Citizen Science Through Ssam!

“Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

We’re always looking for more ways to ground our seed keeping work in community processes. As a farmer, I’m extremely fortunate to have the spaciousness and time to learn from my plants, who have offered a type of wisdom and healing for my spirit that is incomparable. How can this awe and wonder experienced be alchemized into liberatory practices for all our communities? How can we translate for one another the ways in which we experience this world, finding shared languages to express our love?

Spoiler alert: I do not have the answers to these questions and I imagine a mountain hermitage would be a more likely place to ruminate on them, rather than a blog. But here we are, wondering all the same. We’ve found that the more we can share a sensory experience with one another, and have a container to spark and guide conversation, the more we can begin to build some shared understandings. From these understandings, we can build pathways and affirm our commitment to one another.

So this season we’re inviting you to participate in some of these conversations. We’re going to share our ongoing seed work with you, in the most delicious ways we can devise. Introducing, The Ssampler Pack, a curated series that will feature produce from our farm and collaborators. Each week, participants will receive samples from the field. Some samples will be part of nursery plots attempting to preserve genetic diversity within a crop species. Some samples will be breeding lines where you’ll get to shape their ongoing evolution. We’re hoping that the series will provide insights into the different types of seed projects we’re engaged in, and will make the more esoteric parts of this work feel more relevant.

We are starting with our beloved kkaennip. We’ll spend a few weeks exploring the balance of genetics and environment, eventually expanding to a broader comparison of the amazing diversity within a genus that gets unfairly narrowed and simplified in a Western context. You can also expect to see first looks at some basil, squash and pepper breeding projects we have in the works, and explore our seed banking efforts.

This series is limited to Bay Area participation for the moment, though we will also be offering virtual programs for others to participate in. We’re partnering with our dear friends at Joodooboo, who’ll be offering these sets as an add-on to complement their delicious tofu. Banchan Club members can reserve a set, and they’ll also be available in the shop Wednesday-Friday (or until they’re sold out each week).

For questions or ordering info you can email: secondgenerationseeds@gmail.com