Tonight, January 13, we will enjoy a full moon, after which the moon will start “waning” again, towards the new moon on the 28th. In just one month (plus a day or two), we will start planting the onion crops from seed, that will be transplanted out into the gardens when the soil is warm enough in spring. Why just the onions? Because they are root crops for us humans -we want lots of energy to go into their roots, that feed us and add flavour to our cooking. Root crops are best planted just after the full moon, in what is called the “third quarter” waning moon. As Seed Keeper Rowen White advises: “Plant seeds and tubers that grow underground…this is also an ideal time to transplant to promote healthy root growth.” Onions require a long season, and they are also sensitive to the sun’s effects, because their bulbs enlarge in time for the Summer Solstice, the longest day/shortest night. So they need to be planted from seed well ahead of this event so that they have time to grow their leaves and photosynthesize, gathering sugars and other nutrients to feed that bulb, which in turn, feeds us. Planting intentionally with the moon phases helps us to organize and prioritize in alignment with what the plant wants, so we all get what we need from this growing season, plants and humans alike.
Our Fifth Growing Season Draws to a Close 🎉
Although Ratinenhayénthos was formed in 2018 and a garlic crop was planted on the site at 1462 York Rd that fall, 2019 was the first full growing season for seed crops on this very special site. This means that the 2024 growing season was the fifth full season of seed keeping for the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre! Since then so many of you have supported our growth as an organization, in so many ways, and we are grateful. The Future Generations Fund, in particular, helped out a lot this year! May this organization continue to be as beneficial as a bean seed planted in good soil: bearing an abundance of fruit many times greater than the one seed that was planted.
Many milestones were reached this year: not one or two but five young people worked onsite as learners on the land, 50 crop varieties were planted, maintained and harvested, new areas were made ready for cultivation for the future and a greenhouse was finally erected! A driveway now makes the site much more accessible, and two hoophouses were donated, one of which was actually put up -with a LOT of help! We buried fish guts, burned future planting sites and covered others, and with borrowed equipment, one of our interns bravely tilled up a whole acre for a much larger 3 Sisters planting planned for next year. We learned Seed Songs, cleaned seeds and heard bean stories with Elders, and feasted on produce from the gardens, generously prepared by amazing chef Caitlin Noel-Drews. As we clean and count the seeds we tell their stories -their trials and tribulations, and their successes -and get ready to package some for sharing just after mid-winter.
We close 2024 with thanks, and greet 2025 wishing many blessings to all our relations: including you! <3
It’s almost Giving Tuesday!
| Ratinenhayénthos is cultivating the next generation of seed work— celebrate our transformative work with a gift today |
| Ratinenhayénthos, the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre is 5 years old this year! We have refined our vision as follows: “To position KSSLC as the leader in producing locally grown community seeds to support food sovereignty for future generations in Kenhte:ke and neighbouring communities.” We are recognized as cultivators of a community of seeds and seed growers, maintaining good relations with the land and waters. A recognition we couldn’t have reached without you! Thank you for supporting our education and grow-outs in our earliest years. As we launch our next chapter together, we celebrate many shared accomplishments with our incredible community of Seed Keepers, organic food system enthusiasts, and champions of agrobiodiversity. With your help, on this Giving Tuesday, we can cultivate a transformation in organic farming that ensures future generations have access to high-quality, locally adapted, and environmentally sustainable seeds. If you require a charitable tax receipt, you can give via our charitable partners SeedChange, just add a note that your donation is intended for Ratinenhayénthos. In gratitude for their support, we also encourage you to donate to them directly, to continue their wonderful work as well! If you do not need a tax receipt for your donation, you can send the funds directly to Ratinenhayénthos either by cheque or through our online donation page. Nyawen:kowa |
End of Growing season, Start of Dreaming season
As the seeds dry down and we spend time lovingly cleaning away the chaff and sorting the seeds into 3 (1.good for keeping, 2.good for eating and 3.good for composting) we also spend time lovingly planning for the future of these good seeds and the good people who keep them. We will be taking time for some “strategic planning”, reflecting on what we have done well and what needs improvement. Feel free to reach out and give us feedback at this time, we would love to hear from you in both of those categories! Please email ratinenhayenthos@gmail.com
We look forward to upcoming events cleaning seeds with the seniors, a couple of conferences for learning and networking, and also the local event posted here: Kingston’s “Mini” Seedy Saturday. Autumn blessings do fall on us like the leaves: we just need to be open to receiving them, especially in darker times.
Volunteer workbee and garden closing: October 20
Due to the Thanksgiving weekend last weekend, we decided to change the volunteer workbee (which has been the second Sunday of each month) to October 20th instead! We will combine it with the official closing of the gardens, so there will be a little extra celebration to enjoy. We will be onsite from 9:30am to 11:30am (or thereabouts), so please feel free to drop by even if you aren’t up for volunteering. Looks like the weather should be perfect for gathering outdoors one more time (but dress in layers just in case, and be sure to check for ticks)!
