictable weather patterns, water sources going dry, forests not recovering from fire, loss of urban trees, and crop failures. Public programs for HABITAT strive to raise awareness about these issues by taking an innovative approach to engaging with social and environmental change, and by bringing the community together to focus on sustainability.

DOWNTOWN BLOCK PARTY:
Interactive Art Projects, food, music and fun for the whole family!

516 ARTS presents its third Downtown Block Party on Saturday, September 12, 2015 on Central Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets Downtown, which expands the gallery programs into the street. This year, the event is presented in partnership with the Downtown Albuquerque MainStreet Initiative in celebration of the Downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District. It highlights outdoor artworks and projects that address alternative energy, food issues, and land and water use in the future, all with a focus on positive solutions and dialogue. For example, GhostFood by Miriam Simun, is a performance and interactive/participatory event that explores eating in a future of biodiversity loss brought on by climate change. The GhostFood mobile food trailer serves scent-food paintings that are consumed by the public using a wearable device that adapts human physiology to enable taste experiences of unavailable foods. Little Sun Pop-Up Shop, by artist Olafur Eliasson (Berlin, Germany) and engineer Frederik Ottesen (Copenhagen, Denmark), showcases an attractive, high-quality solar-powered LED lamp they have developed, which serves as a social business focused on getting clean, reliable, affordable light to the 1.2 billion people worldwide without access to electricity. For The Future of Energy by Andrea Polli and students, the public is invited to engage with local energy issues using an app to find and create potential, and to see what they are generating in real time through visualization tools.

SeedBroadcasting from UrbanRefuge A.R.T.S and Valle de Oro

Cuidad Soil & Water Conservation District watershed diorama

The Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge invited SeedBroadcast to participate in the UrbanRefuge A.R.T.S. event which brought together artists, advocacy organizations, food trucks, and a fun public crowd to explore transportation and movement across the landscape as well as investigate the movement of change occurring at the refuge as it transitions from the largest farm in proximity to the city of Albuquerque into a Wildlife Refuge.

During the day buses, bikes, kayaks, walkers, and dancers explored the open terrain heading out on bird watching treks and performing dances in response to the ground, clouds, and the sense of place across the green open fields and cottonwood banks of the Rio Grande. At the Valley de Oro, walking, biking, jogging, driving, and horseback riding are common, especially along the irrigation and drainage ditches that run across the fields. But what is more challenging transportation wise is how to get there in the first place. It is in far south Albuquerque and it is not the easiest area to get to if you do not have a car. Yet, local efforts are under way to create viable public transportation such as a bus stop and Railrunner stop.

Panorama of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

This perfectly level landscape has been a working farm for over a hundred years. For a long time it was known as the Valley Gold Dairies, one of the largest historic dairies in the region. It is still being partially farmed, producing grass and alfalfa hay. During the event we hoped to meet some of the local farmers who have worked this farm and others in proximity to record stories. Many were busy on the farm and suggested meeting up in the fall to talk stories (so stay posted for more to come).

Here is a story that was shared from Chris Skiba, whose family has been farming in the South Valley for a long time.

https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/chris-skiba-shares-a-seed-story-about-farming-and-gardening-in-the-south-valley-of-albuquerque



The transition to a Wildlife Refuge has many people wondering how this space will be transformed as one of the few urban refuges in the country. Its potential lies in its proximity to a major metropolitan area, its location in a dymanic riparian zone and sited on a major migratory flyway with access to water. With all these cues in place its value will be told in how it creates an urban educational opportunity through expanding the notion of what a wildlife refuge can be when it serves animals, ecology, and people. One might also wonder if there is room in the refuge mission and planning for the co-mingling of regenerative agriculture, an ecologically based agricultural system much like permaculture.

The Valle de Oro is located in the Mountain View community. This area of Bernalillo Country is far enough away from major commercial zones to be likened a food desert. With few options for fresh food it might make sense to create space where local food can be both produced and used sustainably, while enabling a demonstration site for sustainable wholistic ecology and education to bring people and the environment together.

