|
Summer Greetings Beloved Friends!
What is it about summer that is so energizing?
It seems that all life is beckoned to be more active; to play, in the park, forest, beach, backyard, anywhere outdoors.
Nature has so much to teach us, if we choose to listen and learn.
Many ancient philosophies deeply understood that there is wisdom in the air, the trees, the skies and everything living on this earth and beyond.
In qigong, an ancient practice for health, martial arts and spiritual cultivation, which is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer is associated with the element of Fire, a time of peak yang energy – like the sun – very active.
Emotionally summer is associated with happiness.
The Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island have a name for each moon cycle. They call the July full moon, the Buck full moon, because at this time of year male deer shed their velvet antlers, making room for their antlers to grow out year after year.
As natural beings, during the full moon, we too are invited to shed what no longer serves us and allow ourselves to grow into our magnificence.
Can you feel the whispers of Mother Moon?
What is she inviting you to shed?
Here are some of the things members of our Team are shedding this full moon.
In this summer edition, we are excited to share what we are releasing to make room for growth and what is germinating, blossoming, and rooting more deeply at WILDSEED.
We are thrilled to be in community with all your beautiful souls.
The WILDSEED Team
Naima, Kavitha, Natasha, Athena, Ana, Monti, Taij, Sevaad & Nico
| |
Making Space for Growth
Talking about letting go and making space.
Here at WILDSEED, we are totally embracing the Buck full moon energy– quite literally by clearing out our 250-year old barn. This space clearing brings us closer to the full renovation of the barn into a shared agricultural facility that will support farmers across our region.
Over a period of 3 days, a team of 6 took on the task to bravely venture into the depths of our 3600 square foot barn and garage to find treasures unseen by people for decades. Old refrigerators, air conditioning units, bales of hay– even four bikes, were some of the items found. Never fear, anything that was usable was saved or donated and unusable items were properly disposed of in keeping with our eco-friendly practices.
Below are the before and after photos. We look forward to taking you on this journey of transformation, of not just our barn but of the fruits, vegetables and herbs we’ll be able to process, store and cook and the many lives that will be nourished physically, spiritually and emotionally after the renovation.
Can you feel the excitement?
| |
Food Forest
What’s actively growing, blossoming, and rooting down
So much is growing and blossoming at WILDSEED right now thanks to the tireless efforts of the multi-talented Natasha Strickland, lead of the Land Stewardship Team.
Since the start of the year, Natasha has been working on bringing her vision for a thriving educational food forest called the Learning Grove to life at WILDSEED. What started with a degraded orchard consisting of 14 apple trees, has bloomed into an additional six raised beds growing everything from strawberries, callaloo, okra, spinach, chives, leeks, Paul Roebson tomatoes, carrot, lagos spinach, lettuce, speckled brown butterbeans, 3 potato towers, and of course perennial and annual pollinator flowers.
We use the jaden lakou gardening method: “a traditional Haitian courtyard garden and agroforestry system where vegetables, medicinal herbs, and fruit trees grow together for self-sufficiency.” Our newly planted mushroom guild has also sprouted chestnut, oyster and lion's mane, wine caps and shitake mushrooms.
The planting of these edible trees, shrubs and fungi, is the first phase of a project to build a food forest that also serves as an educational outdoor classroom and processing kitchen to host educational workshops starting in 2027.
Our goal is to have this food forest serve the needs of our local neighbors and community members from historically marginalized communities in the Mid-Hudson Valley and New York area.
See a sneak peek of all the goodies growing in our community garden.
| | |
P.S. Here’s a quick farming tip for growing Paul Robeson tomatoes from Natasha.
If you’re growing indeterminate tomatoes, like Paul Roebson, choose a support system that matches their growth habit. Indeterminate tomato plants keep growing and producing fruit all season until the first frost, so they need a tall, sturdy trellis.
A Florida weave is a great option for growing tomatoes in rows.
Another favorite is using a cattle panel that can be bent in an arch, creating a sturdy trellis that allows vines to climb overhead. This method improves airflow, makes harvesting easier, saves space, and even creates a beautiful living garden tunnel as the plants fill in.
The support helps keep plants healthier, reduces disease pressure, and encourages a productive harvest all season long.
| | Florida Weave photo courtesy Grow a Good Life | | Cattle Panel photo courtesy Grow a Good Life | | |
Farm Dinners in conversation with Taij at Glynwood Farms
We at WILDSEED recognize and value the various ecosystems that we thrive in.
A beloved partner of our ecosystem is the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming (Glynwood). Located in Cold Spring, Glynwood is an agricultural nonprofit organization focusing on regenerative farming, farmer training and selling of pasture-raised meat and produce to the community.
On June 10th our own Taij Kumarie Moteelall sat down for a conversation with Kathleen Finaly, Glynwood’s President and CEO, as the guest speaker at Glywood’s Farm Dinners. These intimate and communal meals showcase the bounty of Glynwood’s farm and farmers in the Hudson Valley.
Taij shared about WILDSEED’s origins as a gift of land made in the spirit of reparations that serves as a model of the type of wealth redistribution that she believes is critical to healing the injustices done against Black Americans and Indigenous communities in the United States.
