This last seed exchange was featured in The Costa Rica News: The Seed Festival Celebrates 7 Years of Exchanges, Knowledge, and Enjoyment for All
Seeds represent the foundations or building blocks of life. Just as many of us have lost our connection to ourselves and nature, seeds have been lost too. 93 percent of native and criolla seeds were lost between 1903 and 1993 [1]. It is believed that we have lost over 75 percent of Earth’s forests due to deforestation and human activity [2].
“A seed is a forest inside out.”
—Matshona Dhliwayo
Through the preservation of seeds—planting them on our lands and storing them in seed banks—we can exchange seeds, plant seeds, and bring back some of the biodiversity and vitality we have lost. Seeds are the foundation of all existence. As guardians of the land, we are seeds of change, regeneration, and love.
Seeds are our connection to life itself; we cannot have life without seeds.
Seeds Are Foundation of Life
Just as many of us have lost our connection to ourselves and nature, seeds have been lost too.
Join us for our next seed exchange in collaboration with EcoMaste & Community
What types of seeds do we have today?
Local or Native Seeds. These seeds originate in the land or region where they are currently cultivated. Ten thousand years ago, humans started to domesticate plants and adapt to specific local conditions; their seeds adapted with them.
Criolla or Adapted Seeds. These seeds originally come from other regions of the world but have adapted to the climate and soil where they are now grown. With the invasion of colonization, and specifically the Spanish here in Latin America, many seeds have been carried into the Americas—and all across the world.
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Seeds. These seeds are bred not in a garden but rather in a laboratory, using modern biotechnology techniques like gene splicing. Scientists modify a seed’s DNA to ensure that the resulting plant produces desired characteristics. Many GMO seeds are sterile, meaning they cannot produce seeds for the next harvest.
What are the benefits of Native & Criollas Seeds?
Economic: farmers don’t need to purchase seeds each year
Environmental: Conserve the biodiversity, respect of interdependence between animals and plants
Cultural: Conserve the identity of culture & tribes
Social: Ensuring survival through healthy food for generations
What are the consequences of GMO Seeds?
Economic – farmers need to purchase seeds each year
Environmental – Loss of biodiversity, Increased pests, desertification of soil
Cultural – Loss of security and food sustainability of agriculture/farmers/locals
Social – Public health is in crisis and increased sickness of humans
We are the seeds
The solution is for cultivation of seeds in each household, schools, and public gardens. Also, to purchase from local organic farmers.
Protecting our seeds..
PLANT SEEDS. Safest way to preserve seeds and empower communities.
Create a seed bank, in a safe dry place.
Exchange or share seeds with your neighbors.
Make your Own Seed Exchange, get inspired from our last event:
Lena Ropp from Pure Vegan Food, created this beautiful video from our last seed exchange in collaboration with EcoMaste, in the Pacific of Costa Rica
“When it comes to the love within us and surrounding us, it is so important for us to nourish it like a garden, starting at the core of love in our own hearts and rippling outwards to the garden surrounding us.
We are seeds, ready to sprout and then blossom; it is time for us to remember the love that is our true nature. We all have this seed deep within our hearts. The best way to cultivate our garden of love is to start planting seeds—within ourselves and in the earth—each cycle.
At the core of all beings is a seed of love. Love grows and flourishes within each of us, especially if we can start our day with intention, appreciation of nature, and conscious consumption. Love can be compared to the “flowering of a plant when the necessary stage of maturity has been reached.” [3] We each hold the ability to love—this seed, this potential—within us. It is up to us to nourish this seed of love with compassion, hope, grace, and positive affirmations.” Regenerate Your Reality Book, Your Guide to Regenerative Living.
If what you read here resonates with you, consider buying your copy of best selling book
A portion of proceeds will support the planting of trees for each book purchased.
Thank you so much for reading!
If you don’t know the project, Regenerate Your Reality uses permaculture, agroforestry, and education to bring sovereignty and happiness to our communities. It is our mission to restore the relationship between humans and the earth and build a regenerative present.
Watch our Seeds Webinar
Citations -
1 - Greenpeace, “Forest Destruction,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific (Greenpeace), accessed November 2, 2021, https://www.greenpeace.org.au/what-we-do/protecting-forests/forest-destruction/.
2 - National Geographic Society, “Domestication,” (National Geographic Society, October 9, 2012), https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/domestication/.
3 - Michael Soulé, “Love and Its Meaning in the World, a Lecture by Rudolf Steiner, Dec 1912,” Lead Together (Lead Together , March 19, 2019), https://leadtogether.org/love-and-its-meaning-in-the-world-a-lecture-by-rudolf-steiner-dec-1912/.