What: volunteer workbee and Closing of the Gardens (2024)
When: Sunday, October 20, 9:30 am-11:30 am
Where: Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre
Thankful for an abundant harvest!
2024
Happy Fall Equinox! 2024
Happy belated Fall Equinox everyone! Up till the Equinox it was a dry late-summer period, which is perfect for ripening seed crops. Now the fall rains have begun, but the dry seeds are safely tucked inside under cover to slowly get cleaned and sorted over the coming weeks. Most crops are doing very well! The peppers and eggplants look amazing and will be harvested very soon, the carrots are huge and the beans are prolific. Cucumbers have all been harvested, lettuces have bolted and are pumping out lots of seed right now! However, we have to report that our squashes and our corn did not thrive this year -they germinated very late and are struggling to form full fruit. We are praying for them and are prepared to cover them if necessary, but we believe this is symptomatic of a bigger problem: we are growing relatively small amounts of crops that want to be in large populations to feed the whole community! They want to be grown in big groups, with lots of pollinators and people interacting all together (the cow corn, for instance, grows great, acres and acres of it). We are getting there, slowly building capacity and opening up more land for larger grow-outs. That, along with growing more biennials now that we have a greenhouse and hoophouse, will be our focus for 2025, and we are looking forward to it! Nyawen:kowa to all the folks who have supported us throughout the season, all the funders, donors (cash and in-kind), volunteers, interns, our amazing Board of Directors, and all the community members who visit us at events and speak kindly about us and keep us in their prayers. We will have one more volunteer workbee on October 13 and will post more about that soon!
5th Annual Seed to Salsa event this Saturday, Aug.24 2024 10 am!
Here you see Farmer Emma preparing a jar of tomato seeds in readiness for our seed saving demo this Saturday, August 24 at 10 am till around noon. Come and join us for a tour of the gardens to harvest ingredients, then learn to save your own tomato seeds while still eating the delicious fruit -nothing wasted! Fresh salsa will then be shared, so you can taste the true garden-fresh difference yourself. From seed to salsa, and back to seed again! It’s food security in a yummy snack. This is a free event, but donations are always appreciated. T-shirts will be available for purchase as well.
Many thanks to Indigenous Youth Roots for partially funding Farmer Emma’s internship this year -she is a treasure! #IndigenousYouthRoots-IYR
Annual General Meeting July 8 at 5pm
Please join us for our Annual General Meeting! Meet our Board, get updates on our recent activities, and enjoy some social time to celebrate seeds and seedkeepers! On zoom from 5-7 pm on Monday, July 8. Email ratinenhayenthos at gmail.com for the link.
We will also host our monthly volunteer work bee/open house on Sunday, July 14, from 9-11 am (note, this is a bit earlier than we usually start, but if the day turns out to be hot, we will be glad of an earlier start and end time). Please bring your water bottle and wear sturdy footwear and sun protection!
One of the tasks you may enjoy as a volunteer is preparing name stakes for the varieties being stewarded here, so I include a photo of our interns doing just that. Name stakes are just what they sound like: wooden stakes that have the name of each variety in the collection painted on them. They help us stay organized and keep each variety true to type. Look for them when you visit the gardens! We have also been painting the other side of each stake with the Mohawk word for the plant type: tomato, bean, etc. We are encouraging the interns in learning the language, as we are fortunate to have a couple of strong speakers on hand this year!
Annual General Meeting July 8
We plan to host our AGM on Monday July 8 at 5 pm. Please email ratinenhayenthos at gmail.com for more details and to RSVP! We are excited to share with our community.
Seedy events coming up!
First of all, we are beyond excited to have three new Seed Keepers-in-training for this season, in addition to our two “originals”! See a photo of most of us below at a recent visit with long-time Seed Keepers Janice and Ken.
This Sunday, June 9 is the second Sunday of the month, and as such is our regular volunteer work bee from 10 am-noon! Youth especially are encouraged to come out, and we can sign for high school volunteer hours if that helps. Youth who join us for 3 work bees throughout the season will receive a free t-shirt! Just sign in when you arrive each time. The timing will be 10-noon for this one, although as the temperature rises we may plan to meet earlier in the day.
We are also excited to announce our latest fundraising initiative: an EcoTour Experience to immerse you in our ways of growing and keeping seeds! “Reconnecting One Seed at a Time” will be a meaningful, but also entertaining way to support the organization while learning about Rotinonhsyon:ni Seed Keeping. Our first offering will be the morning of Indigenous People’s Day, June 21, but we plan to offer more in the fall in honour of TRC/Orange Shirt day!
Here is the link for the Eco-tourism eventbrite page
