Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Restoring Cultural Knowledge Protecting Environments and Regaining Health edited by Devon A. Mihesuah and Elizabeth Hoover, Johnny’s Selected Seeds 2023 Master Catalog, Farming While Black Chapter 5 Feeding the Soil by Leah Penniman.
This week, we will focus on seeds. “Sheryl D. Breen describes the difference between the perception of seeds as discrete material objects -“active storage containers of genetic material”- as opposed to viewing “seeds as responsive beings that are inherently embedded within ecological and spiritual webs of kinship,”… seeds are “living relatives” not property, and relatives should not be “molested, contaminated, or imprisoned.” (Hoover 80)
We want to begin by thanking the seeds that we have been given, the people that have given them to us, the earth that fostered the lives of the plants, and the Indigenous peoples that have stewarded and inhabited this land since time immemorial, the Squi-Aitl band of the Squaxin Island Tribe.
Gifts of Life
It is important to understand that seeds are not something we control, they are not something lesser than us. In order to have a reciprocal relationship with the earth, we must acknowledge the gift of seeds. Without seeds (or bulbs, tubers, etc.) we could not grow food. Seeing this, one can understand the gift of seeds. Seeds can teach us about generosity and giving. We anticipate growing food and healthy soils for those who may come after us.
Giving Back
Are we giving back as much as we take? What can we do to give back? In order for our practice to be sustainable, we must give as much as we take. In order to be regenerative, we must give more than we take. Not only should we give back to the Earth, but to our community as well. What do I have that others may not? How am I sharing what I may not need?
Many aspects of conventional Western agriculture rely on taking without giving. Depleting soil, contaminating seeds, destroying ecosystems, and creating profit. Western conventional agricultural practices like tillage can damage soils’ microbiomes, water retention capacity, fertility, texture, and degrades soil structure. Practices like this leave lasting impacts on land even after the practice is halted, leaving a slow healing scar.
Regeneration is not something that happens quickly, just as our body takes time to heal from physical, spiritual, and emotional wounds. It is not just about soil fertility; exploitation of the land causes destruction of habitat, species loss, imbalance in microbiomes, shifts in climate, and displacement of Indigenous peoples. We hope to assist the soil in re-building itself through cover cropping, not relying on amendments, and utilizing crop rotations. Because we will be growing more annual-based crops, we will not be able to fully restore habitat. However, in creating soil fertility and having year-round ground cover, we hope to provide space for insects, small creatures, bacteria, fungi, and birds.
Seed Budget & Needs
All seed prices and information was taken from Johnny’s Master Seed Catalog 2023.
Cover Crops: Clover (white) $12.75/1lbs, Alfalfa $23.30/1lbs, Hairy Vetch $6.45/.25lbs, Rye $7.20/pkt, Spring Wheat $7.75/1lbs
Total cost for cover crops still needed: $57.45
Primary Crops: Potato ~$24/5lbs, Radishes $5.50/pkt (Rover), Turnip $5.55/pkt (Purple Top White Globe), Leek $5.50/pkt (King Richard), Marigold $5.20/pkt (Red Gem), Summer Savory $4.80/pkt, Yarrow $5.35 (Favorite Berries)
Total cost for primary crops still needed: $55.90
So far, we have obtained most of the needed seeds for the plot from friends, family and the GRuB Seed Shed (donate to the seed shed).
On the Half Shell
Wednesday (2/15), we accompanied the “Forest, Farm, & Shellfish Garden” program for their shellfish harvest field trip on Bushoowah-Ahlee Point, land that has been stewarded by the Squaxin Island Tribe since time immemorial. You can find more information on the renaming of Bushoowah-Ahlee Point here.
We chose to pay gratitude to and acknowledge the gift of the oyster for their nature to sustain and benefit coastal ecosystems, for the life sustaining nourishment they provide, and this harvest which will continually benefit our soils and plants using the oysters’ shells in our composting.
We will apply some of the oyster shells to the program plot after they have been washed and crushed. This will help balance the pH of the soil and allow plants easier access to micronutrients like iron, zinc, and magnesium. The shells that will go unused we plan to return to the shellfish garden where they originally were taken from.
