"Plants are keepers of cultural memory, cultural connection, and cultural autonomy."
The seed library is an offering in gratitude to the unique biodiversity of Oaxaca, inspired by the Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca and the annual Feria de la Agrobiodiversidad. Oaxaca, and Mexico in general, is not only one of the most biologically diverse places in North America, it’s also a shining example of seed sovereignty and indigenous land defense. Here families, towns and organizations preserve, celebrate and care for ancestral ethnobotanicals that have grown for centuries in loving hands. The space is in support of this divine resistance, a space to facilitate exchange, education, relation and visibility.
Our library is dedicated to the preservation and free exchange of native and creole seeds. Native seeds are seeds that have originated from the region, creole seeds are seeds that have been introduced from different regions but have adapted to the local climate without genetic modification. Our current inventory is made up of around 100 varieties of magueys, herbs, medicinals, ceremonial plants, pollinators, vegetables, flowers, fruits, fibers, nuts, woods, dyes, and more. It’s a collection that ebbs and flows in size and diversity, but is always a small representation of the rich biodiversity to be found in Oaxaca and other parts of Mexico. Every entry comes with a story of cultural representation, whether it be the Moringa seeds to cure menstrual pains, Cempasúchil for the Day of the Dead celebrations or Maices and Frijoles that have fed families for generations.
Part of the doomed project of colonial capitalism was to force people to pay for what Mother Earth gives freely. This was a project to enslave people, to create false need, false scarcity, and erase the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, and it can seed inside of us a climate of lack, competition, and hoarding. When we remember natures abundance, we can see that we are stewards, guardians, caretakers, proliferators, not just manipulators and profiteers. We can remember seeds are not just products, they are relatives.
Today there are forms of resistance to protect food sovereignty and seed saving is one of them. Transgenic seeds are unstable in nature, their genetic code has been changed in one way or another. Nature didn’t evolve them. They don’t have a memory of adaptation like native and creole seeds, and this memory is what aids seeds in adapting to changing environmental factors and growing strong and more nutrient-dense.
These issues are especially relevant in indigenous communities because seeds are cultural elements. Seeds are the origin for almost every facet of our civilizations, medicine, craft, food, fiber, ceremony, decoration, construction, energy, celebration, mourning. Plants are keepers of cultural memory, cultural connection, and cultural autonomy. They have fought to survive as we have, and we have become collaborators in generational proliferation. Many crops that are grown from transgenic seeds do not produce viable self-reseeding offspring, the cycle of life and self-sufficiency is cut short, stripping families of spiritual and economic stability, and creating false dependencies on corporate conglomerates. Saving seed is decolonial, protecting seed is resistance, sharing seed is anticapitalist, and creating abundance for one another is community safety.
We currently don’t have the resources to perform genetic testing. Instead, when we receive a donation we have the collaborator fill out a small card of information that will accompany the seed. We collect the seed’s name, the donor's name, the location and story of its origin, and notes about the conditions it likes to live in. We stamp it with the date received, and a unique code. What is important to us is the story, the relationship, the journey, the care. Seeds might come from a street corner, or a family garden, or a heritage tree. We ask folks to avoid bringing seeds from corporate produce, and it’s and easy guideline to respect in this incredibly diverse landscape. We also appreciate that not all that we consume and relate to is native, and there can be loving homes for plants in diaspora as well.
We’re a small team of 3 and each of us has our favorite seed! Alexis’ is the Dama de Noche, Abigail’s the Pápalo, and Rebecca’s the Guie-Chachi. The most aesthetically exciting seeds we’ve received are the Ave de Paraíso and Cuerno del Diablo, and we’re always curious to see what new seeds will come in! We’d love to see more varieties of cultural cornerstones and endemic varieties, more wild agaves, jitomates, frijol, maíz, and calabaza. The tomato is native to Mexico, and like corn and beans and squash, there are innumerable varieties. We have 7 varieties of corn and 11 varieties of tomatoes, and that is scratching the surface.
We don’t do genetic testing, instead, we collect plant stories. This is a form of cataloging cultural connections and spatial relational journeys. Plant stories connect us as relatives, and pass along the connections, dependencies, cultivations, memories and places that come with plants. Even when species cross oceans and national boundaries, find new homes in diasporic lands, when we can speak of their journeys or connect them to their cultural relevance, we collapse space and time, and we can love them and honor them and ourselves in the same breath.
