Sourcing Our Seeds Needs a Farmer
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SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal Spring 2015 2 SeedBroadcast CONTENTS “A seed makes itself. A seed doesn’t 4 Introduction need a geneticist or a hybridist 5 Calendar of Engagements or publicist or matchmaker. But it 6 Botanica needs help. Sometimes it needs a Betsy Bauer moth or a wasp or a gust of wind. 7 |UN|silo|ED| Sometimes it needs a farm and it 8 Sourcing our Seeds needs a farmer. It needs a garden Belle Starr & Bill McDorman and a gardener. It needs you…” 10 Horticulture Brian Johnstone 11 Milkweed, Mistress of the Garden Kelly Berry JANISSE RAY 11 Saeb (1590-1676) 12 Consecration to the Life Force Alejandro López 14 A Seed Exchange is Pure Joy Nan Fischer 15 Guarding the Source of Life Jessie Emerson 15 Vanishing Races of Maize Or Vanquishing the Master Corn Race John McLeod 16 Nourishing Ourselves, Nourishing Life Christie Green 17 Art & Farming Start with a Seed Alexis Elton 18 Glossy Garden Porn Ken Greene 20 First Seeds Kyce Bello 21 Augury James Thomas Stevens 21 Boxcar Farms Bobbe Besold 22 Rejoin the Ritual Bill McDorman 23 Placenta Tree Sarah Megan Hunter 24 STORY BANNERS CAN SPREAD SEEDS Sabra Moore 26 SPUD Deirdre O’Mahony 28 Dancing Seeds into Life Rulan Tangen 30 Seeds, Trees and Stories Danielle Johnson 3 4 SEEDBROADCAST holds the belief that it is a human right to be able save our seeds and share their potential, to be able to grow our own food and share this abundance, and to cultivate grass- roots wisdom and share in its creativity. We seek to reveal the culture that has been lost in agriculture and believe that seeds are witnesses to our past. They have their own story to tell and it is up to us to listen. SEEDBROADCAST encourages communities to keep local food and culture alive and vibrant through working together in cre- ative and inspiring ways. We spend time with people on their farms, in their gardens, at seed exchanges and at community gatherings to dig deeper into the often unheard stories of local agriculture. Our traditional farmers, avid gardeners and local organic food growers are inspired by the seeds they sow and save, they take notice of what grows and what does not, they th learn from the seasonal shifts, experiment with when to plant the 5 Edition SeedBroadcast Journal first pea and when to harvest the seed for next year. This vital THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS knowledge base of plant and human connection is what we seek to cultivate, disperse and nurture. TH At the Ist annual Seed Exchange in Anton Chico, Delfinio AUGUST 30 2015 Valesquez who’s family has been growing concha corn for Send submissions to [email protected] many generations stood with his hand clasped around a corn We would like to thank all who generously contributed to our kernel and spoke loud and clear “If we loose our seeds we will 4th edition of the bi-annual SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal. lose our culture.” We are building from the soil up and invite all who read this to consider contributing to the 5th edition that will be published Our ancient seeds and their diverse stories are in danger of dis- in the Autumn of 2015. This contribution could be a drawing, appearing. They are our lifeline to our past, present and future. photograph, story, recipe, poem, or an essay, with relevance to Without these ancient, creative, and resilient seeds, we would the essence of seeds and seed saving practices. We are looking lose our familial connection to the earth and its biota. So we forward to hearing from you. Each of you holds a wisdom and it is invite you to hold a seed and listen to what stories it has to tell this wisdom we hope to share. you, plant a seed and share its wealth. Then share this story with Please include a short bio, images should be at least 300 DPI 6”x8,” your neighbor and become an inspiration for others to join this and send us your mailing address as we will mail you a stack of radical seed sovereignty movement. printed copies to distribute in your own locale. As the soils warm, the birds begin to return and our seeds slowly We will be on the road with the Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting emerge from dormancy SeedBroadcast is gearing up to the Station so look out for us. You can keep up with our travels coming spring season. and encounters with other seed lovers at on our website seedbroadcast.org and follow our blog at seedbroadcast. The conversations and seed stories that have been shared with blogspot.com us this past year have informed and shaped our intentions for We want to thank our fiscal sponsor Littleglobe, the McCune this coming SeedBroadcasting season and we are thrilled to be Charitable Foundation, Santa Fe Art Institute, our numerous new adding some new creative initiatives. SeedBroadcasting cohorts and to all of our volunteers contributors, and supporters. Lacey Adams for graphic design, Kyce Bello for We will be creating |UN|silo|ED| the SeedBroadcast Hub ex- her wise editorial support, to all of our local and national