Growing in Connection
Saving seeds for Cultural staples Carribean food & herbs in South Florida
Description
The goal of this project is to restore more genetic diversity in our foodways and to save seeds from Culturally important Caribbean plants used as both food and medicine, so that seeds may be re-distributed into the community.
Researcher background
Peace & Blessings, I'm a Mama, Afro-Caribbean Herbalist & Earth Steward, Energy Worker, & Artist. I am committed to reclaiming ancestral practices of being in relationship with the land & seed keeping. I am beginning to document the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of plants passed down through ancestry and expose, that are used for Healing and food as medicine in Caribbean cultures. I started my business ‘Art of Intention’ in 2024 to offer herbal remedies & plant resources to my community.
I am embarking on creating space to share the journey of people & plants of the Caribbean- a symbiotic relationship that has nurtured our well-being, for many generations. My current offerings center Remembrance & Remedies of medicinal plants, through herbal concoctions, seed-keeping, and Earth-Stewardship. I am tending to the work of my Heart and ancestry, as a descendant of people from Ayiti, present day Haiti. My reverence for plants and their medicine is activated by a deep remembrance. May we place our hands on the land and listen to where our path calls us forward in relation with it and honor that walk. From seed, we return to seed.
I am embarking on creating space to share the journey of people & plants of the Caribbean- a symbiotic relationship that has nurtured our well-being, for many generations. My current offerings center Remembrance & Remedies of medicinal plants, through herbal concoctions, seed-keeping, and Earth-Stewardship. I am tending to the work of my Heart and ancestry, as a descendant of people from Ayiti, present day Haiti. My reverence for plants and their medicine is activated by a deep remembrance. May we place our hands on the land and listen to where our path calls us forward in relation with it and honor that walk. From seed, we return to seed.
Are you seeking volunteer growers or other types of volunteers?
Yes, seeking volunteer growers
How many volunteers do you need?
11
What will you ask volunteers to do?
To grow a small number of plants from the seeds provided and allow them to go to seed, for seed-harvesting. Grow near other plants in the same plant family with no isolation distance recommended to encourage natural cross-pollination. Send a portion of the seeds collected back to me.
Other requirements of volunteers?
I would like to call forth Growers in the South-East region of the United states, the Carribean, South America, and Southeast Asia.
Is this a multi-year project?
Yes
Can volunteers expect to be able to keep some germplasm (seeds, bulbs, cuttings, spores, etc) at the close of the project?
Yes, of course
Anything else?
The heart of this project is to create a system of people growing their own food and saving their own seed, promoting more genetic diversity in our cultural foodways and learning through experimenting and discussing in community. It is intended to feel natural, explorative, engaging, and easeful. Hopefully it's also rewarding to you!
Researcher Location
33035
United States
