Yesterday I planted a row of White Tepary beans that came from the Tohono O’odham Nation located in southern Arizona. They are a small delicious bean native to North America with a sweet and earthy flavor. My favorite bean! These seeds have been passed down through the generations.
Instead of putting them in my field, I put them up by my greenhouse because I am so proud of them and stoked to watch them grow!
I got the seeds at my old work, the Red Willow Farm in Taos Pueblo, NM. Our mission is to revitalize the agricultural heritage of the Taos Pueblo Indians and bring the youth back into farming again. The Taos Pueblo Indians, or Tewa, Or Red Willow people, have lived in the same place since time immemorial. That is a CRAZY thing to think about in our modern society.
I loved working at RWF and working with the youth, but I had to quit cause I got way too busy with my farm to keep up with everything there. I trained my wonderful friend Janelle Floating Flower to take over the gardens and then I retreated to my hermitage on the hill! Just kidding about being a hermit but I am so busy some days it does feel like that. I apologize to my social life. I will pay attention to you again one day, I promise.
Large corporations such as Monsanto and DuPont HATE it when people like you and me save seeds and control our own food supply. That is why they are constantly trying to get the act of saving seeds and distributing seeds BANNED and they actually have succeeded in many states, although enforcement of these laws is murky to say the least. However, they would rather you buy all your seeds from them, patented "terminator" GMO plants that don't reseed themselves, and are ready made to resist large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers. Products which they and their buddies also conveniently sell.
That style of farming is unsustainable and destroying the planet. The soil beneath those plants is DEAD and those plants are polluting the earth. There is little room for argument on this fact. There is NO microbial life in that soil, it is just a medium in place to hold chemical fertilizers and pesticides in place long enough for these GMO plants to absorb some of them before they wash away into the nearest watershed. After you learn this information, and you understand the importance of biologically active soil in combatting climate change (check out my last post), a drive through the midwest is devastating! It's an environmental apocalypse zone out there, folks.
I would like to add that many times this is at no fault to the farmers, most of whom are just trying to get by in an increasingly forgotten part of America. I have compassion for these folks and many of them couldn't change things if they wanted to. Others are in fact changing, learning and growing, and you can see pockets of hope, a small farm here, a cover crop there. Glimmers of light in a dark world!
That's why planting these ancient seeds is a revolutionary act. We are regaining control of our food supply, one Tepary Bean at a time!
Here is a wonderful picture of the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, a massive area (between 6000 to 7000 square MILES) that is devoid of most marine life thanks to run-off from these types of unsustainable farming practices:
But - back to these seeds, which came from Tohono O’odham Nation located in southern Arizona. Again, another people who have HELD IT DOWN on there home land for time immemorial. And passed down these seeds from generation to generation for ... well forever as far as anyone is concerned.
This sovereign nation is located in such a way that the U.S. / Mexico border runs right smack down the middle of the reservation, and they are of course very concerned about a giant, ineffective and environmentally disastrous wall being built straight through the middle of their sacred lands. That is a story unto itself and I encourage you to do some further research:
We can all control and revitalize our food supply, by planting seeds, saving seeds and growing good, clean, living food for ourselves and our friends and family, and our communities. It's not that hard!! You just have to start by planting a seed! Planting a seed is like throwing a stone into a lake, the ripple effect is STRONG my friends. You can spread positivity and health to your family, friends, and community with ease. Try it sometime!