Learning

Happy for new developments for the Seeds! We have a brand new greenhouse, thanks to some hard work and funding. We hosted our first volunteer work bee, and some young folks came out who haven’t visited us before (see the photo of all the leeks they transplanted for us)! We have had some community members reach out to us in new ways, and we received notice of some much-needed funding for this year!

We will be at the Earth Day event in the community this weekend, Saturday April 20 from 12-4 at the MBQ Firehall. If you ordered seed packets and haven’t picked them up yet, we will have them with us at this event, so please come by and chat. We will also have t-shirts for sale, and hopefully some extra seed packets for sharing. We plan to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Seed Rematriation to this community, which happened in Kingston in ceremony on Earth Day in 2019- Yoyanare!

At this time of year, many groups reach out to us looking for workshops, advice, etc. Please be aware that this is our busiest time of year, and our staff are increasingly spending their time out on the land planting and growing the seeds -which is the reason we do this work! At this time of year we are less able to spend time at the computer, and we don’t likely have the capacity to offer spontaneous workshops. Please be patient with us, and if you think you would be interested in a workshop or presentation for next year, please contact us early to book -preferably in the wintertime, when we are indoors and it is storytelling time. We are happy to hear from you at any time, but our response time is likely to be slower in spring when our hands are too dirty to touch the phone 🙂 Nyawen!

At this time of year, people start to get antsy!  Many people start to reach out to us looking for seeds to plant, and wondering if they should start those seeds indoors, like, right now!

The answer to the second part is mostly NO, not yet!  And in many cases, the answer is NO, don’t start them indoors at all.  Most of the crops we know as “the 3 Sisters” don’t need (or want) to be started indoors.  These crops are adapted to growing here during the growing season, because they have been grown here for thousands of years.  For most of that time there were no greenhouses here, no grow-lights, no windowsills.  The seeds were kept safe until the soil was ready to receive them, outside.  Beans don’t like to be transplanted at all-some of them would die if transplanted.  Squashes can be transplanted, but they don’t like it and will sulk for quite a while once outside.  In my experience, there is no advantage to starting squash plants indoors, because the ones started from seed-in-the-ground (direct-seeded) will quickly reach the same stage of maturity as the transplants, and may even overtake them, just because  their roots were not disturbed by transplanting.

We have already started our peppers (see photo), because they like to be transplanted, and are native to climes further south which get a longer season.  We will start tomatoes in the waxing moon phase after Easter, for the same reason (although tomatoes are adapting rapidly now, and I suspect there may be no need to start tomatoes indoors in the near future).  Around the same time we will likely start some brassicas and flowers.

The answer to the first part of the question -do we have seeds to share?  If you are a Tyendinaga community member, look for the form to fill out on our website, and come pick up your seeds on the Spring Equinox, March 19.  Otherwise, please be patient and consider making a donation:  we are gradually building capacity and hope to be able to share more widely as we grow.  We will have a small quantity at Kingston Seedy Saturday. Nyawen!

Today we plant the pepper seeds!  Our very first planting of 2024!  Right now the moon is waxing towards full, which is a wonderful time to plant seeds for which the fruit (the part we commonly use) will be above ground.  A few days ago in the first quarter might have been better, but that was not to be!  It’s great to get them going before the full moon anyway.

You see the peat flats here on top of the wood stove and may be wondering if it isn’t too hot there?  The answer is apparently not!  I have had the best germination from peppers ever since we got the wood stove:  they love getting heat from below.  Maybe they are used to growing on the sides of volcanos? Once they germinate they will need light, of course, but as long as they are germinating, they will stay on the wood stove.  Trying the eggplant there too this year.

We give thanks for the peppers, and we will welcome and greet their little sprouts very soon!

It hasn’t been a cold winter, and I fear for this year’s tick season, and for the Maple nation.  But it has been a dark winter, there’s no doubt about it!  The lengthening days that we tend to perceive at this time are welcome, because there’s a better chance that we might see some sun over the course of a longer day.  Our seeds are still at rest now, but soon the onions and the peppers will be brought out and we will ask them to kindly start growing in anticipation of real soil and rain.  We give greetings and thanks for Midwinter, Imbolc, Groundhog Day and any other seasonal celebration we can manage to lift our spirits at this time.

Also, t-shirts are back in stock!  Email if you’re interested 😊  Here is a photo of an old one of mine, so you can see how well they hold up to abuse!

People often ask “how should I store my seeds?”, which is an excellent question.  The question itself recognizes that we need to take care of the seeds when we aren’t using them, and that seeds are not lifeless items that can be stored any old way we want, but rather are living things that require specific conditions to prolong their life, without which they will die.  Seeds are baby plants, and when we know the time is right to grow them, we will plant them in warm soil, water them, and make sure they have adequate light when they germinate.  Knowing this effectively tells us what conditions we need to provide them in storage:  the opposite conditions!  So cool-cold temperatures, no soil or organic matter, very dry/no water, and preferably low light or even darkness.  Of these, the most important factor is DRY.  As you clean and thresh your seeds, you should be able to ensure that no insects are hiding out amongst them:  that’s clean enough!  Then make sure they are dry and keep them consistently cool and out of direct sunlight.

