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We are sending you the energy of the gleaming yellow daffodils, bursting cherry blossoms, fruiting mushrooms, rich moist soil, and animated bird song from WILDSEED. We hope springtime is offering you a sense of renewed hope and inspiration, in the midst of deep collective grief and global catastrophe. May this season recommit us to active nonviolence, community and earth care, love and justice.
As the shoots push up toward the light, we are excited to share with you some exciting updates, invitations and opportunities with you from the land! (The first invitation is Saturday! See details below)
Deep thanks to our community, supporters, partners, the land, water, and ecosystem kin for supporting this season of blooming!
Bright Blessings,
Naima, Kavitha, Natasha, Athena, Monti and Taij
|  |  | WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village is a creative sanctuary rooted in reciprocal relationships with land, water and ecology in the Mid Hudson Valley, NY. Centering the leadership and radical imaginations of BIPOC stewards, we grow food, medicine, and love as infrastructure for solidarity economies to nourish our ancestors, ourselves and generations to come. | | |
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In Partnership with Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC-LT), we welcomed Athena Bernkopf as Bridge Coordinator and Natasha Strickland as WILDSEED Co-Operations Director! Our first day together began with fellowship and ritual, making offerings to the land, and inviting our ancestors to support the work ahead.
Natasha is contributing to WILDSEED's strategic planning and implementation through site management and development, and helping coordinate WILDSEED programs, farmer leases, rentals and residencies.
Athena is supporting WILDSEED to cultivate a land tenure structure that actualizes the vision and values of WILDSEED as fully as possible, while facilitating our partnership with NEFOC-LT to transfer the title into a legal structure that protects the land in perpetuity.
We are deeply blessed to have them as part of the team!
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Monti Lawson and Catalyst Collaborative Farm are beginning their 2nd year farming at WILDSEED. Catalyst Collaborative Farm is a BIPOC and Queer-owned initiative committed to transforming the agricultural landscape by fostering inclusivity and sustainability. Their mission is to develop an equitable food system that not only nourishes but also empowers the diverse communities they serve. This year they are growing an abundance of peppers, herbs, and sunflowers. Follow them on Instagram to stay up to date with upcoming events!
We continue to provide no cost access to prime agricultural land to Sweet Freedom Farm who grow and distribute vegetables, grain, herbs, medicines, and maple syrup, prioritizing incarcerated beloveds and their families. This year they are growing traditional African and Indigenous field crops focusing on growing sorghum for grain and syrup, and partnering with Iron Path Farm to help grow their traditional Haudenosaunee white flour corn.
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We are also partnering with Sarah Elisabeth of Sage Herbalz to develop a mandala medicine garden teeming with healing plants that boost immunity, fortify the nervous system, and address trauma and common diseases. The purpose of the garden is to offer free herb distributions to the local community. The garden is fully installed and this year we are adding calendula, sun root, valerian, echinacea, and more. Look forward to receiving free products September 7 at the Fall Block Party! Reach to Sarah at sarah@sageherbalz.com if you want to join her any Friday afternoon through November to tend to the garden.
We’ve also been establishing native perennials in a terraced garden and food forest, companion planting apple and pear trees with mushrooms comfrey, mullein, creeping thyme, tulsi, lavender, rosemary, solomon's seal, trillium, geranium, currants, gooseberry, anise hyssop, African marigold, chamomile and more. Big thanks to Krista Speroni and True Foods Hudson Valley team for helping design and establish these edible and medicinal groves, and Jared and Stefanie of Future Fruits who have been teaching us how to care for our apple, pear, and peach trees in the orchard.
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What a sacred time we had at the Hands-On Mushroom Cultivation Skill-share on March 20. Black mycologists Clara Agbortabi and Naima Penniman led a day-long workshop for 20 participants that uplifted these magical organisms as teachers that offer medicine, feed us, and protect and maintain our ecosystems. Together we inoculated shiitake mushrooms on logs, and wine cap mushrooms in straw and wood chips to expand WILDSEED’s food forest. We enjoyed a delicious lunch over a discussion about fungi’s role in the health of our bodies, minds, cultures and ecosystems.
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Spring 2024. Space is limited. Registration required!
Intergenerational Play Date
Saturday, May 4, 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Awakening our child spirits for people of all ages in playful communion with nature! Experience storytelling around the campfire, drumming, and a scavenger hunt and make herbal infused honey in community with Mama Badila, Nkoula Badila and Suanny Upegui. Refreshments and lunch provided. RSVP here
Community Planting Day
Friday, May 10, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Join your hands with ours as we plant native edible and medicinal herbs in our newly established Shade Garden and Herb Mound. Our facilitators are Krista Speroni of True Foods Hudson Valley & Sarah Elisabeth of Sage Herbalz and the Mandala Medicine Garden. Lunch will be provided. RSVP here
Food Forest Planting Day
Saturday, May 18, 11:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Join Catalyst Collaborative Farm & True Foods Hudson Valley to diversify WILDSEED’s orchard into a multistory agroforest that will encourage biodiversity and will support the health of the community via future harvests and medicine-making. RSVP here.
Lilac Brunch
Sunday, May 19, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
At Catalyst Collaborative Farm’s Lilac Brunch, we'll savor a delectable spread featuring culinary creations infused with the essence of lilac, celebrating its fragrance and flavor. From lilac-infused pastries to refreshing lilac beverages, our menu promises to tantalize your taste buds and awaken your senses to the wonders of spring. RSVP here
Gathering of the Nations
Friday, May 31 at 12:00 pm to Sunday, June 2 at 6:00 pm
The Indigenous Mothers Community Land Trust will host this gathering as a community of practice to share ancestral wisdom from its federation of members. The L'nu wisdom sharing is led by Mikmaq elders and members of Soil & Souls over the 2 days. Friday: pitch tents and opening circle. Saturday programming begins at sunrise, followed by educational events and nighttime fire circle. Sunday sunrise and closing rituals. Contact Ocasio if you are interested in attending.
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Radical Imagination Residency
WILDSEED offers one to two-week residencies at no cost for Black, Indigenous and other People of Color creatives, artists and cultural workers whose work strives for a more just and livable world. If you or someone you know could use a creative sanctuary learn more and apply here.
Shared Purpose, Shared Space
As justice-workers, we know that our efforts to build a more liberated world are intertwined. And we know that we need space to recuperate, strategize, and fortify the skills, visions, and insights we need to be effective stewards of necessary change.
We are honored to offer indoor and outdoor space at WILDSEED to mission-aligned groups for trainings, retreats, movement meetups, innovation labs, cultural gatherings and celebration. To make a request for subsidized space rental for your organization's internal gathering or community event, please fill out this form.
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We are actively developing our community farm model for beginner QTBIPOC farmers to have the opportunity to thrive in a safe, affirming environment and address barriers in access to land. This year we are building capacity and physical infrastructure, conducting research, interviewing our alumni, and surveying our networks alongside our partners Rock Steady Farm and Sweet Freedom Farm.
WILDSEED has been engaged in deep practice as a site for beginning farmers and are building off the learnings gleaned from incubating many farms and farmers. Rock Steady Farm has an extensive history of supporting beginner farmers on WILDSEED land by lending supplies, offering tractor work and technical assistance, sharing greenhouse space and so much more. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of care and the ways we are strengthening and formalizing our network of solidarity. As we scale, we will share our model, process and lessons learned with our co-op and farmer communities.
We are honored to continue housing Rock Steady Farm’s POLLINATE participants training in regenerative agriculture and cooperative business models. Pollinators will stay in the Sun House across 30 days starting in June.
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