partners periment at the Santa Fe Art Institute sfaiblog.org as part of the and to our seeds that continue to inspire and give us hope. Food Security residency program (see page 7). We continue For an updated list of our 2015 cohorts and partners go to: our collaboration with Dancing Earth dancingearth.org (see SeedBroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/SeedBroadcast_Roots.html page 28-29) Our spring tours will take us south to Silver City, Gila and on to San Diego where we have been invited to be part in the Thousand Plates art exhibit about food and culture at San Diego State University commonexperience.sdsu.edu/dus/com- SEED=FOOD=LIFE monexperience/thousand_plates.aspx and many more vibrant community groups. We are also pleased to announce our col- laboration with the Student Sustainability Leadership Program at the Institute for American Indian Arts in the creation of a Seed Story library. To keep track of our community actions, workshops, emergent responses, listen in to our growing collection of seed stories and SEEDBROADCAST IS A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT INITIATED BY CHRISSIE keep the network and dispersal growing you can go to our ORR AND JEANETTE HART-MANN. WE CAME TOGETHER THROUGH OUR LOVE OF SEEDS, OUR PASSION FOR GROWING OUR OWN FOOD AND website at seedbroadcast.org, check our blog seedbroadcast. OUR ARTISTIC PRACTICE. WE STARTED A CONVERSATION, WHICH HAS blogspot.com and keep up with us at our Facebook page EXPANDED AND SPROUTED INTO THE SEEDBROADCAST COLLECTIVE. facebook.com/seedshare. IN SOLIDARITY, “To have a seed, is to have everything." SEEDBROADCASTERS, FEBRUARY 2015 YOU CAN CONTACT US AT SEEDBROADCAST@GMAIL. CALENDAR OF ENGAGEMENTS COM OR COME AND FIND US AT THE FOLLOWING: Saturday, February 28, 10–2pm ALBUQUERQUE SEED EXCHANGE Albuquerque Main Library, Hosted by the ABC Seed Library 501 Copper Ave NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico Saturday, March 7, 1–3pm ANTON CHICO SEED EXCHANGE PLEASE HELP US GROW! Old Anton Chico School Support SeedBroadcast with a tax-deductable donation! New Economic Development Center (Old Anton Chico School) Anton Chico, New Mexico TO MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO SEEDBROADCAST GO TO: Tuesday, March 10, 4–7pm Santa Fe Seed Exchange Online donation: with Home Grown New Mexico and seedbroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/ City of Santa Fe Parks Division SeedBroadcast_Donate.html Frenchy’s Field Barn, 2001 Agua Fria, Or contact our fiscal sponsor Littleglobe for Santa Fe, New Mexico. other payment options: Phone: 505.980.6218 Spring 2015 Southern Tour March 20–28, 2015 Email: [email protected] Your donation will help us keep the Mobile Friday & Saturday, March 20–21, 10–5pm Silver City Garden Expo Seed Story Broadcasting Station on the road with Silver City Farmers Market in search of Seed Stories near and far. It will Grant County Conference Center help keep the agri-Culture Journal free and Silver City, New Mexico distributed from hand to hand. It will help sprout SeedBroadcast projects throughout Sunday, March 22 Gila Seed Keepers Gathering 2015 and beyond! Gila, New Mexico SeedBroadcast has been and continues to be funded by in-kind donations of Monday, March 23 Patagonia Seed Gathering time, labor, and money from collective Patagonia, Arizona SeedBroadcasters. Additionally, in 2012 – More info coming soon! 2014 SeedBroadcast received generous grants from the Kindle Project Fund of Tuesday, March 24 Tour of Yuma Seed Culture the Common Counsel Foundation and Tour of Yuma Seed Culture McCune Charitable Foundation to support our yearly projects. We are also grateful to On the streets of industrial lettuce and onion seed the individuals and institutions who have Yuma, Arizona sponsored our participation in their public events helping to offset travel expenses. All Wednesday, March 25 San Diego/Tijuana Seed Tour of these funds are essential for the successful San Diego/Tijuana Seed Tour operation of SeedBroadcast. San Diego, California More info coming soon! With the increasing demands for SEED Action now, we need help to ensure that our 2015 Mobile Seed Story Broadcasting Station Tour, Thursday, March 26 A Thousand Plates Event & Panel Discussion the SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal, and SDSU Downtown Gallery our 2015 Residency project, |UN|silo|ED|, San Diego, California at the Santa Fe Art Institute Food Justice More info coming soon! Program will have the capacity to dig deep, sprout tall, and shout out Seed Stories across Spring 2015 Northern Tour April 10–12, 2015 the land. Friday & Saturday, April 10–11 Aztec Seedsavers SeedBroadcast thanks you for your support and BELIEF in the power of Seeds, Stories, Aztec, New Mexico and agri-Culture! More info coming soon! Saturday, April 11, 6–9pm Annual Hoedown Montezuma School to Farm Project Mancos Opera House Mancos, Colorado “Inside that tiny seed, live the roots, Sunday, April 12, 12–3pm Mancos Seed Exchange Mancos Seed Library branches, bark, trunk, leaves, twigs Mancos, Colorado and apple fruit of that apple tree.