Interested in learning more about the practice and politics of seedkeeping? In this workshop series, with one in person and one virtual session, we will discuss how saving seeds can contribute to land-based political struggles, practices of cultural preservation, and climate resiliency. Join seed keepers Lex and Alexx as we practice hands-on methods for saving seeds on the farm and discuss the importance of seed saving on local and global scales. This offering is open to all, whether you have never saved seeds before or are a seasoned seed saver. After the formal end of the in-person workshop, we will host a seed exchange! You may participate in the seed exchange even if you can’t make it to the workshop itself.

Takeaways:

The role of seed saving and land-based struggles within liberation movements (and why capitalists attack the peoples’ rights to share and save seeds)
When and how to harvest, process, and store a variety of seeds for seed saving, including wet and dry methods
Choosing climate resilient/drought tolerant plants to save seed from
Storytelling as a key aspect of seed saving
Seeds to take home and share with others!

Dates, Times, Locations:

Sat 10/18, 1-3:30pm workshop, 3:30-5pm seed exchange, in person (Brooklyn)
Thurs 10/30, 6-8pm, virtual on Zoom

A Zoom link will be shared after registering. Recordings of each session will be made available to registrants for 6 months after the course ends. Please get to know our community-created COVID practices. Face masks and testing are required for in person classes. FSNYC can provide you with a KN95 mask and/or rapid test(s) upon request.

Community Engagement Practices:

Care for ourselves and each other. At the beginning of each class, we usually take a moment to step out of our busy lives and "ground" ourselves. This may look like stretching, breathing, or a similar activity.
Embrace difference and diversity. One way we do this is by sharing our gender pronouns when introducing ourselves. By doing this, we respect the breadth of gender and the way everyone identifies.
Lean into growth. It can hurt. Students are encouraged to engage with open hearts and minds. Transformation requires expanding our growing edge by sitting through discomforts that may arise in learning spaces.
Pass on the gift. Knowledge and expertise do very little if kept to yourself. Because our model is popular education, we expect everyone to continue sharing with their wider communities. We are all teachers and learners.

To reserve your ticket, click the “Register here!” button. See the Programs Tuition page on our website to guide your contribution. For every SOLIDARITY ticket purchased, a scholarship becomes available. Email programs@farmschoolnyc.org if cost is a barrier.

Meet the Facilitators!

Lex Barlowe has been growing, saving, and sharing seeds since 2018. She helped build a community seed library and circle of seedkeepers. She is an organizer, union worker, and 4th generation New Yorker.

Alexx Caceres (They/Them) is a land steward, artist, and animal lover born and raised in the Munsee Lenape and Canarsie territories also known as East New York, Brooklyn, with ancestral roots in Honduras. Alexx's journey in reconnecting to land and beings across the ecosystem has led them to graduate from Farm School NYC's Citywide Certificate Program 2021, and become an alum of Rocksteady Farm's queer farmer-centered Pollinate Training Program. Their path continues as they steward the land at East New York Farm's Youth Farm site where they're currently the Farm Manager. Some of Alexx's other passions include rescuing animals, creating music, painting, and learning about plant medicine and seed keeping.

Seedkeeping