And of course, the seeds themselves are the outcome of generations of wisdom, generations of knowledge. Each one holds cultural and ecological memory, they’ve adapted to changing climatic conditions since the times when they were cared for and selected by our ancestors, grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers and fathers.
Eat a more diverse range of foods! Farmers cultivate what we ask for. What we’re used to seeing in grocery stores is a eurocentric construction, and these varieties are not the most sustainable, or the most nutritious options. Get to know local varieties and pre-colonial species. Seeds have taught us a lot, and one of the biggest lessons is the importance of diversity. With diversity everyone comes together with their special traits. We’re stronger as many than we are as one. Expanding our selection of foods will prompt farmers to cultivate more diversely, ensuring greater food security for the world at large.
And remember, don’t throw your fruit and vegetables in the trash. Spit your seeds into your hands and share them with the earth. It is our responsibility as humans to plant seeds. Many plants have evolved with us, using fruits and flowers to attract us, so we will consume and discard their seeds in the ground to grow again. We have a role in the life of our sister species, we can’t forget this divine responsibility.
Once, a couple came to the library for seeds to start a small urban garden. They chose with great care which ones they wanted and left. Some time later they returned really happy to show how the seeds were germinating and share how they were advancing with their work in the garden. Another person was walking down the street, passing the library by chance and came in. When she entered she was really excited because she remembered how her grandmother would explain how to select corn and, incidentally, in this space she saw seeds again, which she had not seen for a long time. This happens with a lot of people who come in! With the kids they come in with a lot of curiosity and excitement, it’s really exciting to see how they love interacting with all of the seeds of so many different sizes, shapes and colors. For other people it’s like a tremendous shock with respect to what they knew. Sometimes an awareness with respect to nature is lost, and when they realize that plants come from seeds and they learn about the cycle, they are really surprised.
Always ask the land for guidance and permission. Work with an awareness of the elements and the phases of the moon. We’re not sure how common this practice is now, but some farmers use two iron rods to ask the energy of the land where and when they should sow their seeds. It’s the same tool some professionals use to find where to dig for a well. The idea is, the human body is made of roughly 60% water, making us walking conduits of energy. When using iron rods we are inviting that energy to travel through us and speak through the movement of the rods – if they swing inwards the answer is yes, if they swing outwards the answer is no. Sowing and harvesting with the lunar calendar is also something we’ve learned of. One example would be harvesting season, when the moon is full it’s the prime moment to harvest seeds that are located high above the ground because the gravitational pull towards the moon is strongest, pulling the nutrients of the plant upwards. On the contrary, a new moon is the prime moment to harvest seeds below the ground because the nutrients are not being pulled upwards and away. We are still learning! Every day, little by little.
Maybe the challenge on hand would be financial support. We have limited funds so our team is small. With more resources we could expand our team, support more collaborative projects, better activate our greenhouse, offer workshops, pay campesino collaborators, and embark on more educational media to platform and amplify indigenous seed stewards and land protectors.
Start the process with seeds adopted from your local community! Avoid purchasing seeds from big companies, your local farmers market will most likely have a selection, always ask about their origin and history. Most saving practices are carried out to ensure the life of the seed between when they are harvested in Fall or Winter and sowed in Spring or Summer. Seeds are meant to be in the ground to ensure their cycle of adaptation to our changing climate, long-term saving practices come into play to ensure the continuation of that particular strain even if you encounter drought or disease in your garden. There are different methods for collecting the seeds of varying fruits, flowers and vegetables.
It's just a space. It’s a container for community and care. When we opened it, it was empty. The community has filled it with life. We hope it can serve this community, create visibility for partners and projects, promote indigenous wisdom, support abundance, create reverence for ethnobotany, and inspire more libraries like this one.
We hope to build community partnerships to support the project long term and find funding to help us keep it going and expand our offerings. We hope to grow towards the earth so that we can put seeds in the ground and offer more of them. We want to feature more indigenous farmers, seed savers, healers, artists, land advocates, garden projects, and local chefs. We’re actively moving forward to create a network of seed guardians based in all of the diverse climatic regions of Oaxaca, host more educational workshops with collaborators and offer kids workshops to build awareness in the coming generations.
What the future deserves are seed libraries in every community, turning people away from store-bought varieties, reminding us of our own sovereign power to create life, medicine and food, awe and adoration for the beauty and variety of these elegant and little wild life packages. Mostly, we hope the idea becomes more common, especially in places that are less connected to their own ethnobotanical heritages than Oaxaca.