Ruben Olgiun, a local artist presented his project Songs of Our Fathers: Migrations

Ruben Olguin is a local artist who was sharing his work at UrbanRefuge. He spent the day presenting his project, Songs of Our Fathers: Migrations, which explores "how land, time, and people are divided by technology and modern transportation. You can read more here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1044096048937167/

He kindly came by to gift SeedBroadcast a beautiful handmade seed pot he had made, its tiny mouth only large enough for the likes of very small seeds like lettuce, carrots, curly dock, and brassicas. Seed pots have been historically made and used by pueblo peoples to store seeds. These storage vessels keep seeds safe by providing a moisture free, self-wicking environment for seed preservation.

We hope to catch up with Ruben this fall for a Seed Story. And we will be Broadcasting soon with more local farmers.

Here are more Seed Stories from UrbanRefuge A.R.T.S.

Kayla Gmyr reads her poem "Vibrations" about connection and awakening to the earth and relationships from the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque, NM
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/kayla-gmyr-shares-a-seed-story-of-awakening-and-connection



Kym Loc shares her aspiring work to convey the relationship between people and trees, healing, strength, and roots.
https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/kym-loc-shares-a-seed-story-about-her-work-painting-trees-and-healing-the-self

SeedBroadcasting from the Albuquerque Community Day.

Peanut seeds shared from Farmer Lack Lopez West and Peas and Hominy Farm

How do we sustain diverse and meaningful food traditions in the face of climate change and with all the challenges we face on a daily basis?

This question seemed ripe during the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History Community Day celebrating Fathers and local food culture on Sunday June 21. It was Summers Solstice, the longest day of the year, and Father’s Day too. It was also well over 100 degrees and everyone was either wilting in the radiant glory of the heat or scurrying towards interior spaces of artificial cool to relax and go gaga over the high heels exhibit at the museum before scurrying off to yet another cool sexy space.

MSSBS out in front of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

The day was hot and so was the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station and all the seeds that we share with folks. So seeds, people, and all had to bolster some resilience to be out celebrating the seeds, the farmers, the food, and the fathers that nourish us with their strength and care.

The event also included local chefs preparing gourmet items on site and the Vecinos Artists Collective engaging people in their project, IF I WERE A SEED… where they ask folks to visualize being a seed and growing the change they want to be through making an individualized seed mural. They were also collecting recipes on site and typing them out on an old typewriter.

Vecinos Artist Collective, If I were a seed...

Vecinos Artist Collective, If I were a seed... mural by anonymous

Paul Lopéz Jr. who is part of the Vecinos Artist Collective also shared a Seed Story with us. Check it out here:

https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/paul-lopez-jr-shares-his-story-about-the-buena-tierra-farm-project

Drawing corn pictures

Posting peanut pictures

Several kids came by to draw seed stories as they were making a circuit, running through the water fountain to cool off then back around to the Broadcasting Station. They spent time drawing their favorite seeds and also drawing out the process of growing a seed into its traditional food way.

Peanuts and corn became the favorite seeds of the day and someone asked what the difference was between a peanut that is eaten and a seed of a peanut that is planted. They are the same. And this unites us in the remembering that the foods we eat, the daily blessings of the seed is also the seed that renews our local traditions on the land, in our kitchens, and with our families and communities.

The peanuts came from local Albuquerque farmer, Jack Lopez West, from Peas and Hominy Farm, who as a new father, came by with his family to share popcorn, peanuts, and carrot seeds and also record a seed story about his mentor from South Carolina who was the father of many plant children. Jack also offered up wisdom for starting a new local tradition, growing sweet potatoes as a staple food crop to replace energy intensive grains.

You can listen to Jack’s Seed Story here:

https://soundcloud.com/seedbroadcast/farmer-jack-lopez-west-shares-a-seed-story-about-learning-the-art-of-the-seed

SeedBroadcasting at UrbanRefuge A.R.T.S.

SeedBroadcast will be at the UrbanRefuge A.R.T.S. Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refugeat to celebrate and record stories about South Valley agri-Culture.