Glywood’s relationship to WILDSEED goes back 4+ years, and has included hosting Glynwood retreats at WILDSEED, being a network weaver connecting us to amazing groups in the regenerative farming sector, and supporting a WILDSEED incubated farm, Catalyst Collaborative Farm, with funds to cover grants cut by the federal government.
As WILDSEED and its partners in the Webatuck Valley Farm Collaborative create a regional food hub in the Mid-Hudson Valley, our partnership with Glynwood is incredibly important in guiding our design processes and long term plans.
We are grateful to be in partnership with Glynwood and look forward to learning and growing a more just and thriving food system across the entire Hudson Valley and beyond.
|
Somatics of Money
As part of WILDSEED’s commitment to being a learning community, we met on June 1st to participate in a Somatics of Money (SOM) session facilitated by Gerald Mitchell, SOM’s creator.
Somatics of Money is a process and practice of exploring our relationship to money and how it manifests in our bodies, and by extension our personal and professional lives. Through a series of reflection prompts and breathwork, the WILDSEED team was able to unpack, discover, and question their personal money stories, especially as it relates to their work at WILDSEED.
This session set the foundation for WILDSEED to continue this conversation on our own as we seek to be in greater alignment with each other.
| |
The Portal
In the spirit of solidarity & community, WILDSEED host various groups for retreats, planning meetings, celebrations, and more. In June we were thrilled to host a retreat for a group from New York City.
In addition to renting our guesthouse called the Sun House, and the yurt, they also asked us to help coordinate spaces where wellness could take place. Sevaad Walker, WILDSEED’s Land and Community Steward, coordinated sauna time, Lindai Bodywork offered massages, and Natasha from Ancestral Moon Farm & Medicinals offered herbal wellness baths.
We recognize that so many folks within our ecosystem are working on the frontlines– from immigration reform, prison abolition, to community organizing– giving selflessly of themselves day in and day out.
WILDSEED can provide a respite to recharge and fill their cups. We want to remind you that renting our guesthouse, our outdoor spaces, and wellness retreats are available to you for whatever your next gathering may be. For more information, please visit our website for more information and to reserve your stay at WILDSEED.
| |
WILDSEED FEATURE
WILDSEED was recently featured in Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s June newsletter:
“Wildseed Community Farm and Healing Village, a BIPOC-stewarded farm, is repairing a legacy of inequitable access to farmland and safe spaces by providing acreage to emerging BIPOC farmers, and a restorative natural setting for collective action, resilience, and joy.”
Read more.
|
Save the Date - Roots of Abundance - Konbit Day
We hope you are able to join us for our Roots of Abundance Konbit Day on Saturday, September 26th where you’ll have an opportunity to harvest the fruit of the bounty of our food forest. Our Konbit Days are inspired by the Haitian Creole tradition of mutual aid. These gatherings annually bring together over 100 BIPOC, immigrant, and working-class community members annually to plant, harvest, weed, eat and build together in a spirit of collective care and shared labor.
This family friendly event will also feature opportunities to learn about ethical harvesting practices, farming and land stewardship and workshops ranging from herbal-infused honey making, tea tastings and other surprises. Full event details and registration will be shared in a few weeks.
So if you’re ready to get your hands dirty, make some new friends, sharpen your farming and gardening skills, eat a delicious meal and get to learn about WILDSEED, please mark your calendars!
| |
Walden Mutual Bank Funder Briefing
We are excited to launch our Capital Campaign, share progress on our Food Hub build, and more about our NEW WVFC Local Impact CD in partnership with Walden Mutual.
WILDSEED, in deep collaboration with Rock Steady Farm and Sweet Freedom Farm, are co-leading the Webatuck Valley Farm Collaborative (WVFC)—a farmer-led, BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-driven initiative to transform agricultural infrastructure, land access, and rural power in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley. The WVFC Capital Campaign funds the development of a regional food hub centered in the Webatuck Valley in Millerton, NY — including aggregation, cold storage, wash/pack, processing, a shared commercial kitchen, distribution infrastructure, a shared large event space, short-term housing for our training programs and more! We are connecting underserved farmers to schools, institutions, and community markets across New York State and the Northeast.
Our goal will raise a total of $15 million! Funding will guarantee 3 years of startup for our 3 organizations over 3 sites. We are thrilled to share that we have secured $5.7 million to date but we need your support to reach our $15 million goal!
Please join us on August 4, 2026 from 12-1:30 for Webatuck Valley Farm Collaborative’s Funder Briefing, co-hosted by Walden Mutual Bank!
When you open a WVFC Local Impact CD with Walden Mutual, every dollar you deposit backs our line of credit for our Food Hub build and stabilizes our cashflow for the multi-site renovations happening right now. PLUS, you earn 3.00% APY1* on a 24-month term while supporting the long-term viability of dozens of small farms who will be utilizing our Food Hub.
Register here
| |
On this full moon (or anytime you read this), we invite you to take the time to stop, listen, and feel into one thing you can release to make space inside the fertile soil within your body, mind and spirit, to continue growing into the person you were born to be.
Know that all of us at WILDSEED: our Team, the water, the land, the crawlers, our feathered friends, the swimmers, and the land walkers are growing alongside you into the world we all deserve.
| | | | |