So, how should I store my seeds?  In order of importance, dry and clean are tops!  Then cool and dark as you are able.  For instance, if you have to choose between storing your clean seeds in a damp dark cool basement OR a dry, but light and room temperature shelf:  go for the shelf.

Glass jars are great for keeping seeds safe, as long as you open the lid to give them air occasionally.  Putting the seeds in a paper envelope inside the jar allows you to label the envelope with their name and the year you grew those seeds.  Always label your seeds somehow!  In general, paper envelopes work very well, but they can be chewed open by mice, so if you have mice in your house (or other chewing pests who might eat seeds), use a glass jar.  Plastic may work for short-term storage, but remember that plastic breaks down over time, which could contaminate your seeds.  And it is also chewable.

If this all sounds complicated, don’t worry.  Seeds are very resilient, and the most important thing is to stay in touch with them, to make a connection with them.  Once you are connected with a variety, you will find that you intuitively care for those seeds in the way they need (although you may make some mistakes along the way:  so always keep a back-up)!

Proper storage of seeds

People often ask “how should I store my seeds?”, which is an excellent question.  The question itself recognizes that we need to take care of the seeds when we aren’t using them, and that seeds are not lifeless items that can be stored any old way we want, but rather are living things that require specific conditions to prolong their life, without which they will die.  Seeds are baby plants, and when we know the time is right to grow them, we will plant them in warm soil, water them, and make sure they have adequate light when they germinate.  Knowing this effectively tells us what conditions we need to provide them in storage:  the opposite conditions!  So cool-cold temperatures, no soil or organic matter, very dry/no water, and preferably low light or even darkness.  Of these, the most important factor is DRY.  As you clean and thresh your seeds, you should be able to ensure that no insects are hiding out amongst them:  that’s clean enough!  Then make sure they are dry and keep them consistently cool and out of direct sunlight.

So, how should I store my seeds?  In order of importance, dry and clean are tops!  Then cool and dark as you are able.  For instance, if you have to choose between storing your clean seeds in a damp dark cool basement OR a dry, but light and room temperature shelf:  go for the shelf.

Glass jars are great for keeping seeds safe, as long as you open the lid to give them air occasionally.  Putting the seeds in a paper envelope inside the jar allows you to label the envelope with their name and the year you grew those seeds.  Always label your seeds somehow!  In general, paper envelopes work very well, but they can be chewed open by mice, so if you have mice in your house (or other chewing pests who might eat seeds), use a glass jar.  Plastic may work for short-term storage, but remember that plastic breaks down over time, which could contaminate your seeds.  And it is also chewable.

If this all sounds complicated, don’t worry.  Seeds are very resilient, and the most important thing is to stay in touch with them, to make a connection with them.  Once you are connected with a variety, you will find that you intuitively care for those seeds in the way they need (although you may make some mistakes along the way:  so always keep a back-up)!

Congratulations and thanks to one of our fearless leaders!  Jennifer Brant released a wonderful album entitled “Resilience “, and kindly donated some of the proceeds to the Kenhté:ke Seed Sanctuary and Learning Centre!  Nyawen:kowa, Yoyanare!

Her beautiful work can be heard here: https://jenniferbrantmusic.com/music

The community of Tyendinaga is so supportive of this important work of keeping seeds, our food crop relatives, safe, healthy and available. We are blessed!

In our lives, there always seem to be things we’d rather just leave behind.  Bad habits that we continue to do, even though we know they harm us, states of mind that keep us negative, words that come out despite the hurt they cause to those we love.  I like to think about this as I thresh the seed crops.  Threshing is about separating the seeds from anything that is not seeds:  stems, dried-up leaves, bugs, roots, etc.  We want to keep the beautiful, useful seeds, and protect them for future plantings, so we need to get rid of the rest of the plant that’s now dead, and keep only what’s alive and good.  To do this, you need to know the difference between the seed and the not-a-seed, which is easier said than done!  We need to distinguish the bad habits from the good ones, the negative states of mind from the positive, peaceful states.  As I take the dead plant bits to the compost, I think:  It’s time to let this habit go now.  And as I put the seeds safely in their labelled glass jar, I think:  I choose to keep and safeguard my peaceful, good mind😊

At this time of year, after the Fall Equinox and before the Winter Solstice, I always feel very low energy.  The days are getting progressively shorter, it’s colder, it’s often too wet to work in the gardens, even if there was much to do, which hopefully there isn’t any more.  I’m definitely in hibernation mode and I feel myself sinking into slumber…But of course, in our modern times, there’s no allowance for this seasonal shift, there’s no time to rest!  Deadlines continue, students are diligently attending school, appointments must be made, etc.  So I take my Vitamin D3, shake my head and do my best to keep up (but maybe I go to bed just a bit earlier).  For me, surrounded by annual and biennial plants as my companions, it only seems natural to “die back” a little, to sink energy into my roots and rest there for a time.  After all, spring will demand a huge outburst of energy, and it will come soon enough.  Surely I must rest while I can so that I’m ready to spring into action when the days start to lengthen again!  Just as there are lunar cycles each month, there are seasonal cycles through the year.  True seasonal autumn (as opposed to the pumpkin-spice latte season) feels like the waning time, like just before the New Moon.  I love it, I don’t feel depressed by it!  But I wish I could honour it properly by going back to bed!