Join us for a day broadcasting, share stories and seeds.

Saturday July 11, 2015 from 10am - 3pm
Valle de Oro Wildlife Refuge
7851 2nd St SW
Albuquerque, NM

A.R.T.S.
Artistic Expressions
Recycling/Repurposing
Transportation Activities
Storytelling/Seed Projects

Here is a link to more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/760893424032286/

Bees + Seeds: Time of Action and Solidarity for Food Justice.

March against Monsanto

In this time of major shifts in our world around the injustices of access to healthy food and seeds there is such a need for action. We cannot allow these inequalities to continue and for major corporations to govern and determine the rights to own and distribute our seeds. This is a human right and has been part of our traditional agricultural system since we humans started our relationship to seeds and plants. This is a relationship based on reciprocity and without the balance and without the understanding that we are not the controllers we are heading to a disastrous tipping point.

Saturday May 23rd 2015 was a global day of solidarity and action sponsored by  March Against Monsanto and GMO- Free New Mexico .
Groups from all over the world held their own events, marches and educational activities to highlight the need to take back our food systems and promote positive solutions for local food growing.

 It was a call for action for:

• Solidarity against Monsanto’s predatory business and agricultural practices 
• Reject “ substantial equivalence” of GMO crops 
• Promote organic solutions 
• Expose the cronyism between big business and the government 
• Address poverty, the real cause of global hunger 
• Support food and seed sovereignty 
• Support local farms, bees and biodiversity 
• Labeling of all food that contains GMO’s 

Local sustainability activist Anna Maldonado

SeedBroadcast was invited by Chris Perkins to take part in the Albuquerque event called Bees + Seeds. This started with a march from the Downtown Growers Market to the Bees + Seeds Festival of music, speakers, bee and seed art, local action groups and food. This festival provided the space of people to speak out and to engage in animated conversations around many GMO issues.

Jade Leyva with her Seed Mural project

The SeedBroadcast Mobile Broadcasting Station was active and alive with visitors exchanging seeds and information about the ins and outs of growing and saving seeds in the dry southwest. Squash seeds arrived from local seed saver, Raven. He has been growing these seeds out for over forty years and were originally given to him by the great Hopi leader Grandfather David . Grandfather David was the teacher and mentor to John Kimmey, who he entrusted with the Hopi Prophecy. Kimmey  ventured further afield to sensitively spread this prophecy. In the seventies Kimmey joined with local activist Seth Rothman (Green Fire Times) to start the Talavaya organization. Talavaya was established after talking with elderly Indian and Hispanic farmers and discovering there were only a few left who still planted the old seed strains of their ancestors. It became one of the first seed banks in the southwest to save and distribute local traditional seeds. 

Raven with his Hopi squash seeds

 So forty years later the seeds were returning with their held stories and the resilience to retain their essence of purity.  They returned to remind us that we need to protect them as these strains of seeds are rapidly disappearing taking with them the traditions that are at the heart of many cultures.
We cannot let this happen.
 So let this day of action against Monsanto spark more actions, and more actions.....Please do not keep silent, raise your voices, seek those local varieties of seeds, put your hands in the soil, plant them and pray and sing for their survival…….

“There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless'. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” Arundhati Roy

The following are some of the voices that spoke out:

Anna Maldonado shares her story of GMO'S

Sarah Jones talks about her love of seed bombing Yvonne Cunningham talks straight up about Food Justice Timothy Gallardo talks about applying real science to food production Sally-Alice Thompson talks about food justice and sings a song about the right to know Robin Seydel talks about justice and fairness from the soil upwards
Bryna Stalarow talks about injustice of food Marian West talks about Food Justice

Ways you can take action:

• Call or meet with your local officials
• Plant Bee-friendly flowers
• Boycott food companies that use GMO's and pesticides
• Plant a vegetable garden
• Grow food
• Grow a garden with your neighbor
• Vote with your fork
• Buy organic and local sustainable foods
• Save your lace race seeds
• Speak out, sing out, dance out
• Listen to our planet