In form and in essence seed shares much with story; information encapsulated, a narrative describing generations of plant and farmer relationships, a personal and/or collective journal exploring a paradox of influence – does the farmer make the seed or the seed make the farmer? Do cultures generate stories or stories create cultures? We select seeds towards domestication, taming of the wild, much in the same way we have created mythologies to understand life and death, to civilize the chaos of the cosmos. For much of my life I have been surrounded and influenced by women and men who have been made by seed and story, whose lives have been altered by what might be mistaken for a worthless spec of dust or scratching on a paper, but what in actuality holds the secrets of our food, fiber, shelter, medicine, and much of our world’s beauty. The manner in which seed evolves and is selected, the way the story is handed down, may be as important as the essence of the story/seed itself.
What if Shakespeare’s works had been tucked away 400 years ago in a doomsday vault, not read or enacted during that time, and then were revealed to us today. Would the work be potent and hold meaning for our culture? How much so compared to the impact it has today, having evolved with our culture, been read and interpreted and reinterpreted for generations and in multiple environments? What of seed preserved in vaults, seed no longer valued by the agrichemical genetic firms as useful in today’s modern production systems, but valuable enough to keep around just in case of emergency. What greater value does it have when planted and replanted, evolving in an active environment? If seed and story are not engaged cyclically do they lose something? How do we develop strategies to deal with loss of seed? Of story? Is restoration possible?
SeedStory contemplates these questions, and generates new questions via articles, essays, discussions, interviews, photos, and other bits of encapsulated information. Please add a comment or send a suggestion. And please tell others and help disseminate this information.
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