Welcome February

And all who recently subscribed!

This newsletter turned out to be 1000000 pages long. I wanted it shorter, but no words are wasted. Grab a cup of tea, enjoy.

EcoFarm

January’s end brought a bounty of connections with people who farm everything, especially seeds. I attended the 45th Annual EcoFarm Conference for the first time with several farmer friends. Located in Pacific Grove at the Asilomar Conference Center, the coastal sunsets, the food, the like-minded humans were incomparable, as well as the presentations, side conversations, and the famous seed swap. Plus, I finally got to experience Mark Decena’s film Farming While Black, featuring one of my favorite farmers and food justice activists, Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm.

It’s hard to put into words the meaningful exchanges we experienced: we left feeling energized, activated. Farming is still in great need of repair, restructuring, and reimagining, but the commitments to act on behalf of farmworkers, healthy soil, food recovery, and transforming the food system were inspiring and real. Many thanks to Clif Family Foundation for sponsoring my attendance and to Tessa Henry, Teresa Kao, Mabel Wilms, and Jen Lang for all the fun.

University of Arizona Seed Library Webinar

While at the conference, I also give a virtual talk at the University of Arizona’s Seed Library webinar about “How to Start a Seed Library from Scratch.” Props to Anita Thompson and others who organized this great event. Pat Sobrero and I gave a similar talk in 2023 that Anita heard and she invited me to speak on the topic again. If you’re interested in starting a seed library, Pat and I cover the basics (tap the image below for the video). You’ll understand the different approaches we took to create ours, as well as the similar aspects that most seed libraries adopt to operate well.

Seeds to Sow in February

Here we are in February, my favorite month! I celebrate all the best things this month – my daughter and I age up on the same day 🎂🎂, we elevate Black History/Black Future for a solid 28 days ✊🏾, it’s the shortest month … and don’t forget Valentine’s Day (hey sweetie 😘).

Sign up at 28daysofblackhistory.com for one story a day during Black History Month.

Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.

– Ursula K. LeGuin

We’re fortunate in California to have a long growing season. We can plant seeds directly into soil, sow them in plastic milk jugs or zipper baggies, and start them indoors. Recently I added winter sowing in baggies to my skills.

Here’s what I’m doing now in my garden:

• Selecting and organizing seeds to start indoors and outdoors

• Monitoring the weather so that frost damage doesn’t take hold

• Creating a seedling mix for seeds I’ll grow indoors

• Checking my winter sowing (radishes, broccoli, and collards are up!)

• Pruning back roses and hydrangeas; mulching

• Testing viability of seeds saved in fall (or older stored seeds) using a simple germination test

Here’s a short list of seeds you can plant in February in Zone 9b. This is a partial list, there are many more. Find your favorites or decide to grow new varieties. The possibilities are endless. Sow seeds with love.

Direct sow these veggies 🪴🥕🥦 beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, chives, fava bean, kale, leek, lettuce, onion, pea, radish, spinach

Direct sow these flowers 🌸🪷🌼 borage, calendula, nigella, scabiosa, strawflower, sweet pea, yarrow

Start these seeds indoors 🫑🍆🍅 celery, eggplant, pepper, tomato

Historic Altadena

The devastating Eaton Fire in LA County laid to waste the historically Black neighborhood of Altadena and its seed sharing network, the Altadena Seed Library. In its wake, the community faces disproportionate outcomes and impacts, according to a recent data brief from the University of California, Los Angeles.

When I heard, I reached out to Nina Raj, creator of the Altadena Seed Library, and let her know we’d send California native seeds to restore the library. Jen and I offered to gather volunteers for soil and plant bioremediation when the time is right. We continue to send our most hopeful, healing thoughts and remain in contact. To help restore Altadena and assist its displaced residents, review this post by Tahiira Habibi. To help restore native plants and seeds, follow the Altadena Seed Library.

If you are interested in volunteering for native plant bioremediation in the Altadena area when the time is right, comment on this post. Thank you.

Jeffrey Pine Annex Raided, Again

It’s hard for me to relate this sad news. I’d rather be upbeat and positive. But you need to hear it. The stock of seeds in the Jeffrey Pine Annex was raided FOR THE THIRD TIME since we opened it in American Canyon. Each time they were stocked, ALL THE SEEDS WERE TAKEN including entire jars of seeds and the baskets within days.

Kim Monero, its seed keeper, and I feel frustrated, angry, and heartbroken realizing that some people choose consistently to be disrespectful and selfish.

The seed library annexes require respect, gratitude, and a commitment to sharing and returning seeds. The annexes operate under an honor system and we expect people to follow it. Many people give their time and resources to make them available in your neighborhood. If any annex continues to be misused, we will remove it.

Please send a message if you have information about this theft. The Jeffrey Pine Annex will be closed until we find appropriate solutions.

Call for Seeds

Napa County farmers and gardeners: we need your help. Are you sorting through your seed inventory and finding out you have some to share? Send us your seed donations! We need viable, commercial, farm-grown or home-grown organic seed to support novice gardeners just starting with seed or experienced gardeners interested in trying new varieties. If this is you, contact me by leaving a comment on this post or by direct message. We can arrange for a pickup or drop-off to get seeds into the hands of people who want to grow their own food, medicine, and beauty at home.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Catch me in person this month at the St. Helena Public Library on Thursday, February 6 at 4:00 pm when I’ll share skills and information about how to start seeds indoors. We’ll practice with tomato and pepper seeds and you’ll get some to take home.

If you’re more comfortable learning indoors, here’s a few great videos to learn how to make that seedling mix, start seeds in old-school cell trays, or with a new-school soil blocker.

Making your own seedling mix is so satisfying, kinda like making dough for bread. I often mention that since I wasn’t good at making sourdough, I started a seed library. Seedling mix is my jam ;-)

Seed Starting 101 videos

Part 1 demonstrates the seedling mix. In Part 2, you’ll learn how to use a really cool tool to make soil blocks (this bypasses the use of plastic 6-cell pots and trays). In an earlier video, I go over similar seedling mix options, plus show you how to plant using 6-cell pots nested in a plastic tray and the materials you’ll need for an indoor grow set up.

DIY Seeds videos

It’s raining here so it’s a great time to review the basics of a plant’s life cycle while staying cozy inside. I’m grateful that DIYseeds.org created shareable videos through a creative commons license, which we’ve now added to the Napa County Seed Library’s YouTube channel.

Beautifully produced with calming audio and dreamy animation, the Longo Mai film team put together great information to inspire every gardener. Start with “What is Pollination?” then “What is a Seed?” Continue and enjoy.

That it for now, quite a lot, eh? I’ll leave you with words from Nina Raj…

At this time, let’s encourage one another to move slowly. To think very small. To humbly fall back. The amount of destruction is overwhelming, but a culture of urgency amplifies the overwhelm exponentially.

– Nina Raj, Altadena Seed Library